Customer Reviews

Midori: Live at Carnegie Hall (Mozart, Strauss, Beethoven, Ernst, Chopin, Ravel) [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When one watches Midori play, it may seem odd that she hardly ever looks joyful when playing joyful music, but no doubt we can sense that she has an intense feeling for the music, and effusively pours out her perceptions from a wide open heart. While she has not the vast arsenal of facial expressions of Gil Shaham, her diverse, copious, thoughtful, subtle, and touching musical expressions are second to none.

Another feature one quickly notices is her incredible hands. Her threadlike, elongated fingers seem to have been molded by God to create an effortless fingerboard gymnast; the lengthiness of the fourth [little] finger is simply amazing. Not only are her fingers outrageously far-stretching, but they are extraordinarily supple, hence she can easily employ rapid fingertip vibrato at the high registers. Her vibrato runs the gamut of speed and intensity, and may be generated by the wrist, the finger joints, or exactly like the Heifetz "impulse" type vibrato--named by Henry Roth, who claims it was motivated from somewhere within the arm.

After a light-hearted sonata by Mozart, Midori performs the magnificent, hyper-romantic, yet seldom recorded sonata by the young Richard Strauss. In contrast with the previous piece, this ultra-dramatic sonata is marvellously rich in content and expressive opportunities, and one can scarcely imagine it being played more effectively by someone else. Midori's technical finesse and enchanting tone, governed by a contemplative mind and a feverishly ardent heart, ready to pump out into the rapt audience at any moment, culminate in an immensely moving rendition. The listener must also credit the pianist Robert McDonald's spirited and sensitive playing. One can't help wondering why one so rarely hears this splendid piece.

Midori begins the second half with Beethoven's Sonata No. 8. She captures the gaiety and animation of the outer movements as well as anyone else, yet they are not fully gratifying. In the first movement, the exposition is repeated, later recapitulated, but unbelievably, her interpretations--though individually superb--of these three times are virtually the same, lacking in variety. In the third movement, her pursuit of wanton vivacity in a certain passage sacrifices the tone quality. Yet her slow movement is super-sensitive, particularly in transitional passages; it is the finest rendition of this movement I've ever heard--even superior to Szeryng's.

Midori audaciously elected to play in her New York debut Ernst's terrifying Variations on The Last Rose of Summer. Double-harmonics often make a good violinist sound like two bad ones, but Midori, with her exceptionally lengthy, slender, and agile fingers, effortlessly negotiates these intricacies and makes them sound as if they were played by two fine flutists. This will no doubt render multitudes of violinists, such as Heifetz, green with envy. The fiendishly difficult fireworks are all tossed off with lithe gracefulness and seeming ease; the left-hand pizzicatos are articulate, the harmonics pellucid, the octave shifts pure in intonation, and the tone quality immaculate.

Midori's prodigious prowess lies not only in her ability to make the most herculean pieces sound easy, but make them sound musical. We can try to forget about all the pyrotechnics; rather than marvel at her unprecedented instrumental mastery, we can immerse ourselves in the wonderfully beautiful music, and savour the bountiful nuances.

Anyone would badly need a respite after performing such a strenuous piece, and Midori gave her hands--but not her mind and heart--a brief relief in Chopin's Nocturne in C-sharp minor. Here's another meticulously thought out and superbly expressive rendition that, complemented with a most sympathetic tone, can hardly fail to melt the attentive listener's heart.

The last piece on the printed program is Ravel's Tzigane [gypsy], another devilish, complex piece. The music begins with a long oration of the solo violin, the first part of it entirely on the G string. Even solely on one string, Midori, by dint of divergent bow pressures, portamentos and vibrato, plus rubato, creates a most colorful, elastic, luscious, bewitching, yet doleful tone. Throughout the piece, she perpetually captivates the audience with her breathtaking technical wizardry, variegated and multi-dimensional tone, boundless array of expressive devices, stark dynamic contrasts, and subtle phrasing.

Due to the limited space I have here, I cannot pinpoint several startling details of her innovative interpretation. To sum up, one can only be awe-struck by her sophisticated mind, natural gypsy spirit, and confident instrumental command, and revel in this superlative rendition of Olympian stature. After Debussy's rather brief, simplistic Beau Soir, Midori proceeded to play Sarasate's Zapateado as her second encore piece, which is one of the most fearsomely virtuosic pieces ever written by the Spaniard.

By this time Midori finally looks more at ease in her playing; indeed, she virtually frolics in the technical obstacles of this thorny piece, which is really how the true virtuoso, equipped with complete technical mastery, should play this gay and whimsical dance music. She smiles for the first time while performing when merely half a minute into the piece, numerous members in the audience, so overwhelmed by her brilliant flair, could not refrain from bursting into cheers and applause. This is understandable, for the crystal-clear and razor-sharp production of the dashing harmonic passage is veritably hair-raising and mind-boggling. She subsequently imparts even more tasteful rubato, contrasts, and other spices to this showpiece which, when elevated thus by Midori, doesn't sound superficial. It is regrettable that the Sony engineers didn't include this resplendent tour-de-force in the much more available CD version.

In a nutshell, it seems that the 19-year-old Midori has nearly reached the pinnacle of violin playing. Every rational, experienced and impartial person who had the privilege to witness this unforgettable concert will have to concede that, at least in expressive and virtuosic music, Midori is already a nonpareil. END

I have the cd and enjoy the music and thought I'd try out the video. Well, it's an experience beyond anything I've ever seen.

Seeing her play , the unique way she shapes each note was such an emotional experience for me. I rarely cry but in the middle of the Strauss E flat Sonata, I cried for a good 20 minutes because the beauty of the moment was just too much - I knew I was witnessing a miracle (I consider her playing a living miracle) .

