A beautiful woman playing Arvo Part's stunning piece, Fratres.
I'm not sure what her name is.
She has her own style. She emphasizes the root/melody note of the arpeggio in the beginning of the piece, in a way I have never heard before.
Her performance is a revelation throughout.
What do you think, MR?
I think this may be the single most beautiful performance of this piece. Wow!
UPDATE - Ok, I figured out who she is: Mari Samuelsen. I added the name to the title of this post.
12 comments:
Man, as I continue to listen, I continue to be more and more amazed by her performance. I love to joke about beautiful women, but all joking aside. I think this woman may be a true genius musician.
Everything she does is original. She has a personality of her own, and it comes through, dominates the music, even as she is true to the piece.
She plays a Guadagnini.
So did Bob Wills.
RT, How are you able to recognize such a thing. I would never know.
I'm a googler.
Googled her, it said she plays one.
Didn't know what it was.
Googled it, and found Bob listed as a player.
She's Norwegian, The finest speakers in the world are made in Scandinavia. Might be some genetic issues at play in the correlation. They seem to really excel at fine music. Might be the long winters.
That was absolutely stunning.
Others who play Guadagninis include Vanessa Mae, Julia Fischer, and Steohanie Sant'Ambrogio of Eroica Trio. His violins are ranked way up there, close (but not equal) to Stradivari. I had no idea Bob Wills played one.
How RT knew that's what she was playing I don't know, I wouldn't be able to tell who made it, only that it was an exceptional sounding instrument played by an exceptional talent.
I have expanded my musical tastes over the last few years. Especially when MR posted in the Backroom.
But I still haven't developed an ear for classical music.
I have no idea what "arpeggio" is.
I do however know that Mr. Roboto was into Domo Arigato. ;-)
..... my genre of choice these days is downbeat ambient chill. I'm addicted to the shit. I just put a new bluetooth Kenwood head unit in my company truck so I can listen to Groove Salad while driving.
Ok so that explains RT.
In my case I have 3 violin players in the house (including myself)(I really suck) and know a gawd awful number of others (both violin players and fiddlers) who talk about what they play and what they'd like to own someday.
Fun story -- When I was in high school I played bass guitar (as well as regular guitar) but my primary instruments were clarinet and saxophone. Got into the district orchestra senior year. 1st clarinet 2nd chair.
But for one tune they needed a bass player.
Ok I'll do it.
And they "handed" me a big double bass.
So that night I learned to play double bass by applying what I learned playing bass guitar.
And no one was ever the wiser except the conductor and the family I was staying with wondering why a clarinet player was bringing a big double bass into the house.
Dang RT types quicker than me.
"Explains RT" refers to his Googling comment, not downbeat ambient chill.
Although...
;-)
RT arpeggio's -- notes of a chord played in sequence but singularly, not at all once.
Think of the banjo line, especially the opening, in Fogy Mountain Breakdown. That's arpeggio playing. As is Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.
Gotcha
The arpeggio's in this piece are the repetitive violin lines at the beginning, during which she hesitates slightly to emphasize the primary note of the melody. This is something that she does with an exquisite subtlety that is not heard on other recordings of this piece. Most violinists play these arpeggios in a way that gives a galloping sense to the music, which sounds cheap in comparison to her finely articulated individual notes and emphasis on the melody.
Look at her eyes when she opens them, the unfocused quality. This woman is in a trance. She channels from a deep resevoir of emotion. She gives a narrative to this piece.
This is one of my favorite pieces of Classical music, and I've been listening to it since 1988, but I feel as if I never heard it before until having heard her play it.
What Pasto said bit also, especially toward the end, the emotion in her face, holding back tears almost, she is no longer playing the music, she IS the music. She and the violin and the music are one.
It is transcendance.
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