The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: As superstar Itzhak Perlman turns 75, a critic assesses his virtues and shortcomings in playing both the violin and his audiences
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By Jacob Stockinger
Last Monday, Aug. 31, superstar violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman (below, in a photo by Yael Malka of The New York Times) turned 75.
To celebrate, Sony Classical released a boxed set of 18 CDs (below) with many performances by Perlman – solo, chamber music and concertos – recorded over many years.
On the occasion of Perlman’s birthday, critic Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim of The New York Times wrote a retrospective review of Perlman’s long career. (You can hear his most popular performance ever — with more than 6 million hits — in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The Ear finds the opinion piece both brave and truthful, pointing out Perlman’s mastery of the Romantic repertory but also criticizing his stodgy treatment of Vivaldi and other Baroque music that has benefitted from the period-instrument movement and historically informed performance practices
Yet the essay, which also touches on ups and down of Perlman’s career, always remains respectful and appreciative even when discussing Perlman’s shortcomings.
Offering many historical details and photos as well as sample videos, the critical assessment of Perlman seems perfectly timed.
The Ear hopes you enjoy it as much as he did. Here is a link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/arts/music/itzhak-perlman-violin.html
If you have heard Itzhak Perlman either on recordings or live – at the Wisconsin Union Theater, the old Civic Center or Overture Hall — let us know what you think.
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Here is what superstar violinist Itzhak Perlman has to say about turning 70, about dealing with his disability and about receiving the National Medal of Freedom.
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By Jacob Stockinger
This past week, superstar violinist Itzhak Perlman (below) and 16 other major figures from the arts, entertainment, sports and politics received the National Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.
This year, Perlman also turned 70.
To mark the two events, National Public Radio (NPR) featured an interview with Perlman that shows his always self-deprecating humor and his insights into living and performing.
And in a second NPR interview Perlman, who had polio as a child and walks with braces or crutches and uses a scooter, talked about his championing by example the cause of people with disabilities.
http://www.npr.org/2015/11/27/457419476/itzhak-perlman-im-not-on-the-stage-to-walk-im-on-it-to-play
The piece also has some interesting personal background about Perlman (below, in a photo from Getty Images) that you may not know. And it has some wise advice about getting older and appreciating one’s own accomplishments.
It is hard to name a major composer whose works, sonatas and concertos alike, he has not performed and recorded: Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Hector Berlioz, Felix Mendelssohn, Johannes Brahms, Niccolo Paganini,Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky, Edward Elgar, Richard Strauss, Alban Berg and so many more — some 77 CDs in all, done for several labels.
Here is a link:
The Ear hopes you enjoy it and learn from it, as he did on both scores.
And here, in a YouTube video, is an excerpt from his latest recording — of two sonatas by Richard Strauss and Gabriel Faure with pianist and his longtime friend pianist Emanuel Ax.
Tags: activist, Arts, Bach, Barack Obama, Baroque, Beethoven, Chamber music, Classical music, Compact Disc, concerto, disabillity, disabled, disabled rights, Emanuel Ax, Entertainment, Faure, Franz Schubert, Haydn, Itzhak Perlman, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Music, National Medal of Freedom, NPR, Piano, polio, Politics, President, Richard Strauss, Sonata, Sports, Strauss, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music: Superstar violinist Itzhak Perlman turns 70. Plus the Willy Street Chamber Players perform Beethoven on WORT this morning.
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ALERT: The Ear’s friend Rich Samuels of WORT 89.9 FM writes: At 7:21 a.m. today, Thursday, Sept. 3, I’ll be broadcasting the Willy Street Chamber Players’ performance of the Beethoven String Quartet No. 11 in F Minor. It was recorded live on July 11 at Madison’s Immanuel Lutheran Church. Featured are Eleanor Bartsch and Paran Amirinazari (violins), Micah Behr (viola) and Mark Bridges (cello).
By Jacob Stockinger
This past Monday, superstar violinist Itzhak Perlman (below, in a photo by Lisa Marie Mazzucco) turned 70.
Perlman, who possesses a sharp sense of humor, likes to call himself a fiddler.
But he is so much more.
Perlman – who once made the cover of Time magazine and who used to fly in his private jet — has played a lot in Madison since the beginning of his concert career, at the Wisconsin Union Theater, the Madison Civic Center and the Overture Center.
The Ear thinks that his most memorable appearance in Madison was before his stratospheric concert fees made him either unaffordable or affordable only to the very well-heeled.
Violinist Itzhak Perlman photographed in 1984.
That was way back when WUT director Ralph Sandler booked the young Perlman to perform the complete solo violin sonatas and partitas by Johann Sebastian Bach. Perlman performed them over two back-to-back nights at the Wisconsin Union Theater.
The event proved to be one of the highlights of all the music that The Ear has ever heard in Madison. It was pretty incredible, watching Perlman sit there by himself on stage as he poured forth these fabulous works.
The Ear likes Perlman’s playing a lot, especially from the early days when he won his share of Grammy Awards.
A great example are his recordings of the sonatas for violin and piano by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that he did with Daniel Barenboim and the sonatas for violin and piano by Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms that he did with Vladimir Ashkenazy. His recordings of the Beethoven and Brahms concertos with conductor Carlo Maria Giulini are also outstanding classics.
But to be honest, the later Perlman often disappointed me.
The Ear heard one performance in Madison where Perlman seemed bored by the music, as if he were phoning it in or going through the motions without much emotional engagement. (Below is Perlman in the 1960s.)
Then there was the time when he relied too much on his post-intermission shtick of pretending to choose and call out impromptu virtuosic encore-like pieces for the second half of his program while he also related to the audience the baseball scores from the World Series with his beloved home town team, the New York Yankees.
Then there was the time when many people went to hear him play the deeply emotional theme from “Schindler’s List” by John Willliams as an encore. He didn’t. (Listen to the YouTube video of it, with over 6 million hits, at the bottom.)
Nonetheless, Perlman remains a charismatic major talent who sure knows how to fill seats and please high-end audiences.
By some accounts, Perlman’s playing has declined in recent years. The Ear wonders if post-polio syndrome has anything to do with it, but can’t recall reading anything about that.
But whatever you think of his own playing, Perlman continues to devote himself to teaching young students with the program established by him and his wife Toby (below left) and to conduct as well as to perform solo recitals and concertos.
This past week NPR or National Public Radio featured a look back at the many facets of Perlman’s long career. It included some great photos as well as some terrific audio samples.
Here is a link:
What do you think of Itzhak Perlman and the various phases of his career?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Arts, Bach, Baroque, Baseball, Beethoven, Carlo Maria Giulini, Chamber music, Classical music, Compact Disc, concerto, conductor, Daniel Barenboim, Grammy Award, Itzhak Perlman, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Williams, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Mozart, Music, Music education, New York Yankees, Orchestra, Overture Center, partita, Piano, polio, post-polio syndrome, recital, Schindler's List, solo, Sonata, String quartet, Time magazine, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, WORT-FM 89.9, YouTube
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