Comments | halfshellvenus: LJ Idol Exhibit B: "In The Right Hands"

halfshellvenus

LJ Idol Exhibit B: "In The Right Hands"

Jul 05, 2013 11:55

In The Right Hands
LJ Idol Exhibit B | week 7 | 1352 words
Hands (Note: Contains short music samples. Earbuds at low volume recommended).x-x-x-x-x ( Read more... )

my_fic, original_non_fiction, exhibit b, real lj idol

Comments 42

acalculatedname July 5 2013, 20:38:25 UTC

i'm tired of LJ telling my comments have been "marked as spam". (and i can't fix my unfinished first paragraph now accordingly, ugh)

halfshellvenus July 5 2013, 20:45:59 UTC

Aw. You're signed in correctly, so I wonder if it's just in a mood to reinterpret your comments for you! I'd blame Russian software, but the NSA is making us look pretty bad right now. :O

ETA: Wait! I can see the original comment in my email. Hang on...

halfshellvenus July 5 2013, 20:56:39 UTC

So, for me at least, often it isn't the first version of the piece I hear... it's the first version that "works." There are pieces I've listened to for years, and thought "Meh" until I finally hit a performance that made it sound like music was happening. Much the same as some of the listeners who used to call up ( ... )

acalculatedname July 5 2013, 21:16:50 UTC

This is so funny - been spam-marked again. It only happens after I go back and correct a typo, and then all of a sudden...

Thread 8

(The comment has been removed)

halfshellvenus July 5 2013, 21:13:24 UTC

I was hoping it wouldn't be too much detail for those who weren't much into classical music, and also that contrasting the differences might still make sense to readers in that position!

The performance can really be everything, no matter what the piece of music. With live performances, you can also get the intangible uptick in the musicians' energy that makes the piece just all that much better. :)

similiesslip July 5 2013, 21:22:35 UTC

You have much better musical taste than I do. I do know I prefer certain songs by certain artists, but I probably miss the nuances of music that define a piece. It sounds like you understand them.

My husband is a classical pianist. He would probably agree with you in this entry. He is very talented. That IS one very admirable thing about him. He wishes he could have made a living from his music.

halfshellvenus July 6 2013, 05:39:15 UTC

My original undergraduate degree was in music, and I was an orchestral violinist for many years as well. I still miss playing many of these pieces as a participant!

It's sad that there are so many more people with talent in the arts than jobs that can support them. I would have loved to be an orchestral musician as a profession, but the competition is fierce and not many places will pay a living wage! I know how your husband feels on that score. :(

meepalicious July 6 2013, 02:24:24 UTC

I know zilch about classical music, so I never considered how the performance could effect the impact of a piece. Of course, now that you've mentioned it, I'll never be able to unthink it, because it makes perfect sense. A good teacher can make a "boring" subject fascinating, and a bad teacher can make a fascinating subject dull. Why should it be any different with musical performance?

Very enlightening. Thank you. :) I'm gonna load up the audio clips to listen to while I continue reading/voting.

halfshellvenus July 6 2013, 05:43:01 UTC

You're exactly right-- the presentation of the material really tends to make a difference. And a teacher who loves and is passionate about his or her subject makes for much more interesting classes than those where the teacher is just teaching a 'fill-the-slot' class that somebody has to teach but which means very little to them.

Some of the audio clips among the Bruckner were in the "avoid" category, but I'd hoped the differences would make it clearer why some performances 'work' and others do not. Even the 'pretty good' one (Tabakov) could have been better, which is usually a fine point that's harder to describe. It made for a nice example just for that reason.

oxymoron67 July 6 2013, 02:41:29 UTC

I get this. I've searched for the right recordings of several pieces. Beethoven's Ode to Joy is a particular stickler. I have a few good versions, but no great ones.

halfshellvenus July 6 2013, 05:53:39 UTC

Oh, the Ode to Joy would be tough. You have to love the orchestral performance and conductor, AND each of the soloists in that final movement, AND how the whole thing comes together.

I have the Bruno Walter/Columbia Symphony Orchestra recording here, but I'll admit, the tenor's vibrato is kind of getting to me as I listen to it now. :O