A Prophet in another country?

Question

Too often we tend to allow ourselves to be influenced primarily, even only by lighting exponents of our own instrument. Re-ordering a shelf or two of recordings this evening, I came across two lodestar recordings that completely reshaped my own thinking as a pianist, 25 years ago: Riccardo Ricci playing Sibelius' Violin Concerto, and Zino Francescatti's rendering of that of Beethoven. What 'off-piste' performances have reshaped your approach?

Al, calm yourself: half and more of your answer belongs in my private mailbox. Why not scratch and edit things a bit: given you are a pianist, let me explain, I'm asking about performances *not* pianistic in any way, that have made you stop in your tracks and look at what you're doing afresh. So, casting our net more broadly, singers struck by percussionists, violists by euphonium recitalists -- OK, I'm pushing it there... :-))
You get my drift I'm sure.

Gawd! There's a senior moment for you:"Riccardo" should be "Ruggiero" Ricci...

Schwarzkopf had a major impact on me likewise, Toutvas, as did Birgit Nilsson (her 'Isolde' in particular) and that remarkable 'coven' of Sills, Sutherland and Horne, all of them in quite separate, different ways, including stagecraft, where Callas also majorly joined the fray... :-)

That is *exactly* what I mean, Al, and these Damascene moments know no boundaries, any style, any art form: they grab us by the throat and force us to look at our current situation completely differently. I was fortunate enough to experience one of Josephine Baker's last performances at the Trocadéro, and amongst all the tule, sequins and feathers, I learned things about timing and sheer sovereign stagecraft I could never have learned anywhere else.

Perhaps not unlike your marimba, Lynn, I was once co-opted into attending a Jacques ('Play Bach') Loussier concert, during which I became completely mesmerised by the double bass player's astounding control of his instrument and his raw powers of invention, something that must have struck others too as it seemed to spread like a contagion through the Q. Elizabeth Hall. When the bassist's individual curtain call came, it produced a deafening roar that quite dwarfed the headline artist's. My understanding of what a double bass can actually do has never been the same since... :-)

Answer 1

it's not astonishing to me that Zino Francescatti magically appears in your question .... his nuances are astounding and the passion is overwhelming but the person that truly shaped me is Elisabeth Schwarzkopf but only the live recordings ... most often an ice queen of perfection in studio recordings but in live performances a many subtle nuanced and very much alive and connected performer with emotional content and commitment something I strive and dearly wish I do even in the most mundane of pieces

EDIT oh yes Lynn we have to keep nearly the same kind of control a singer does the actual mechanics are different but it really is the same

EDIT 2 how could I not mention the life transforming performance of Eleanor Steber (a few years before she died) of Knoxville Summer of 1915 ... I saw in a medium size church in the late 70s or early 80s ... she actually projected content while some of the notes were barely audible (they were pianissimo sections) goose bumps always appear when I even think of that performance

EDIT 3 while we stepped out of classical I actually (literally) stumbled into a performance by Muddy Waters .... he captured ALL who present and bent them as easily as his strings a totally captive audience ... who wouldn't want to play so expressively that everybody is feeling every minute twinge

Answer 2

For me, it was a recording of Beethoven's 7th Symphony conducted by Casals at Tanglewood. It opened my eyes -- er -- my ears in two ways.

First, the clarity and intelligence of the way he presented the structure and architecture was astonishing, and I truly understood form for the first time. Secondly, he gave me a whole new perspective on rhythm and how it could be used to make an entire large work hand together -- I have been trying to emulate that ever since -- with some success here and there.

Answer 3

since you mention singer and percussionists in the same breath....
when I was at UCLA there was a series of concerts held Monday nights at the art museum. One ight we had an Eliot Carter piece on the program that featured the marimba as one of the main instruments. I don't remember who the percusiionist was, but he was electrifying! ( a group of us peons were sitting in the cheap seats together, and we got to the point of watching the ohter's goosebumps forming) It was one of those amazing poly-rhythmic polyphony pieces, and they all played so transparently that it was even easy to follow the different metres. The whole audience sent up a war-whoop of applause, and the concert even got a mention in the LA Times ( in those days, contemporary music was altogether neglected by the press).
Another two examples, and I don't want to insult any of you pianists, but remember, this is a singer talking ( I won't say thinking, we all know that's impossible) were Emil Gilels and Glenn Gould. I know, worlds apart. Gilels for all the passion that streamed out of him in an oh-so-subtle fashion ( Beethoven Piano Conerto #4) and Gould for all of his idiosyncracies in the Goldberg Variations.
As a stage critter, I fully appreciate the value of knowing the difference of experiencing an emotion, and of expressing it so that others may experience it. Therein lies danger- not knowing the difference. A return question for you: where is the dividing line between actually experiencing the emotion you wish to portray, and the danger of that interfering with your performance skills?
mean, Canio needs to make the audience sob with him in Ridi, Pagliaccio, or Rodolfo gets everyone in tears with his big MIMI! at the end of La Boheme, but he can't be caught in the throes of the emotion himself, otherwise he couldn't sing it at all properly. Are there such restrictions for insturumentalists?

Answer 4

I have to think. Wow!!! You are so difficult to understand. No, I am too young to understand those depths. I will add to my reponse.

Edit: OK. I thought about it. It's not classical music, or at least I think so. I was shocked the first time I heard it. Its weird instrumentation, it's gorgeous. I was so engulfed that I spent 30 min listening without doing anything. I was in my arts class. We put music on while working. It was a CD of Paul Mauriat's arrangements of folk songs. It changed my persepective on music in total.

if still that's what you mean?

Answer 5

The few steps I've made out of the darkness of musical naivetie, such as they are, have been from hearing different interpretations of the same work: notably Dvorak's 9th Symphony and St. Paul's Suite (Holst.)

Don't know if that helps you much pal =) but worth a shot