Posted by dgee on May 11, 1999 at 16:06:22:
In Reply to: teachers of "new" vs "old" sound and styles posted by Charles Brooks on May 09, 1999 at 19:28:35:
: I'm a cellist currently studying in my home country of New Zealand and am looking to continue my studies with a master degree overseas next year. I am a great fan of the "new" sound that I hear in the recordings of Yo yo Ma and Steven Isserlis as opposed to the more Rostropovich type of colour. I am wondering who/where are the teachers that promote this "cleaner" style of playing? I am also interested as to who is continuing the teachings of Starker and Greenhouse (my current proffesors teachers). I have had a little insight into the mechanics of Greenhouses "springy" left hand and found that it had an immediate positive effect on the amount of tension in my hand.
It almost appears as though Rostropovich is an exception. Most people don't have that style of playing.I will tell you, if you want to make a performance interesting, master the expressive nature of rhythm. Refine your ear so that you needn't dwell on a passage too long and keep the tempos moving. The reason some of th3 finest players play quickly is that they need only a hint of what is present in the passage and the imagination will understand the full meaning. the quicker minds then need to move off of the passage quickly to avoid boredom. Slower tempos can be painfully boring for people who do not need to be bashed over the head with the melodic and harmonic movement of the music. The actual sound of the cello is simply not as important as other factors in music making in my opinion. I think that players who use a resonant world of coloration can risk the appearance of self absorbtion when they make music. If a cellist is boring, it is not because his/her sound is clean. It is because he/she is not
working the rhythmic elements properly. Interesting topic. DG