For more classes like this one, please visit the Benjamin Zander Center - www.benjaminzander.org/ Rainer Crosett, cello; Jayoung Kim, piano Interpretations of Music: Lessons for Life with Benjamin Zander Dave Jamrog Audio/Video
Rainer Crosett the cellist plays extraordinarily. I hope he gets opportunities to develop further his musical career. What a wonderful performance and interpretation of the Rococo Variations by Tchaikovsky. Thank you very much
This is absolutely beautiful, not just the piece itself, but also the teacher and student. He did not implore his "wants" into the student, he suggests them to the student. It's not a forceful experience, more of a free flow of connection between teacher and student.
Amazing cello playing helped along a bit by the not so common sense of Zander (again). What struck me though was the piano playing which was outstanding, so much kudos to Ms Kim too.
I know almost nothing about music and I am watching all these master class videos because I love the passion and the way Benjamin Zander teaches without being an arrogant prick as many classical music professors.
@@gatitaberlin87 YES, can't stand the way he speaks to the cellists in those masterclass videos he's in. And don't get me wrong, he's a very good cellist, but nowhere near as good as he thinks
Absolutely... Astonishing! I'm moved. Listening to such a wonderful piece and seeing such a young and lovely guy playing it letting his feelings come out and fill the room. Great guy! Great magister! Great combination of art and feelings!
Absolutely wonderful..., wow ! what a beautiful masterclass. The music is enchanting and this young man at the cello has really a huge talent, it is unbelievable. Bravo, bravisimo !
Rainer, you lifted my spirits by your brilliant performance. As usual, Zander is so on the button with his suggestions and inspirational guidance. Thank you. I watched the whole class twice in succession; I didn't want it end. Very best wishes!
Rainer....that was one of the finest versions I have heard. Just that ascending scale...perhaps a little closer to the string spiccatto and lighter bow stroke...tinier bows little more "on" the string. Love your playing!
Beuatifully played! My 2nd year of college was dedicated for this piece along with my biochem studies... much better than i could have played in my best days. It's an incredibly hard piece. Bravo!
This was by no means a perfect rendition, but at the same time it was brilliant at times. One, I think this guy deserves a better cello. YESTERDAY! It's clear the cello can't keep up, and it failed him several times, it's not very forgiving on the harmonics, and if bow placement isn't absolutely perfectly place, the instrument fight it. It just won't give. Trust me, it's the cello! His instrument just doesn't seem very responsive and he's having to work overtime to compensate. It's not fair. But the brilliant part came at Variation No. III. I have heard this piece MANY times. We all have! But, I've never heard it played quite this beautifully. I literally saw ballerinas dancing on stage (a pas de deux, perhaps) at the Mariinsky Theatre, the curtains, the stage setting, everything. So much so, I literally forgot the cellist was playing. Toward the end of the variation, I just so happen to open my eyes and only then did I remember this was a master class. I was literally transported. It was nothing short of world-class playing. I hope many musicians learn from this - yes, notes are important, but phrasing and musicality will win the day every single time. THIS is who I'm paying to see. People never understood why Horowitz was so great ... he missed notes. Sure. But no one could match him on dynamics, musicality and phrasing. The piano simply sounded different when he played. When you're truly making music, you almost cease to HEAR the instrument and you hear something else, and you almost always see images. It's hard to explain. But I felt it and experienced that here. So, Bravo. Exquisite musicianship.
SOME of THEE most beautiful Cello playing... I've ever heard... from someone so young... THE VAST majority of cellists... even at the top... NEVER achieve this type of tone...
MrLisztian, I TOTALLY agree with you, in all my 64 years of life, I've never, repeat: NEVER, heard someone playing the cello THAT beautiful, sensitive, elegant, gorgeous, passionate, with so much control and directly into my soul as this wonderful and lovely young man... Perhaps Maisky or Du Pré coming into my mind, but somehow his tone is what I always searched for, and couldn't find till today! Tears all over my face, just speechless. And what Mr. Zander does in his mastercalsses, is.... just MAGIC! The moment I thought I'd never heard something so beautiful, Ben does a little suggestion and then it became even more beautiful and moving!! Incredible. Thank you both, gentlemen, and thanks RU-vid!
And thank you also of course, wonderful pianist! Such an incredible beautiful translation of the orchestra score, and so in harmony with the cellist, brava!
