Richard Putter wrote:

>Janos Starker has been an impressive player...as cold as ice in
>performance...almost an arrogance and disdain to his playing...favorably
>impressed by the performance as well as the piece.  Maybe that whole
>experience of performing a commissioned, dedicated work had a humbling,
>humanizing effect on him that the average recital didn't....

To me Starker's playing has always been of the highest technique and
musicianship, and less "romantic" than that of other players.  He appears
businesslike in performance, doesn't sway back and forth when playing,
has few overt facial mannerisms, and doesn't wave his bow around with
flourishes.  I have seen him live 2 or 3 times, performed in an orchestra
when he was soloist (Saint-Saens and Vivaldi), and audited two of his
master classes.  He has been remarkably consistent over the years.  He
has very intense eyes.  When he is observing you it has something of the
entomologist examining an insect for dissection.  You feel good when he
finally cracks a smile.  He always had sensible, positive things to say
about participants' performances, and was able to give suggestions that
worked.  One of the comments that stuck with me (from the 70s) was to a
student who wasn't getting a very professional sound.  He said that one of
the objectives was to reach a minimum level of professionalism in one's
playing, and once reached one can go farther than that, but one should
never fall below it.  We've all heard or produced the occasional awkward or
unmusical sound on our instruments, even when we have learned how to make
good sounds.  I would call them "lapses." He was against having "lapses" in
playing.  So if you're not inspired, you are always at least professional.
That is what I took him to mean.  I think that is good advice for the
student.  The next task of course is how to learn the difference between
the professional's approach and the approach of the person who is content
merely to make sounds, and who is lucky enough sometimes to make a decent
one.

Chris Bonds