 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-01-21 16:08
He did his BBC Proms debut only the other year performing the Strauss oboe concerto.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: William
Date: 2011-01-22 17:01
Very nice playing, I agree--however, why can't the musicians let down their hair a bit a simply appear to be having more fun doing what they are doing so well. I watched for some time into the video and did not see ONE SMILE or even a glimmer of content from the soloist, conductor or musician. As if they were all having to breath foul odors....not fresh air. What is wrong with looking a little happy and conveying that feeling to the audience as well.....????
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2011-01-22 17:50
That would require being happy while playing, William, rather than fixating on things like error minimization, jitter mitigation, breath management, compensation for equipment imperfection, self-comparison to reference recordings, tallying a score of your minor f*ckups, stressing about whether this will be the concert that gives you enough street cred for a steady paying gig, etc.
It seems pretty common for classical-types to aim for "a sense of accomplishment" rather than actually enjoying the process. How many of us muse on "I really loved playing such-and-such piece with so-and-so" more often than "I've played such-and-such piece x times with an orchestra"?
It becomes a game of prestige and achieving an "I've played x times with an orchestra" score, with people dreading the actual experience of performing, going in on autopilot and being relieved when it's over. It's like the actual performance is the low point in the musician's life. They like having done it, but doing the actual deed is more of a marathon than a party. Thankfully, unlike an actual marathon of running, in concerts the participants do generally take a break to use the facilities rather than soiling themselves in the act.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2011-01-22 22:20
EEBaum- I've known Alexei for 14 years. I really don't know how you can say all that negative stuff about him based on a youtube video.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2011-01-23 01:26
Alex -
When you play at the level of the principal oboist of the Concertgebouw, it's given that you have the basics under control. Error minimization, jitter mitigation and so on are taken care of almost subconsciously and fixed in muscle memory by 10,000+ repetitions in the practice room.
While my own playing does not approach that level, performing is the high point of my musical life. The technique is on autopilot. What I think about is musical expression and communion with the audience.
I put up the links to Ogrintchouk because he played with wonderful artistry. I saw him taking the greatest pleasure in playing, and he made me feel that way, too.
Ken Shaw
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