I too am an amateur musician (piano and violin) and I know how great she is...

As far as the music, I enjoy all of it, and the Strauss Sonata is such a masterpiece. In fact, every few minutes it produces phrases so wonderful that it truly is art in itself.

I'm afraid I've overplayed this video and need another copy - I'll be happy to buy another !

michael ,a Midori appreciator

Even from a videotaped live performance, Midori has a wonderful violin tone. I remember the first time I heard her caprices, how great the tone was and how lush and expressive a vibrato she had even then.

It would be easier to compare Midori to Kreisler than Heifetz because she really has the elegant thing down but not the show off virtuoso part of the equation. Like Kreisler, I found her taking many liberties with respect to rythms for the sake of articulation expression and accuracy. Many times I can see she is just plain not confident and missing some kind of conviction that says Im all over this.

Robert McDonald is a superb and masterful pianist without a doubt but banga banga banga he's too loud and drounds out the violin. Perhaps he is a great soloist but it seems to me he should try to play with people better then he did here.

I had the CD of this performance for some time before I got the video, and now I am wondering what took me so long. Watching this 18 year old (at the time of the videotaping) phenomenon flawlessly playing an interesting mix of Mozart, Beethoven, Richard Strauss, Ravel, Chopin, and DeBussy topped off with a jaw dropping rendition of Ernst's "The Last Rose of Summer" left me spellbound.

In addition to the performance footage there is some welcome background info on Midori, along with videotape capturing the young violinist in her earlier years in New York. I was glad to see this included, as it helps me to understand who she is and how she came to be such a great musician.

Midori is my favorite violinist. After watching this video you may well say the same thing.

Well, there is certainly no shortage of extremes in opinion on this particular video! I assure you, the truth (as always) lies firmly in the middle. She moves her body around a lot, but so do countless others. (Even though I'd rather not see it at all, it really isn't *that* bad. And no one has a stance like Heifetz's, so let's not even go there). Her Tzigane was not *horrible*, give me a break! There are better ones, yes, but there certainly are worse ones too. It is adequate, won't blow anyone away, but nice enough.

It is fair to neither Heifetz nor Midori to bring up any comparison between the two. Heifetz is a force of nature, and he sometimes pales in comparison to *himself*. (E.g. compare recordings he made really early in his life vs those he made towards the end. Which is "better"? Depends on who you ask).

I'd say for under [$$], this is a very nice video for 90% of violin/music fans. The remaining 10% are looking for an all-time-great performance of every piece of music on the video, and are simply not being realistic.

Midori is pure magic, plain and simple. What this woman does with her violin is stunning to hear and staggering to my soul. This video must be out on DVD by now, and if it is, I encourage you to get a copy right away.

Her rendition of Ravel's Tzigane is mesmerizing. HIGHLY recommended!

i never really expected much from midori. the reason i bought the tape was to let my 8yo niece watch it as she is studying violin. i was surprised to find that "time flies" and in that film she was already 19. that means now she is 29. wat is still stuck in my mind is a young prodigy of 8. anyway, my first comment in that film is: SHE MOVES TOO MUCH. this is most distracting. as a musician myself (violinist) i hate it when the performer moves and emotes as a sign of "feeling" (amateurish mentality). also speaking as a violinist, when one keeps bending down, the bow will move to the fingerboard, affecting ones tonal quality. why no one ever told her these things is beyond me. is it because ppl are scared to criticize her? anyway, i feel that it is unfair to compare her to heifetz, rabin, as there will be no other heifetz, nor rabin, milstein, etc. i didn't think her tzigane was that bad as wat one reviewer put it( though it would be if u compared it to heifetz), but it is obvious she hasn't studied the piece quiet well. she still lacks the ability to put color in her playing, and also to understand the phrasing (wat do u expect from a 19yo anyway?). by and large if there were another violinist with same repertoire, i would go for the other. oh yes, because she keeps moving on that film, i decided to hear the video without watching it. just hear her play.

Midori was considered "the next Jascha Heifetz" but upon closer examination, i can whole-heartedly say that she isn't. First of all, she doesn't play at all like him. His playing was stoic with very little movement. Midori does these (highly insulting to purists and conservative classical music listeners) weird leg acrobatics as if she's sitting up and down on an imaginary chair. Trust me, the crowd at a concert i went to ate her alive on her shoddy playing/fake passionate body movement.

However, i must congratulate her for tackling so many difficult pieces for her concert. I do not see why she even tried to record the Last Rose of Summer. Again, we see she is not Heifetz. Heifetz refused to play a piece until he mastered it completely(or he refused to play it at all. see Paganini's Caprices, Prokofiev Violin concerto No.1, and countless others). He spent years and years before even allowing the public to hear any piece that he worked on. Midori did a half-baked job on the last rose of summer. If you really want a great recording, go with Kremer or Ricci(listen to ricci only if you like ricci's style...there are passionate lovers and passionate haters of Ricci)

Midori's Tzigane was horrible. I've seen and heard much better recordings of Tzigane. Perlman, Szeryng, Rabin, the list goes on. For some reason, the piano just LOVES to hide her pizzicato. The piano overshadows her pizzicato part and you can barely hear her. Perhaps it was done to hide her insufficient technique(but who knows?). Again, she would not make "heifetz green with envy" as someone below stated because if you listen to the young Heifetz's recording of Tzigane, you'll see skill that she was not able to match. Again, listen to some other recordings that i mentioned before/after Midori's. You'll be astounded if you thoought Midori was good.

Midori has nothing special that the old greats had. If you're looking for a living prodigy and virtuoso, go with Vadim Repin. Midori is decent, but nothing that the reviews say she is. Just remember, there are MANY(and i stress MANY) people who hate Midori. Be careful how you speak of her in front of music aficionados