Too pretentious?

[Florestan]

Maybe that is where I got the idea from . You don't have his vast hooter, and unlike Franz your eyes aren't too close together. But you could play him in a biopic of his life - the actors are always better looking than the people they are playing.

Poor old Cosima, inheriting her father's looks!

[Despina41]

I would not know Joshua Bell if he bit me on the arse.>>

Don't worry, you're not missing as much as his fans would say you are. Around here, we just call him "JoshBoy" and are done with it.

[Despina41]

As for Liszt in the sitcom:

[Herzeleide]

Originally Posted by Florestan

Maybe that is where I got the idea from . You don't have his vast hooter, and unlike Franz your eyes aren't too close together. But you could play him in a biopic of his life - the actors are always better looking than the people they are playing.

Poor old Cosima, inheriting her father's looks!

[Herzeleide]

Thanks for your effusive comments Florestan.

[Herzeleide]

There's no way in hell Liszt would ever have had a perm - in any epoch.

[Philidor]

Originally Posted by Herzeleide

I revere classical music!

And I love to scare toffs and snobs when I arrive at concerts with my long hair and suspicious image and odour.

It's worth remembering that young people embedded in Western youth culture can be tremendously snobby and conventional. Try announcing to a group in a trendy bar that you're keen on 18th century violin sonatas! I've done it often and the result is always amusing. They look at you like you've farted in church.

"What? You like that old stuff?"

"Sure. It's far more interesting than the pop music concert you've just been to. For a start they use more than three chords and modulate to different keys. Gosh! Why do you listen to that tripe?

"But.. but..."

"Plus classical musicians tend to be more open minded and the culture isn't impregnated with illegal drugs (except for the occasional betablocker to help with pre-performance nerves). Try it. Why be a musical conservative all your life?"

<odd honking noises>

[Herzeleide]

Originally Posted by Philidor

It's worth remembering that young people embedded in Western youth culture can be tremendously snobby and conventional. Try announcing to a group in a trendy bar that you're keen on 18th century violin sonatas! I've done it often and the result is always amusing. They look at you like you've farted in church.

"What? You like that old stuff?"

"Sure. It's far more interesting than the pop music concert you've just been to. For a start they use more than three chords and modulate to different keys. Gosh! Why do you listen to that tripe?

"But.. but..."

"Plus classical musicians tend to be more open minded and the culture isn't impregnated with illegal drugs (except for the occasional betablocker to help with pre-performance nerves). Try it. Why be a musical conservative all your life?"

<odd honking noises>

Haha.

I doubt they'd say anything. Or make some mortifying attempt at talking about 'classical' music.

At which point I'd probably leave.

[Florestan]

Originally Posted by Herzeleide

How unfortunate. I have always held that Roger Daltrey is one of the ugliest men who ever drew breath.

[Herzeleide]

Originally Posted by Florestan

We tend to infer from this sort of behaviour that the performer is saying "look at me! I am so caught up with the spirituality, or sexuality, or whatever, of what I am doing that I must groan like a rutting stag."

Which begs the question: "Why doesn't everybody do it, then?"

But maybe some people really can't help it and aren't aware they are doing it. Obviously no one would have suggested that Glenn Gould shouldn't play because he couldn't stop making noises.

I don't know. To play brilliantly takes tremendous discipline. How much more discipline does it take not to go oooaaaarrrrr when you're playing?

Maybe the problem is that people are too scared to say: "Yes, wonderful, but let's try that again without the mooing."

In Gould's case I don't think it took too much discipline, certainly not as much as the average virtuoso. I think conquered all technical problems when he was in his teens, and so probably forgot all about by the time he was an adult.

From wikipedia:

"Gould claimed he practiced little on the piano, preferring to study music by reading it rather than playing it, a technique he had also learnt from Guerrero. His manual practicing was unusually attentive to articulation, rather than exercises for basic facility. He may have spoken ironically about his practicing, but there is evidence that he did practice Bach and Beethoven, in a way that was nuanced and efficient.

He stated that he didn't understand the requirement of other pianists to continuously reinforce their relationship with the instrument by practicing many hours a day. It seems that Gould was able to practice mentally without access to an instrument, and even took this so far as to prepare for a recording of Brahms piano works without ever playing them until a few weeks before the recording sessions. This is all the more staggering considering the absolute accuracy and phenomenal dexterity exhibited in his playing. Gould's large repertoire also demonstrated this natural mnemonic gift."