----- Original Message -----
From: ldreyer@nyc.rr.com
Sent: Friday, February 03, 2012 7:15 AM
Subject: NYTimes.com: Violins, Old and New
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Friday, February 3, 2012
Fw: NYTimes.com: Violins, Old and New
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Fw: "Stradivarius? You don't say?"13.01.12 Shortcuts page, Ian Sample ---Modern violins vs. old violins
This letter appeared in The Guardian Weekly Feb.1, 2012 under the heading "Is it a Stradivarius or not?"
----- Original Message -----
From: Leslie Dreyer
Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2012 5:40 PM
Subject: "Stradivarius? You don't say?"13.01.12 Shortcuts page, Ian Sample ---Modern violins vs. old violins
Since a hotel room is not a concert hall, how can the carrying power of a violin be properly judged? The acoustics of a shower stall, for example, can make a factory fiddle sound as resonant as a Strad, while a Strad played in a bedroom (with thick carpeting, heavy drapes, and velvet wallpaper) will sound muted. This is why some unscrupulous applicants for a symphony position submit an audition tape recorded in a tiled bathroom.
Another troublesome question raised by Dr. Fritz's experiments is obvious: How will the modern instrument sound 300 years from now? While the ancient Cremonese violins appear to improve over the centuries, many modern instruments lose their initial brilliance and tonal quality within a few years. Consequently, the criteria of durability must be included along with "response and tone colours" to prove the superiority of one instrument over the other. And of course this is impossible.
So I conclude that happiness for an elderly violinist is an old fiddle and a young wife---but definitely not a young violin that might not outlive its player.
Les Dreyer
(Retired violinist of the Met Opera Orchestra)
(917) 670-6865 180 West End Ave. NYC 10023 U.S.A.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Fw: "Anniversary Brings a Liszt Epiphany by Tom Service (04.11.11)
This letter appeared in the Guardian Weekly (Dec.2-8, 2011)
----- Original Message -----
From: Leslie Dreyer
To: Leslie Dreyer
Sent: Friday, December 02, 2011 4:57 PM
Subject: Fw: "Anniversary Brings a Liszt Epiphany by Tom Service (04.11.11)
----- Original Message -----
From: Leslie Dreyer
Sent: Sunday, November 20, 2011 10:31 AM
Subject: "Anniversary Brings a Liszt Epiphany by Tom Service (04.11.11)
There isn't a pianist on this planet who has not complained of the fiendishly difficult passages in Liszt's compositions. Yet the excuse of many young concert pianists for omitting Liszt from their repertoire, because their hands are too small to negotiate the numerous octaves and tenths, is a lame one at best. An example of a pianist who, with intensive practice and keyboard exercises managed to overcome this problem, is the legendary Ruth Slenczynska. One need only to hear her early recording of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody in A minor to confirm what Olin Downes wrote about her as a protege---"the greatest musical talent since Mozart."
Les Dreyer
(Retired violinist of the Met Opera orchestra)
(917) 670-6865
180 West End Ave.
NYC 10023 U.S.A.
NYTimes.com: Culinary Alliance
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Sunday, October 23, 2011
NYTimes.com: Letters
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Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Fw: NYTimes.com: Tuning Out the Noise (1 Letter)
----- Original Message -----
From: ldreyer@nyc.rr.com
Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2011 2:59 AM
Subject: NYTimes.com: Tuning Out the Noise (1 Letter)
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