{"id":3567,"date":"2009-12-06T23:30:10","date_gmt":"2009-12-07T07:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=3567"},"modified":"2013-02-07T20:02:26","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T04:02:26","slug":"great-artistry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/12\/06\/great-artistry\/","title":{"rendered":"great artistry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Much has been written in the canon of music history about the virtuoso performer.\u00a0 Starting with the likes of Paganini and Liszt, there has been an unbroken line of artists who continue to stun us with their seemingly effortless performances of the most finger-twisting repertoire.\u00a0 David Stabler put it well in his recent review<\/a> of Yefim Bronfman’s performance of Bart\u00f3k’s Second Piano Concerto this weekend:<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s worth considering what makes Bronfman, born in Tashkent, in what is now Uzbekistan, and who has become a piano gladiator around the world, the incredible pianist he is.<\/p>\n

He can play very fast, but so can thousands of other pianists. He can play very softly, but so can others. He plays urgently, smartly, rhythmically, instinctively. He can call forth dazzlement and ovations from listeners unknowing of the piano\u2019s ways and means. He does all those things with absolute jurisdiction over the spiritual and intellectual \u2013 and of course, physical \u2013 elements of music written for his instrument.<\/p>\n

So can others.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s left? Sound.<\/p>\n

I think what sets Bronfman apart is his sound. Sitting utterly still, this large man offers striking clarity, shading and fullness. Revelatory fullness. Touch isn\u2019t as easy to differentiate on the piano as it is on the violin or cello. The piano is a percussive instrument and its music requires endlessly different demands.<\/p>\n

But Bronfman achieves true sonority in breathing, speaking tonal lines.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s so true.\u00a0 Tonight he again played the Bart\u00f3k with incredible efficiency of physical motion, but with the most amazing touch, sound, and range of dynamics.\u00a0 The octaves that close the coda of the 1st movement were just jaw-dropping.\u00a0 Then came the encore.\u00a0 A Scarlatti Sonata. Played with such a limpid sound and beautiful pedaling, it was the perfect antidote to the dense and dramatic Bart\u00f3k.\u00a0 The audience (and the orchestra, too) wanted more.\u00a0 So then came Chopin’s “Revolutionary” Etude in c minor.\u00a0 I hate to say amazing again, but it was.\u00a0 But better. You think that he can’t play the fast notes clearer – but he does.\u00a0 You think that he can’t play those faster notes softer – but he does.\u00a0 And in the midst of all of that, he communicates the music with a minimum of fuss and dramatic mannerisms.\u00a0 He’s the anti-Lang Lang.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Much has been written in the canon of music history about the virtuoso performer.\u00a0 Starting with the likes of Paganini and Liszt, there has been an unbroken line of artists who continue to stun us with their seemingly effortless performances of the most finger-twisting repertoire.\u00a0 David Stabler put it well in his recent review of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1027,135,2],"tags":[2015,385],"class_list":["post-3567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-piano-music","category-soloists-recitals","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-bartok-second-piano-concerto","tag-david-stabler"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-Vx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3200,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/10\/04\/classical-1-initial-thoughts\/","url_meta":{"origin":3567,"position":0},"title":"classical 1 initial thoughts","author":"Charles Noble","date":"October 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night was a bit of a strange concert, at least speaking for myself from my vantage point on the stage.\u00a0 First of all, there was the sobering sight of empty seats in the hall - lots of them.\u00a0 It's not as though this is a strange program - Brahms\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4678,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/05\/19\/insert-name-here-festival\/","url_meta":{"origin":3567,"position":1},"title":"insert-name-here festival?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"David Stabler has the ticket sales info for last week's Beethoven Festival, which was quite successful, with just over 71 percent capacity audiences.\u00a0 He suggests a few possibilities for future festivals, such as Gershwin, Bernstein, or Latin.\u00a0 That got me to thinking, too. Viennese Festival - works of Mozart, Beethoven,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3236,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/10\/09\/kimura-parker-responds-to-review-of-symphony\/","url_meta":{"origin":3567,"position":2},"title":"kimura parker responds to review of symphony","author":"Charles Noble","date":"October 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"In case you've missed it in your day's rounds of the internet, Jon Kimura Parker, soloist with the orchestra last week in the Brahms d minor piano concerto, responded to David Stabler's review (a markedly negative one) of the performance: We live in a fascinating time where reviewers cannot hide\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jon Kimura Parker 2 (c) Kent Lacin sits opus","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Jon-Kimura-Parker-2-c-Kent-Lacin-sits-opus-400x337.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6042,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/03\/23\/michael-francis-returns-to-oregon-symphony\/","url_meta":{"origin":3567,"position":3},"title":"michael francis returns to oregon symphony!","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Our upcoming guest conductor Gunter Herbig has cancelled his engagement with the Oregon Symphony, and the orchestra's loss quickly became its gain when young British conductor Michael Francis, who electrified both the orchestra and audiences last month, was engaged to replace Maestro Herbig. The concert, entitled \"A Pair of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "conducting"","block_context":{"text":"conducting","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/conducting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/MichaelFrancis-credit-chris-christodoulou-400x265.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1387,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/11\/03\/in-the-ear-of-the-beholder\/","url_meta":{"origin":3567,"position":4},"title":"in the ear of the beholder","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"David Stabler wrote a review [not posted on the Oregonian's website at the time of posting] of this Saturday's classical series concert featuring the Latvian violinist Baiba Skride as soloist in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto along with Sibelius' Scene with Cranes and the Walton First Symphony. He was not enamored\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2847,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/07\/11\/bon-voyage-to-david-stabler\/","url_meta":{"origin":3567,"position":5},"title":"bon voyage to david stabler","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 11, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Let's all send out some serious \"Allez, allez!\" vibes to the Oregonian's classical music critic David Stabler, as he rides the Seattle to Portland Classic today - and he's doing it on a team that is doing the entire ride in one day! 8-O \u00c2\u00a0 That's some serious average speed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "cycling"","block_context":{"text":"cycling","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/cycling\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"David Stabler riding up Larch Mountain - Photo: Martin Stabler","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/large_Stabler.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3567\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}