Mary Esterheld wrote:

> Why pick on Hilary?  Most soloists are very intense and serious looking.
> I have seen Martha Argerich smile while playing and perhaps a few others
> - but most are in deep concentration as is needed.

I agree; the expression on their faces is irrelevant to me, especially
as most musical performances I experience are audio only, coming via
such pictorially-challenged media as CD or radio.  Plus, I think it
would have been weird to see, say, Tasmin Little grinning throughout
the performance of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto I enjoyed a while back;
I'd have been worried that she was about to go bonkers.

What does get my goat is when a solo violinist inhales noisily at the
end of each phrase.  I once attended a concert where the concertmaster
did a wonderful job of playing John Williams's 'Schindler's List' theme,
and an even more wonderful job of ending every phrase with a loud SNIFF!
Towards the end, his nostrils were the loudest instrument in the hall.

Now, I know that I let out involutary grunts when I play squash,
for example, so I understand when actual sports people do the same in
a tennis match.  But I really don't understand how come some musicians
are apparently oblivious to the noises they make during performances,
when creating interesting sounds is at the core of what they do.

Frank Wales [[log in to unmask]]

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