Richard Jernigan -> RE: What happens when a flamenco guitarist plays classical stuff?! (Oct. 9 2015 16:39:31)
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ORIGINAL: Ricardo ...I hear he is not super keen on teaching anyway. Those master class things are EXPECTED of certain artists. I know even Nuñez has been forced to do it as part of a performance contract...and he is a guy that actually enjoys teaching! But only one week a year. [:D] Here is an example why I find the guy superior. This piece is normally an interesting violin show off piece, but this guy is giving it a lot of spanish flavor IMO. Not perfect rhythm or notes, there are slips, but he has a great strong tone and expression. The variation is especially nice at 2:55 vs the original. And finally, I believe he composed his OWN variation in there. http://youtu.be/39iSblezm1M Excellent. Williams on top expressive form. Yes there are tiny technical blips, but the overall security of technique is impressive. I audited a Williams master class at the 2003 Guitar Foundation of America convention in Merida, Yucatan. The first player was a young woman who played a simple piece, clearly suffering from nerves. Williams praised and encouraged her, while offering no suggestions whatsoever. Williams invited questions from the audience. The man next to me on the second row was an ophthalmologist with whom I had chatted a bit on earlier days. He seemed to be a mild mannered and unassuming person. He asked Williams, "How would you have played it?" Williams was visibly annoyed, and said with some asperity, "Can't you see what I am trying to do here?" The next player, as I recall it, was 18-year old Cecilio Perera Villanueva, who went on to take second place in the competition. I thought he should have been first. He played a movement of a Brouwer sonata. It was breathtaking. While the students played Williams sat on the first row, instead of sharing the stage and perhaps distracting from their performance. When Cecilio finished Williams stood and asked, "Do you play the rest of it?" Cecilio complied. I noticed the professional guitarists in the room paying very close attention. i thought some of them even looked a bit stunned. When Cecilio finished, Williams stepped onto the stage and said, "All I can say is that if Leo Brouwer were here today, he would be a very happy man." He asked if the audience had any questions--for Cecilio. The last player did Ponce's "Variations and Fugue on la Folia." He got out all the notes, in tempo, no technical problems, but I felt the interpretation left a good deal to be desired. Williams stood and talked for several minutes about his dislike of competitions, his refusal to be on juries, etc. etc. Then he gave a nonstop two-minute critique of the performance, with no interaction with the student at all. Williams' concert the closing night of the convention was the big deal of the week. It was given in the large and ornate Opera House. Giant posters of Williams adorned the downtown streets of Merida. The house was packed. Merida's elite turned out for the event. I was disappointed. The first half was a sequence of short Latin American pieces from the disk "El Diablo Suelto." I was amazed. He played with nearly no dynamics or rhythmic swing. There was no metric distinction between a seis por derecho, a valse venezolano, "Alma Llanera"...it sounded almost like a midi rendering of the scores he was reading. Just about everyone applauded vigorously. The second half was Bach's "Chaconne" from the second violin partita. Again, no dynamics, no agogic accents, just the notes, one after another. It was as though Williams was on autopilot. I have heard him play the piece well on a recording, but this was not that performance. When I grumbled to an acquaintance, he replied, "Maybe he was just having a bad night." I suppose Williams' technical mastery may lead me to assume he always does exactly what he intends to do. But maybe not? RNJ
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