He maybe a bit rough around the edges sometimes, but with Elliot you get the passion and the balls that makes you see the colours of Spain and its people. Also the tone which is not understood by modern players and modern luthiers today. Listen to him play Scarlatti, there is none better..a legend in my books direct from the school of old farts..Segovia, Eduardo Falu etc..who understood the voice of the instrument...and the orchestra...BRAVO ELLIOT!
The master of the orchestra imo is Julian Bream followed by Segovia. Furthermore music hasn't got to do with understanding in the way you put it above. To me on the deepest level I don't feel I am touched, call it taste of the soul, frequency or whatever. Furthermore listen to Alicia de la Rocha, see the partiture, sing it through, you will see many many unintentional mistakes and above all they are quite predictable: when it gets a little complicated EF plays rough, makes a lot of mistakes, changes the score and some like that clearly and say that these criticasters have no idea, taste or whatever. One could call his sloppiness "creative" and yes his style is recognisable but not my cup of tea, far from that. It also stands far away from the ideal of great musicians like Segovia, Isaac Stern, Julian Bream and many others, but above all: I really don't like his playing, I prefer silence in this case much, much more!
@@Deerse these are his transriptions, why would he make them harder than he could play? This is not at all a question of skill but rather of taste. you can watch his masterclasses where he puts aside his signature musicality for his students and play through the most difficult parts of any peice unphased; in old recordings of EF you will find he played alot more like Segovia as he was a student of his for quite some time. Since then eliot has created his own voice, if you dont like it thats fine but they are not by any means mistakes.
This is the only version of maja I can listen to besides breams. The range of tones here is somehow on breams level, very few people can say that. However bream is this colorful and perfectly technical. I really enjoyed this though, much better than like everyone else playing.
While I understand the affinity for Fisk’s earthy and unrefined playing, these performances really get on my nerves. Plenty of guitarists are able to match this untamed style while not sounding so manic and ugly. Moreover, I see each of these messy performances as a tremendous waste, because it’s clear Fisk can do better. Check out the video online of him playing Córdoba-absolutely beautiful.
Sólo escuché "La Maja de Goya" y la interpretación la encontré exagerada y grotesca, no corresponde a lo que pensó el autor, creo. De allí me cambié de vídeo.
This is the spirit of Spanish music. It is gritty, powerful, rough, even with a mistake here and there. But it is all calculated--one can play with dullness, dry and with pretention masquerading as subtlety, or one can infuse the music with so much passion as to push the limitations of the instrument.
Dear lord......this is by far the worst performance of La Maja I've ever heard. I didn't go past that....just couldn't . If you want to learn how to totally butcher a piece of MUSIC listen to this.
gtrmusic69 is right. He obviously has tremendous guitar skills but his musicality leaves much to be desired. Playing fast sloppy notes is not acceptable nor is inappropriate excessive flourish.
This is real musicianship, not the dry and soulless technical precision that is too often emphasized in conservatories and competitions. This is the sound you might hear walking through the streets of Andalusia. It has power, energy, experimentation, a mistake here and there (as real performances do), but one thing it isn't is BORING, like so much other CG out there.
This is the performance of a man who has lived and known real joy & melancholy, not a man who has only ever sat in a bland practice room mindlessly echoing their teacher's instructions. If you likewise have not lived, you will not appreciate this. Perhaps some Julian Bream is more your preference?
