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A blog about performing music, teaching music and the business of music.
Filtering by Category: Monday YouTube Fix
I had the privilege of seeing Zubin Mehta lead the Israel Philharmonic at Tanglewood perform Bartok's "Concerto for Orchestra" in 1993 as a high school student. They were a powerful orchestra with a wonderful sound and the performance left me inspired.
Rimsky-Korsakov's "Russian Easter Overture" is the perfect piece to show off this orchestra with just about every instrument in the orchestra featured at some point.
Enjoy!
I will never forget the first time I heard music coming out of Wycliffe Gordon's trombone. I was a high school kid and I stood there in stunned silence. He has had that effect on me a number of times since then too.
Phrases that are a mile long. Technical facility that seems limitless. Style for days. He is a beast.
Enjoy!
Stevie Wonder and Prince on the same stage playing Superstitious really doesn't need any explanation.
Enjoy!
Larry Combs was the principal clarinetist for the Chicago Symphony for three decades and is considered one of the all-time greats. He was appointed principal clarinet by Sir Georg Solti in 1978 and stepped down in 2008.
Here he is a recording of him performing Aaron Copland's "Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra" with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Erich Leinsdorf. This recording is from 1979, his second year in the orchestra.
The two things that jump out at me about his playing are his sound and his dynamic range. The consistency of both offer me examples to strive for in my own playing.
Enjoy!
The internet never ceases to amaze me. Getting to witness a master class of one of the greatest violinists of all time some 50 years after the fact is pretty remarkable.
Here is a master class in four parts that the great Jascha Heifetz gave at USC in 1962. The intensity he portrays in this class reminds me of how he played the violin.
My favorite comment from the class: "You're playing it too safe."
Enjoy!
One of the reasons I love twitter is because of the wonderful clips like this that pass through my feed that I might ordinarily miss. It was hard to escape Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass" this summer. It's a great pop tune that's quite catchy.
This clip is a cover of New York City vocalist and bass player Kate Davis doing a jazz cover of the tune with her jazz trio. I instantly fell in love with her voice and playing and watched this video three times in a row the first time I heard it. It is a brilliant re-setting of the tune and Kate's voice just oozes style. Her website says she has an album forthcoming and I very much look forward to hearing it.
Enjoy!
Steve Dumaine is the tuba player in the National Symphony here in Washington, DC but has many talents beyond his immense orchestral abilities. I first met Steve when we were both in high school in New England. He played the Vaughn-Williams Tuba Concerto with the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra back then and pretty much scared me with how good it was.
This clip is not him playing the Vaughn-Williams or anything close to it! This performance is from the 2008 Army Tuba Conference and features Steve playing a solo by the original bass player for Metallica, Cliff Burton. I saw Metallica perform at the Worcester Centrum back in 1991 and it remains to this day one of the best rock concerts I've ever attended. 1991 was after Cliff Burton had passed away, but Steve does a great job of getting to the essence of Cliff's playing in this clip.
And my favorite part of this clip, for humor reasons, may very well be at the 2:00 mark. Steve Dumaine is a beast on the tuba!
Enjoy!
Here is a clip from the 2014 Eastern Trombone Workshop featuring an all-star low brass section playing through a number of orchestral excerpts. The lineup:
Toby Oft - Principal Trombone, Boston Symphony
Nathan Zgonc - 2nd Trombone, Atlanta Symphony
Jeremy Wilson - Former 2nd Trombone, Vienna Philarmonic & Vienna State Opera
Stephen Dunkel - Bass Trombone, Washington National Opera
Seth Cook - Principal Tuba, Charlottesville Symphony
They play orchestral standards from Bartok, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Hindemith and many more. This is an example of great players who are not a regular section molding each of their strong personalities into one cohesive idea. There are some great insights into playing in orchestras as well as things like auditioning from each of them.
Enjoy!
I had the privilege of seeing Leonidas Kavakos, Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax perform an all-Brahms concert at Tanglewood earlier this month. While I have been seeing Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax perform for over two decades this was only the second time I had seen Leonidas Kavakos in concert. Last year, my wife and I were treated to him playing the Bartok Violin Concerto No. 2 with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under the direction of Mariss Jansons at the Kennedy Center. We both instantly fell in love with his playing.
This week's clip his him performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto in Tokyo with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra under the direction of Valery Gergiev. His phrasing is just stunning.
Oh, and by the way, Gergiev is conducting with a toothpick. No, seriously.
Enjoy!
Pablo Casals was one of the true master teachers. This is a 10 minute clip from a master class he gave at UC Berkley in 1960. He is working with a student on the opening line of the Brahms Cello Sonata No. 1. He was a teacher of few words who spoke volumes. Enjoy!