Free thoughts and words

A Unique Performance In The World (According To Clerici)

7 replies 2,078 views

Started by

Piccinesco

Member

Member

Opening post by Piccinesco

Posts
1,231
City
Villanova di Guidonia

I was talking about this little boy to Simone a few days ago, I found the video, the point where you can see and listen to him is at 1:29'10", for me he wanted at all costs

to play too fast, small hands aside, the feeling is that he wanted to overdo it (he is 6 years old, but it doesn't seem to me that children of this

age are lacking who play much better on the piano), in Flight of the Bumblebee it is then evident that he swallows "some" notes, he wants to play too fast,

certainly it will also be emotion and enthusiasm, but the feeling is that he lacks "control" (positive in a child, because otherwise he would already be too

pigeonholed, but negative because instinctively he will be prone to it, but if he is not guided in the right way instead of improving he will remain a forced attempt).

In the part for the right hand of Flight of the Bumblebee he performs practically acciaccaturas, too, too fast as an execution, he exaggerated.

It should be noted that in other videos on YouTube he always plays the same pieces, and always presents the same way of playing, the same forcings and the same speed

in the execution, for me by playing not much less fast everything would result more effective and pleasant, this way it all seems truly forced, and it is.

http://www.cinetvmania.it/2012/12/09/ti-lascio-una-canzone-la-festa-replica-puntata-8-dicembre-2012-video/

The video starts automatically.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dLkyJJ4x3s

Here instead he plays on another television program.

Then there is a video in which he seems to be playing at home where he always plays the same pieces with something extra, at minute 1:38"

he seems to play a little better, there is more "attention" to the interpretation and less virtuoso frenzy:

http://www.cinetvmania.it/2012/12/09/ti-lascio-una-canzone-la-festa-replica-puntata-8-dicembre-2012-video/

Administrator

Reply 2 by Thesimon

Posts
4,504
City
Ariccia, RM

I don't know about you, but these children make me feel a bit sorry for them.

As far as I remember, a very great talent, and moreover very young, lately it seems to me I remember an Evgeny Kissin who at 16 years old was already playing a wide repertoire of Liszt, including 2 Hungarian Rhapsodies, the Liszt-Paganini La Campanella, and the étude de concert, in particular number 1 (the lament) and number 2 (the lightness). All played in a truly mature way despite his young age. Genius.

These 6-year-old children brought on TV always with the same pieces for years, seem to me just a way that parents resort to in order to make money and exploit them without giving them a chance to enjoy their own years. And maybe they are even forced to stay "on" for hours in front of the keyboard. That's why I feel sorry for them; not that they are pitiful in how they play, in most cases.

Of course, in this video, the child also performs "Flight of the Bumblebee," which seems far too pretentious to me, both for his hand and for his age. He would have made a better impression by performing a youthful piano work by Mozart—there are many of them—without too much pretension. The point is that the idiots in front of the television, who are practically 99% of the viewers, associate skill with speed and they don't care much if the notes are all crushed, if the dynamics are all wrong, or if the touch is non-existent; it's enough to be fast. Well, in this recording, given these premises, I must say that the execution is also truly pitiful.

Member

Reply 3 by rstrauss

Posts
432
City
Udine
TheSimon wrote:

I don't know about you, but these children make me feel a bit of pity.

they make me feel pity too.

TheSimon wrote:

As far as I remember, of great talent, and moreover very young, lately it seems to me that I remember an Evgeny Kissin who at 16 years old was already playing a wide repertoire of Liszt, including 2 Hungarian Rhapsodies, the Liszt-Paganini La Campanella, and the étude de concert, in particular number 1 (the lament) and number 2 (the lightness). All played in a truly mature way despite his young age. Genius.

If you start at 6, by age 16 you have already studied piano for 10 years and if you haven't graduated, you're almost there, so Kissin playing Liszt at 16 is plausible technically speaking. What is shocking about Kissin is the interpretative maturity that you could never have at 6 years old.

My friends, as always happens in music, you cannot fake it, you cannot skip steps, and everyone must pass through the same milestones starting from the Bayer onwards.

These children-(prodigies) have a repertoire of 4/5 pieces and they always play those, and even badly, like this one... there would be nothing to object to, after all he is only 6 years old, but the big problem is that instead of channeling his talent (it remains to be seen if it exists) and studying, this child only thinks about putting on a show on a keyboard... rather... his parents think about making money and for this reason they should have their parental authority removed... what is seen in these videos is the best way to burn out a young talent.

Then, to top it all off, there are the philistines in front of the TV, who understand nothing about the piano, but when they see someone playing the "Flight of the Bumblebee" or Chopin's sudden C# minor, they think they are facing the new Rubinstein, despite the obvious mistakes the poor child makes... and which, I repeat, at 6 years old are completely normal, if only because of the emotion.

Perhaps for this child there is still hope of not burning out, but he must stop with the buffoonery on TV and start studying seriously... that is the problem.

Moderator

Reply 4 by Frank

Posts
3,838
City
-

It makes me feel tender, I always wonder if for them it isn't a game and they are having fun...you will say no, but I don't know...children do what they like and want...

You can't force a child to do precision work if they don't want to...they aren't brushing their teeth

Administrator

Reply 5 by Thesimon

Posts
4,504
City
Ariccia, RM

Assuming that he enjoys playing the piano... He should follow a process regardless. In both videos, you always hear the same things, which is a sign that this child was presented with a sheet of music and told: "do as I do". Piano study, as Strauss rightly reminded us, should not dispense with a certain gradualness. At 6 years old, one can start reading Bastien studies for fun until reaching some of Mozart's pieces for youth, and not necessarily boring technique. So, welcome to methods for children. "Flight of the Bumblebee" is not played at 6 years old, not so much due to cognitive incapacity—after all, it's just chromatic scales—but rather due to physical incapacity. At 6 years old, one does not have the hand to tackle a piece like that, and the results seem obvious to me. I hope I never find myself at such a show, because I would immediately express my point of view, not so much regarding the child who, poor thing, put on display does what he can, but towards those imbecilic parents who care much more about the money derived from exploiting their child than about the child's own future, and this is shameful.

Then regarding Clerici's phrase: "A performance unique in the world"... What do you expect Clerici to understand, when she should have said that after leaving "La prova del cuoco" where the greatest musical experience was "Nonna Pina's tagliatelle"?

Member

Reply 6 by rstrauss

Posts
432
City
Udine
Frank wrote:

It makes me feel pity, I always wonder if it's a game for them and they are having fun... you will say no, but I don't know... children do what they like and want...

You can't force a child to do precision work if they don't want to... they aren't brushing their teeth

yes ... maybe it amuses them ... but during study?

how many hours at the piano to perform a piece that is certainly beyond their reach?

... with the sole purpose of putting on a show in front of a camera for a blind and completely incompetent audience?

mah ...

Member

Reply 7 by rstrauss

Posts
432
City
Udine
TheSimon wrote:

Then regarding Clerici's phrase: "A unique performance in the world"... What do you expect Clerici to understand, and what should she have said after coming out of "La prova del cuoco" where the greatest musical experience was "Nonna Pina's tagliatelle"?

there was also "Il coccodrillo come fa" ...

Log in to participate