Music For A While
Wednesday February 15th, 2023 with David Cavlovic
Whole Lalo good music goin' on

Some people don't want to learn. Many years' ago, during my music student days, I knew of a young 'cellist who went out of their way to dazzle, but had a trick in doing so: they played eclectic virtuoso repertoire that was not part of the standard canon of 'cello music and therefore their performances could not be compared to or questioned by other young up-and-comming 'cellists. One day, this 'cellist attended a masterclass held by János Starker, the 'cellist featured in today's recording of Lalo's D Minor 'Cello Concerto (a piece of standard 'cello repertoire, by the way). The young 'cellist in question began to play an obscure virtuoso piece, but Starker saw right through what this 'cellist was trying to do (and very little of the 'cello repertoire was obscure to Starker). He immediately stopped the 'cellist and asked them to play a C Major scale. The 'cellist obliged, but the problem was (and clearly no surprise to Starker) the simple scale was horribly out of tune. Starker exposed the student by demonstrating they had forgone practicing technique for supposedly flashy playing. This is why the 'cellist rarely played the standard repertoire: lack of technique would be glaringly obvious. János Starker spent a good half hour going over with the student proper finger placement and sound quality for a simple C Major scale. Afterwards, he said that the student had great talent potential, but for now, they should put away the flashy show pieces and spend a good year focusing solely on scales and technique. Subsequently, this 'cellist denied having ever met János Starker, and continued playing flashy but empty show pieces. Some people just don't want to learn....