Anne-Sophie Mutter/Itzhak Perlman
Jon
many weeks. A week ago, Perlman gave what could be best described as
"An Evening with Friends". It was on the penthouse of a Lincoln Center
Building. He played with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. It was sort of
a recap of his life as a violinist and included such things as a
student concerto he played as a kid in Israel, a Vivaldi movement he
played at his first public concert. A Wieniaski Etude. A few
barnburners like Novacek's Perpetual Motion and Bazzini's "Le Ronde de
Lutins" among several other pieces.
Mutter's perfomance was a full dress Lincoln Center concert with the
NYPO/Masur and the Sibelius and Berg concerto's. I have only heard the
Sibelius but I did record the whole concert.
A few observations which might be of interest to the group. The
performance styles of the two could hardly be more different. Perlman
always looks relaxed and always makes a piece look easy. Mutter
actually makes hard pieces look hard. (This is not a condemnation, I
have the highest regard for both). I noticed a couple of things about
the physical part of violin playing. Mutter holds her left hand and
her bow arm in an almost picture perfect rendition of what I was
taught (Bow arm parallel with the bow, left hand thumb well down of
the side or even under the neck and around the body of the violin in
the really high positions.) Perlman is quite the opposite, Bow arm
low most of the time with a lot of action from the wrist. (that is one
thing I actually do, myself). But his thumb is well up on the neck,
even sometimes giving the appearance that he is grasping the neck
between his thumb...almost like the neck is down in the soft fleshy
part of his hand between the thumb and and the hand, well below the
demarcation of the index finger and the hand itself.
There have been some quibbles about Perlman's intonation, but I really
didn't notice any technical problems. Mutter did have some rough
spots in the Sibelius. I have studied the Sibelius and can play it
after a fashion and I find it to be one of the most difficult
concertos technically. I once had a teacher who was also a virtuoso
performer and he told me that the Sibelius totally escaped him...and
his uncle was the dedicatee of the concerto (Franz Von Vescay). Of
couse he also told me, he never even met his uncle, so playing the
concerto was not like it was a birthright :-).
When she had to go into octaves in high positions, she changed her
octave fingering from 1-4 to 1-3. This is often done because of the
extra strength in the third finger vice the fourth. I can actually
reach farther with 1-3 than 1-4 because my little finger is quite
short. Perlman has a big broad hand with very wide fingers and you
could see him use finger replacement in high positions...a pretty
standard technique.
A few things relevant to this group. Mention was made about violins
and humidity. Mutter had a "Damp-it" in her violin f-hole on the
G-string side. This is basically a piece of 3/8" (or so) surgical
tubing with a spongy material inside. Every couple of days, you are
supposed to soak the Damp-It in water, shake off the excess and
place it in the f-hole. It is about 9 inches long. (I own one, but I
don't use it. It's not as critical for me as my house is humidified
and Maryland is a bit damp anyway with the Chesapeake nearby. I also
don't travel with my violin as she does.)
Both violinist broke a bow hair during some loud passages. This is
always a scary proposition since on the E string, the bow angle is
such that you can get this hair caught in you fingers with disastrous
results. Your bow gets pulled up the finger board rather violently.
Its happened to me a few times and once in a concert. Mutter did have
better luck than Ruggiero Ricci in a televised Sibelius many years
back. His bow broke in two! He had to stop, take the concertmaster's
bow and play a few notes to indicate to the conductor where to resume.
I'd like to know the impressions and observations of others who may
have seen these wonderful telecasts. I'll watch the whole tape
tomorrow and maybe comment on the Berg (I had a rehearsal tonight so I
couldn't watch it live except for the Sibelius).
Jon Teske
K Cheung
Jon <chac...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>A few observations which might be of interest to the group. The
>performance styles of the two could hardly be more different. Perlman
>always looks relaxed and always makes a piece look easy.
This is so true. He makes one feel that difficult
passages are just a child's play. I think that's
why it's so enjoyable to *see* him play.
>the really high positions.) Perlman is quite the opposite, Bow arm
>low most of the time with a lot of action from the wrist. (that is one
>thing I actually do, myself). But his thumb is well up on the neck,
>even sometimes giving the appearance that he is grasping the neck
>between his thumb...almost like the neck is down in the soft fleshy
>part of his hand between the thumb and and the hand, well below the
>demarcation of the index finger and the hand itself.
Could this be that he has a really big hand and
long fingers?
--
Kevin.
--- kkhc...@math.uwaterloo.ca ---
http://www.grad.math.uwaterloo.ca/~kkhcheun
On a toujours assez de temps. One always has enough time.
Jon
wrote:
>In article <387d58a7...@netnews.worldnet.att.net>,
>Jon <chac...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>>A few observations which might be of interest to the group. The
>>performance styles of the two could hardly be more different. Perlman
>>always looks relaxed and always makes a piece look easy.
