Tuesday 13 January 2004

Audition round-up:

Highly impressed with 13-year old Chinese Tian-Wa Yang playing the Paganini caprices. She plays many of them deliberately rather than rapidly, but this enables you to hear that she is playing every single note. Incredible intonation in double-stops (it probably helps if you have the slender fingers of a 13 year old Chinese female). And a truly incredible right arm.

A bit angry with "Chloe", Chloe Hanslip's debut CD. Seems to me everything is wrong except her playing:

1. I don't know why a CD presenting a new violinist is covered in posed photos of a 14 year old girl. Is the disc aimed mainly at the paedophile market?

2. She should not have made her debut in a variety of salon pieces with orchestral backing. The main point of a debut CD is to feature the playing of the young artist. The orchestral backing is a distraction from listening to Hanslip's playing (viz, Sarasate's Romanza Andaluza, with its castanets and trumpets). She should have stuck to a good pianist so her playing really stood out.

3. Most of the pieces are somewhat slushy. She should have chosen more carefully. The Paganini "Campanella" at the beginning is really good; after that: too much slush (not even thinking of Williams' mawkish film theme).

4. I am always advocating "natural" balance between violin and orchestra in duo music. However, in this kind of repertoire, where the only real interest is in how well the violinist measures up to her predecessors and competitors, a balance between violinist and orchestra more like that given to Rabin or Heifetz would, for once, have been useful. Miss Hanslip plays a del Gesu violin; we do not really have a chance to appreciate it.

5. The liner notes have too many gushing adjectives: thrilling, great, magnificent, acclaimed. Do they not teach the English language at Warner?

I am very impressed with Chloe Hanslip's playing. But I don't know that I think much of her artistic management, her (ex) record company nor, probably, her pushy family. Let the girl play!

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