Word: violins
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Dates: during 2000-2000
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...their drawing rooms for small groups. They are small, delicate and exquisitely decorated according to their makers' imaginations. Many are inlaid with ivory, ebony, mother of pearl and tortoiseshell, and most have intricately carved rosettas in their centers. It was fascinating to see one made by Stradivarius; the famous violin-maker also had a wonderful sense for the guitar. The second gallery has novelties like a Dali-esque double guitar and harp guitars, but most of the instruments are less interesting to look at. The commentaries and the main angle of the room focus on the history of the instrument...
Schulte, along with pianist James Winn, opened with Arnold Schoenberg's Phantasy for Violin with Piano Accompaniment. The pair played with near-perfect coordination. One immediately noticed how Schulte's idiosyncrasies, like his rather unusual handling of the bow, were used to effective ends. His attack was extraordinary, and he released his bow with a preciseness and rapidity that seemed both risky and impossible...
...most anticipated part of the evening was the world premiere of Donald Martino's Romanza, written especially for Schulte for this concert. The work, for solo violin, opened with extreme intervallic explorations that lead to variations that increase in intensity. As the composer wrote in the program notes, "The sets of variations at first are cast within traditional phrase-length boundaries, but as the line unfolds, these become freer and more fanciful." The three parts of the work (alternately slow, fast and slow) flowed well, and there was some obvious excellent writing, such as the one part where the violin...
...served as a substitute for a Milton Babbitt piece that was to have been premiered at the concert (apparently Babbitt could not finish the piece in time). The interludes comprise two moderate-tempo movements and a scherzo-like middle movement. The piano accompaniment is harmonically inventive, but the violin line sometimes suffers from a lack of development. Still, Schulte and Winn played the piece with accuracy and enthusiasm...
...classes here are just so different, even for music concentrators. The objective at NEC is to give as little work as possible so you can practice six hours a day....They expect you to know how to play the violin and if you don't know when Palestrina died its not a big deal...