I'm sorry but I must say I am very shocked at the amount of criticism on this video. People! this young woman is of the highest technical and musical caliber! I can't believe people are posting comments on minor fret buzz mistakes and hand position!!! Are you kidding me??? You all wish, including myself, that you could play like her. Great Playing! Keep posting please!!!!
Dear Su Meng Thank you for all the hard work it took you to give us this beautiful gift which, please believe, is deeply appreciated by many of us. We realize this is a live recording and so is all the more impressive. I've shared your videos with those I know will love your playing, and all of them have thanked me. Please post more whenever you like - we will be waiting. And please forgive those who fail to appreciate you, as they are stunned, like fish after the waters have been dynamited.
Wonderful, flawless playing by a virtuoso yet modest guitar player. No grimaces of 'pain' or other convoluted body language elements here meant to impress the viewer. Only the music, to which this guitar player dedicates herself as a humble yet prodigious servant.
+MilkisPoison Well, I don't when I (try to) play this allegro.Only a mild, hardly noticeable raising of an eyebrow or two, in utter wonder at the acrobatic challenges Bach puts me through, can be perceived by an insightful observer on my otherwise serene face, as is becoming for a promising virtuoso guitar player of great merit.
This woman is incredibly talented - plays exquisitely - and amazingly well, technically, musically and with great depth. Brilliant - and thanks for posting
Magnificent-astonishing talent! I play guitar too but even if I practised for a thousand years I very much doubt if I'd be capable of playing half as well as Su Meng. she is to be congratulated.
Totally blown away here, Su Meng must be one of the greatest living classical guitarists on the planet, to play Allegro and Presto right after like that is just unbelievable, never seen anyone else even come close to that! She is truly awesome, would love to see her concert someday....I am inspired!
dasgroover, you said the words i was looking for.... heard it about...100times and at each time, same pure sensation... well life seems to get meaning then...
This is by far the most amazing classical guitar performance I've ever heard, except perhaps, for the interpretation of Manuel de Falla's La Vida Breve by Rafael Aguirre Miñarro, which is equally spectacular, or John William's Usher Waltz. These artists set the classical guitar bar to heights practically unreachable for us mere mortals!
Anyone commenting with an opinion on how she performs after all the hours and dedication this kid puts into this should show the rest of us your interpretation of this piece. Would love to see you play, then judge you.
I don't think you understood what I said,take a breath,read it again and if you still can't get it seek the help of someone who can read and understand plain English better than you.
I know, that s just what I said!!!!! people tend to criticize Su for the way she atacks the strins with the right hand but I don t know way. I think she has a beautiful technique almoust the same as li jie.. probably because they had the same profesor!!!! this is one of my favorite videos from all youtube, the way she plays bach is magnificent!
The ability of this young woman to play the guitar is uncanny. I haven't seen Parkening, Bream, Williams, or even Segovia, play with such an mouth-dropping dexterity. Someone here said "too technical" isn't that the point. Usually the ones who say that, they can't be that technical even in their dreams!
Fluent, flawless and fantastic. Her technique is incredibly refined and perfect. One of the greatest I've ever witnessed. Where are all the rest of her videos?
no hay duda aunq hay en todo el mundo guitarristas extraordinarias no puedo mas q ser subjetibo y qudarme con la extraordinaria tecnica e interpretacion de su m,eng para mi la mejor guitarrista mujer del planeta
Bravo! An unbelievable performance by a very talented guitarist. If Bach had known such a talented guitarist/lutenist, perhaps we would have had more written for the lute then the handful of pieces he did write.
@BahoUtot You will also notice that she wipes her fingers and the strings between the Allegro and the Presto. But she doesn't wipe the fretboard (that would have taken too much time).
This is perhaps one of the hardest set of pieces amongst Bach transcriptions. The performance was musically sound, convincing and technically competent. The disliking must have been attributed to elements not music related.
Hey man, what a coincidence, actually just saw her videos before reading your comment, and gotta say I love Ana's playing, I dont know about who is more innovative, cause I guess all these stuff is not theirs, but love the feeling with what she plays, so soft :) and precise, right now listening to the presentation in the Kennedy Center, in her website, what a delight =), well, I guess both are impressive, Su Meng seems to play faster, but, I think I would rather see Ana live, both are great =)
This amazes me. It's 6 years since this was uploaded. I shudder to imagine how she might sound NOW if she played so well THEN. This piece is @#@#~** hard to master!
politicians should listen to this while taking decisions about the future of this falling world.. that could save our souls and we could let some of this dying earth to our children... pure and wonderful...
Besides speed and fast fingers, her technique is flawless, every note is clean, clear and controlled, more importantly it is highly musical. I think this concert was in 2006 before Su Meng and Wang Yameng went to study with Barrueco. I certainly would go to their concert if there is one near where I live.
Delighted to see, then meet Meng (along with Yameng Wang, as the Beijing guitar Duo) a few nights ago in Toronto. They were amazing, and quite nice to talk to. To see her (or both), perform, best to look up Meng Su's website. I think she lives in San Francisco now. www.mengsu.com
To all those people who say she's playing to fast, the metronome directions only became standard after Beethoven. most of this music is left up to the musician to interpret, also this was not specifically written for the guitar, again interpretation. and to those who get bogged down on their own way of doing things, open your mind
This is a well-known transcription of a work written by Bach originally for the lute, a plucked string instrument of the Baroque period with more strings in pairs (with the exception of the first) and the tuning was different from that of the modern classical guitar which did not even exist in Bach's time.
Bravo! Bachin Preludi sekä Allegro ovat niitä harvoja Bachin sävellyksiä jotka ikävystyttävät minua, mutta Su Meng sai ne vihdoinkin elämään. Olen tosi iloinen, onnittelen!!! Presto tästä sarjasta on taas niitä sävellyksiä Bachilta joita rakastan erityisesti ja Su Meng hallitsi senkin loistavasti. Oikean käden tekniikka saisi olla selkeämpää joten se vaatii perusteellisempaa ja hitaampaa harjoittelua jonkin aikaa. Muutoin 5 tähteä!
Everyone...yes everyone (even Manuel) makes fret buzzes. It is the nature of the instrument. True, the degree of the buzz is controlled by the performer and in this case it is very minute. I'm just saying if you are going to constructively criticize someone of this caliber, please do it in a musically intellectual way. She knows she makes buzzes, comment on her rubato or voice clarification. All the best!
I have many times thought the same way. But especially with some pieces written by Bach, I just don't know. It seems like they are beautiful at any tempo you can think of. I personally prefer a bit slower speed with this Presto, however she plays it with such a competence that I just take my hat off to her.
Absolutely amazing musician. I'm also impressed by the guitar. Anyone know what make and model this is? The tuning is incredible for a classical guitar.
well, i tried to imagine the 15th most important presidents of this crazy world listening to The Ride Of The Valkyries while taking decisions!!! awesome!!!!
with all my respect, su's right hand belongs to her. It's a part of her personality, she moves it according to her willing, not according to what somebody thinks true about hands positions!! there isn't improvisation in classical music partitions, so it's nice to feel an artist which has his own right hand positions... don't you think so?
you're right, but classical music can also be given live through concerts. you're probably talking about improvisation. well in classical music, even if you cannot improvise, you can play variations on a theme, and that can be exciting, don't you think so?