>
>This is so true. He makes one feel that difficult
>passages are just a child's play. I think that's
>why it's so enjoyable to *see* him play.
>
>>the really high positions.) Perlman is quite the opposite, Bow arm
>>low most of the time with a lot of action from the wrist. (that is one
>>thing I actually do, myself). But his thumb is well up on the neck,
>>even sometimes giving the appearance that he is grasping the neck
>>between his thumb...almost like the neck is down in the soft fleshy
>>part of his hand between the thumb and and the hand, well below the
>>demarcation of the index finger and the hand itself.
>
>Could this be that he has a really big hand and
>long fingers?
Well he has a big square hand but I don't know that his fingers are
particularly long. I also have a fairly big hand as measured across
the palms, but my fingers are not all that long. I can just make
an octave on the piano comfortably, but I can't do a tenth
without arpeggiating. Mutter's hand is narrow, as might be
expected on a rather slender woman, but she appears to
have rather long fingers with respect to the fingers proportion
to the hand.
The whole hand question could boil down to "What are
the ideal dimensions for a violinist's hands and fingers?"
Unlike a pianist, where, generally speaking, longer is
better, there seems to be no set answer. Many violinists
are comparatively short. Female violinist generally have
narrower hands than their male counter parts. Then
again there are violinists such as Erick Friedman who
is well over six feet tall. I have a short little finger.
I guess we all adapt. Violinists, good ones and bad
ones come in all shapes and sizes. Viola players
have to adapt to a larger instrument. Switch hitters
such as me (I usually play violin, but can play viola)
have to adapt just switching between instruments.
In the case of violin/viola, the physical switch is
less taxing than the one of reading the different
clef employed by viola.
Any thoughts????
Jon Teske
Charles Noble & Heather Blackburn
chac...@worldnet.att.net wrote on 01/12/2000 08:46 PM:
> A few observations which might be of interest to the group. The
> performance styles of the two could hardly be more different. Perlman
> always looks relaxed and always makes a piece look easy. Mutter
> actually makes hard pieces look hard. (This is not a condemnation, I
> have the highest regard for both).
I guess it did appear that way, but while she may have made the Sibelius
look 'hard', she'd just played the Berg Concerto 20 minutes before that. I
think she made some of the stuff in the Berg look pretty easy, by my
estimation. It's a bitch of a piece. She really makes it relatively easy
to understand what's transpiring in the piece as well, which is a major part
of performing that concerto (Berg).
> When she had to go into octaves in high positions, she changed her
> octave fingering from 1-4 to 1-3. This is often done because of the
> extra strength in the third finger vice the fourth.
Actually, I think that she did it because the distance between the octave
reaches is much smaller that far up the fingerboard. When you watch the
Berg, notice that she plays that fiendishly high and difficult final note
with her fourth finger! It doesn't seem to be a choice based on relative
stengths of the 3rd or 4th fingers, IMHO. I think that ASM is probably the
leading exponant of the Berg today, with nods to Perlman (though it's
probably not in his activer repertoire anymore) and Christian Tetzlaff.
Great comments, Jon!
Charles Noble
David Mintz
ability to stretch and rotate joints may be as important as length.
Paganini, considered to have an incomplete manifestation of Marfan's
Syndrome as manifested by his long spidery fingers, may have been one of
those
"double-jointed" wonders.
David Mintz
"Jon" <chac...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:387ebfdf...@netnews.worldnet.att.net...
> On 13 Jan 2000 16:03:07 GMT, kkhc...@math.uwaterloo.ca (K Cheung)
> wrote:
>
> >In article <387d58a7...@netnews.worldnet.att.net>,
> >Jon <chac...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
> >>A few observations which might be of interest to the group. The
> >>performance styles of the two could hardly be more different. Perlman
> >>always looks relaxed and always makes a piece look easy.
> >
Dr. Ronald Schmidt
> This is not new stuff: but it may be that mobility of fingers and the
> ability to stretch and rotate joints may be as important as length.
> Paganini, considered to have an incomplete manifestation of Marfan's
> Syndrome as manifested by his long spidery fingers, may have been one of
> those
> "double-jointed" wonders.
I do not believe in the Marfan's syndrome story. Paganini as well as
Anne-Sophie Mutter and Itzhak Perlman simply hold the intrument balanced
between collarbone, shoulder tip and left hand, almost absolutely free of any
force. You will not see any violinists mark on Anne-Sophie's neck since she
plays without force, however, with a forceful tone.
Try to get a copy of
Eberhardt, Siegfried: Hemmung und Herrschaft auf dem Griffbrett
Hemmung und Herrschaft auf dem Griffbrett : Meisterfunktion u. Ersatzgeigen
Berlin : Hesse, 1931. - 498 S. : Portr., Ill.
It is in German but is the first comprehensive book on the topic of violin
technique from the viewpoint of balance and forceless playing.
Ronald