Lajos279... I totally agree with everything you said... I'm a pianist ... and Ive played with many GREAT cellists... BUT when this boy got something very special going... ESPECIALLY with Ben Zander's leadership...ONE WORD... WOW! (I went to NEC... Ben's ex wife, Patrica was a piano faculty member who I knew and DEEPLY admired... she use to be Yo Yo Ma's accompanists.. )
Now it's my turn to say WOW! You know, the secret is that only when a musician becomes a minstrel, as I call it, that is, when he becomes one with the music and IS the music, then the audience can be moved to the deepest spiritual level. Then everybody unconsciously feels at once that there is somebody to tell a most wonderful story! A minstrel so to say. So we are in desperate need of more minstrels instead of 'perfect' musicians! And that's exactly what Ben is teaching. No wonder that Rainer is such a 'minstrel' after working for so many years with Ben! I'm a violonist, and 3 examples of such great minstrels of the past: Menuhin, Stern and Ferras.
@@Lajos279 Surely Rostropovich has to be up there? If you listen to his recording of this with the Berlin Philharmonic his tone and musicality is just stunning
I was astonished that the first cello part sounded like a male character's solo from a musical. I was picturing something almost Rogers and Hammerstein. (Carousel, or Oklahoma). The melody sounded like pure Americana. How funny.
That's so interesting. I've heard there are some studies examining whether composers tend to write musical lines with rhythms similar to their spoken language, which it seems they do. But Tchaikovsky was Russian! Perhaps it had to do with his admiration of Americans? Or just a coincidence.
@@streetofdreams4538 Or maybe some American composers were inspired by Tchaikovsky. But of course, what he said about Tchai being a ballet music composer. Oklahoma was also inspired by Agnes DeMille's choreography in Rodeo, basically a ballet about Americana. There may be some overlap in inspiration there.... Especially the part where Mr. Zander starts talking about thinking about that one section as a waltz... It just absolutely sings: Vocally sings. GORGEOUS.
Watch the heart breaking master class with 'the little asian girl' here (I'm wondering if this is before or after her own performance?): ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jOJjiF1fRb0.html
Is anyone else thrown off by boughts of bad intonation and sloppiness? And kind of the general feeling that he didn't have it down enough to be free with it? It put me on edge, waiting for it to happen again. Is this just me? I wouldn't normally say anything, except that Benjamin Zander seems to think he's ready for the world and all the comments here? I don't understand why my take is so much at odds with everyone else.
Matthew Reed maybe he does have the occasional intonation slip and whatnot but most importantly, he is doing his absolute best at that moment to try and communicate this magical work to an audience in an already difficult setting of the master class in which he’s probably a little nervous. With all that said, if all you listen for is perfect intonation, you might be very well missing the point of live performance.
Yeah, I don't get that either lmao. I thought I was the only one. The boy who played an Elgar cello concerto in another masterclass was a lot better. Then there's the boy who played Faure's Elégie and he was really good too, but the comments under those two videos are nowhere near as positive about the cellists themselves. Funny
I've never seen the other videos mentioned here, but I think the reason listeners are responding so effusively is his extraordinary amount expression, despite some technical slip ups. Not that technique isn't important, bou could say similar things about Horowitz the pianist or Callas the soprano--their unusually sincere and profound musicality more than made up for the technical slips.
@@streetofdreams4538 This is a brilliant cellist, nobody is suggesting otherwise. It's just that, compared to the cello performances of other young cellists that are featured in similar videos on the channel, this is not exceptional. Not just in terms of accuracy, but also in terms of expression. So yes, he's great (a lot better than I am even though I'm his age), but the people in this comment section are acting as if they've never experienced such a beautiful display of cello playing before. That's a little curious. It's still better than throwing hate at him, of course and I'm not saying that people should be negative. Just genuinely curious as to what it is that has everyone so charmed. Perhaps they have, just like yourself, not seen the other interpretation classes.
@@euomu I see. You've made me curious now about the others. Well, the reason is probably what you said. I've also noticed that non-musicians tend to be overly impressed by good performances, since they aren't as aware of the nuances.
@@idktbh2318 Yes I am referring to over interrupting the student when there is a feeling that he may do well this passage of the score. Some give more freedom to the learner because it can quickly become a staged fight between teacher-student hence questioning its importance.
