Favorite Players

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Permalink Reply by Shawn Smith on April 13, 2009 at 4:48pm

All of the artists mentioned in other posts are great to listen to, but lately my favorite musician is an amazing young double bassist named Patricia da Silva. I attended a concert of hers in Mississippi where she performed a concerto with the USM symphony. She played the Fantasia "La Sonnambulla" by Bottesini and it was the most incredible display of double bass mastery I have ever seen!

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Permalink Reply by Ethan Alexander on April 14, 2009 at 4:40pm

i have to agree with lillian about edgar meyer. he is a wonderful musician, and one listen to his collaborations with bela fleck will make a believer out of anyone.

francois rabbath is another amazing bass player. his own compositions are an awesome blend of eastern and western styles, and his performances of other works (specifically those written by frank proto) will leave any string player blessed.

i had the joy to see him perform some improvisations with his piano playing son. watching the two communicate in the way that only musicians know was breathtaking and a real inspiration.

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Permalink Reply by Jay Beaune on April 14, 2009 at 7:25pm

Speaking of Kim Kashkashian, I'm planning on attending The Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival to see her play. Exciting!
Thursday, June 11, 7:30 p.m., Kirk in the Hills
Friday, June 12, 10:45 a.m., Kirk in the Hills

Ani Kavafian, Kim Kashkashian, Yehuda Hanani,
Debra Fayroian, James Tocco, Pei-Shan Lee, PERCUSSION TBD




Schubert Adagio and Rondo Concertante for Piano Quartet, D 487
Chopin Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65
Ueno World Premiere for Viola and Percussion
Mendelssohn Violin Sonata in F major (c. 1838)


Greg Cahill said:

Ditto on Kim Kashkashian as a favorite violist, but not only for her playing skills—she's a really adventurous programmer when it comes to recording interesting repertoire, often by Armenian composers and arrangers (check out her Tigran Mansurian: Monodia CD).

For violin, these days, I've been diggin' 23-year-old Russian violinist Alina Ibragimova—stunning musicality and technique and, there again, a willingness to launch a career by recording relatively obscure but infinitely fascinating music rather than the safe warhorses (I love Hilary Hahn's playing and am glad she has recorded a contemporary work by Jennifer Higdon, but she told Strings we shouldn't expect her to stretch out too much because concert promoters want the same safe standard rep. Too bad. That's our loss.).
Strings magazine published a cover story on Ibragimova in February 2008: Read it here


Read more about Alina Ibragimova: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alina_Ibragimova">

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Permalink Reply by agordon on May 27, 2009 at 4:44pm

My favorite player is hands-down Giora Schmidt. Some of you may have heard of him. Maybe not. He's definitely one to watch. Studied with Perlman, was a Juilliard Starling Fellow, won an Avery Fisher Career Grant, etc.

A lot of the players you hear today are too perfect with their razor-sharp precision. And what I mean by that is that it's so perfect that it lacks the human quality. When you listen to the great players Heifetz, Milstein, Oistrakh....there is something in their sound, a three-dimensionality, a grittiness at times that I like to think of as the human quality. It's a quality of sound that differentiates it from the clean, almost robotic sound that we hear from so many accomplished fiddle players today. I don't know how to better articulate it because it's something you hear and you just know.

Giora Schmidt is technically flawless, but not at the expense of his human quality. Since he studied with Perlman, he has this acutely-focused, gleaming sound - a sound that is so hauntingly beautiful. And because he studied with Zukerman in his teens he also has a coarse, dark-roasted, throaty grittiness that comes from his bow arm. And when you put it all together, it's a range of colors and textures that I haven't heard from any other young violinist playing right now. His sound and technique are very much in the same tradition as these great fiddle players of past.

I highly recommend you check him out: http://www.gioraschmidt.com

Also check out his:
Barber Concerto with the Israel Phil and Perlman conducting
Kreisler Recitative & Scherzo

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Permalink Reply by Catherine Guthrie on November 25, 2009 at 9:33pm

Jascha Heifetz for me! And for newcomers....Itzhak Perlman, I also just discovered a girl named Janine Jansen who I've been listening to a lot lately!

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Baird on December 23, 2009 at 12:07pm

Since no one has mentioned cello, there is a new Russian player I really enjoy, Ruslan Biryukov. He brings a passion and understanding of the cello repertoire I haven't seen since Jacquline de Pre. He studied under Mstislav Rostropovich among others. His web site is http://www.celloart.com

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Permalink Reply by paul stuyck on January 14, 2010 at 10:57am

Here is my list :
Hilary Hahn
Alina Ibragimova
Chloé Hanslip
Sarah Chang
Viktoria Mullova all are awesome !!

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Baird on January 14, 2010 at 11:26am

If you like Sarah Chang, then I recommend another Korean player, cellist Han-Na Chang; especially her Vivaldi album.

paul stuyck said:

Here is my list :
Hilary Hahn
Alina Ibragimova
Chloé Hanslip
Sarah Chang
Viktoria Mullova all are awesome !!

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Permalink Reply by Kelly Torosian on January 21, 2010 at 6:39am

The two that really inspire me are Itzhak Perlman and Joshua Bell.
When I was about ten or so, my then-teacher introduced me to Itzhak Perlman with a 2 cd set of the Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms and Tchaikovsky violin concertos. Those immediately became my favorite recordings ever, and when my teacher told me that Perlman had been afflicted by polio as a child and was disabled because of it, it really hit home with me because of my disability.
I've been a fan of Joshua Bell for the past few years too, from Romance of the Violin, Voice of the Violin, and Vivaldi: The Four Seasons. I love the Devil's Trill Sonata! I went to see him in concert with the North Carolina Symphony just last week, and I was absolutely blown away. In this area it's hard to go to really good concerts-in any genre of music-because everyone books concerts in the larger city of Charlotte and passes over Raleigh, so it was a real treat for me to see him live. The real surprise was his encore piece...a personalized version of Yankee Doodle! It was funny, at the same time it was amazing. I came home and said, "You've never heard Yankee Doodle until you've heard it on a Strad."

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Permalink Reply by Michelle Millier on February 5, 2010 at 2:16pm

My favorite violinists would have to be Rachel Barton Pine, Hilary Hahn, and Janine Jansen. I recently saw Rachel Barton Pine play the Baber violin concerto with the Stockton Symohony last October, and it was one of the best interpretations I've heard and I've enjoyed all of her albums that I've listened to. The day before I saw her perform I observed a master class that she was offering which was very enjoyable. I liked how she had a question and answer segment after the master classes for the audience. What I like about Hilary Hahn is how technically correct she is. Her intonation is absolutely perfect! I also enjoy Janine Jansen because she is a very passionate performer and you can tell that she truly enjoys playing the violin.

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Permalink Reply by Asher Wade on February 24, 2010 at 5:54am

My list:
1) Itzhak Pearlman - He apparently can play 'anything' & always perfectly. He also gave me hope in that (& he even said this about himself) with his short, fat fingers he can "still" play better than basically anyone! Plus, I also heard him comment about all the mania & craziness people bestow upon "famous" violins by saying, "if you 'really' know how to play violin, you could make even a shoebox sound great".
2) David Oistrakh - simply the sheer power & control he has at his command; it's simply breath-taking! Plus, by closely observing his technique, I learned how to 'liberate' my playing; i.e. playing without a shoulder-rest.
3) Maxim Vengerov - the fire & the fury. Also, his 'spot-on' intonation every-single-note; wow!
4) Philippe Hirschhorn - the passion & the awesome 'feeling' he displays through the music he plays.

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