Augustin Hadelich is playing the Glazunov Concerto with the Longwood Symphony Orchestra tomorrow night at 8:00 at Jordan Hall in Boston. Listen to this radio broadcast that includes an interview with Hadelich, and if you live anywhere near Boston do whatever you can to hear him play. Hearing him play and having the chance to interview him in Indianapolis this past September was one of the most inspiring experiences of my life.
The WBUR web page also has links to video recordings made in Indianapolis. When you hear him play you will be inspired too, even if you are not a violinist, and even if you are not a musician. Maybe you won't jump into a sea of Sevcik and Dounis like me, but you will understand why I have.
I want some day to be able to figuratively "touch the sun" of music the way he can. The way he plays reminds me of what Icarus might have felt if he were actually able to get close to the sun. Icarus' wings were made of wax, so they melted when he got too close, and he fell to his death in the sea. Hadelich's fiddle is not made of wax (it's a Stradivarius), and though the burning center of music is not life-threatening, it is a place where very few musicians have the courage, spirit, stamina, and musical intelligence to get (and remain) within arm's reach of. Hadelich is not a character from mythology, but his playing is the stuff that inspires myth because it really touches the deepest parts of the imagination.
5 comments:
Thank you for posting your apposit description of the violin playing of Augustin Hadelich, which sent me to his Web site and ultimately to his performance. It is exactly so! I saw and heard his Gluzanoff concerto with the Longwood Symphony in Boston last night (from the 3rd row) and was deeply moved. Though my expectations were already high,nothing prepared me for the actuality. His playing was so exquisite and inspired that,like you,I could only compare it to something from Nature, like a tree growing and bearing fruit before your eyes. It invigorates the world.
How I wish I could have been in Boston to hear the concert last night! I am envious of the whole audience and the orchestra.
Here's a recording of Augustin Hadelich playing the Ysaye Ballade on YouTube. It's from a concert in Finland a few months ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1vhLazbJUE
Yes! Isn't that Finland recital amazing? Glad you posted it so others can find too. His performance takes one to almost frightening heights. Like the blogger on that site, I find the lack of any applause astounding - unless we see only a moment of stunned silence before the video cuts out. His playing must be a wonderful inspiration to you as a violinist. Sorry you missed the Boston performance but surely you'll have another chance as he's scheduled to play at several venues in months to come, including New York and Vermont.
Thank for the beauty of your description of Augustin Hadelich. You have put into words what I could imagine in my soul. There are few artists today that inspire this kind of excitement. In opera for me it is Juan Diego Florez, and now in fiddling it is AUGUSTIN HADELICH for me!
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