Word: violiniste
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...effortless technique, a rich tone and a masterly feel for interpretation that allows his performances to breathe with an almost jazzlike spontaneity. "Yo-Yo has an ease of playing that is given to very few. It is a kind of mastery that gives one the greatest possible freedom," says violinist Isaac Stern, a onetime mentor of Ma's. "He is probably the most perfect instrumentalist I have ever seen," says Ax. "I spend hours and hours practicing every day. Yo-Yo can afford to sleep late and have lunch, and he still plays much more perfectly than...
Since making his first recording at the age of 22, Ma has released more than 50 albums, winning 12 Grammys in the process and enjoying a number of crossover hits, including Hush with vocalist Bobby McFerrin and Appalachia Waltz with bassist Edgar Meyer and violinist-fiddler Mark O'Connor (the latter CD has been a fixture on the classical charts for 76 weeks). But life as an elite musician has its dreary side. Ma has a grueling concert schedule that keeps him on the road roughly half the year. Ax's comments notwithstanding, Ma practices where he can--in hotels...
...with chords and trills that built up tension. More solos came along throughout variations including a morning song by the oboe and bassoon, while the noticeable act of taking off the string mutes presented a disturbing trumpet and trombone variation, and led off to others such as the solo violinist, hornists and the return of the cello and harp. A lively end with a piccolo solo created a warlike effect with the bows of the string players acting as threatening weapons, ending in an aggressive performance of this enjoyable piece...
...performance of any string quartet (underscored by the tuxedos of the musicians and the gilded architecture of the halls they play in), the Guarneri String Quartet employs no formality that stifles the honesty and candidness of their personality. As each musician performed with ease and comfort, the second violinist, John Dalley even allowed himself to beam with a smile in some of the quartet's more magical moments...
...lacked focus and feeling in the first movement, the quartet quickly recovered--and by the second movement, Assez vif et bien rythme, played a sound that (like its French direction would suggest) was lively, rhythmic and lyrical. But perhaps more importantly, it was fresh. Despite the practice that first violinist Arnold Steinhardt characterizes as "hours and hours of brute labor," the quartet did on Friday what makes them renowned: they conveyed spontaneity. The result was a sound that through rehearsal did not become tenderized and beaten, but remained surprisingly raw and palatable...