Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Technique versus technology
San Diego Symphony's second night of the Masterworks season showcased the power of place and personality
Yuja Wang.
In this day and age of computer-generated sounds and images, as the precious bud of virtual reality starts to blossom upon our consciousness, it’s nice to be reminded that technique often trumps technology. On Saturday night, we got that reminder as Yuja Wang and the San Diego Symphony did their entire concert without any CGI or sound effects.
The concerts on Friday and Sunday had Ms. Wang playing Mozart but on Saturday night it was Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 2. The technique for which Wang is world famous was out for all to hear and see.
Video:
Mikhail Pletnev - Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No 2 in G major, Op 44
The last time Tchaikovsky’s second was performed by the Symphony the soloist was Garrick Ohlsson. I’m not about to compare the styles of different pianists but I will say that hearing Wang play the Tchaikovsky was a different experience than hearing Ohlsson play it. I understand how sensitive these types of comments can be so I’m couching it as well as I can. Neither was better but both were superior in their own unique way.
On Saturday night, Wang’s performance came off as super-human. If, theoretically, Tony Stark were to produce an Iron Man suit that played the piano, it would be based on Yuja Wang. The technology would have to be based on her technique. However, the performance was not all super feats of pianistic heroism.
The second movement is something of a contemplative triple concerto with the piano, violin and cello. Concertmaster Jeff Thayer handled the violin and principal cellist Yao Zhao provided the cello. The communication between the three soloists and the orchestra created some magnificent and tender moments.
The final movement was the auditory equivalent of the visual highlights of an Avengers movie — I’m sticking with this Comic Con vibe for now. The feeling of being overwhelmed by an unstoppable force might be the only way to describe it.
Video:
Rimsky Korsakov Capriccio Espagnol Op 34 Berliner Phil Dir Zubin Mehta YouTube
Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio espagnol could almost be entitled Rimsky-Korsakov’s Guide to the Orchestra. Each section of the orchestra was featured almost as if it were a didactic piece of music. It is not an educational treatise but each section of the orchestra has a prominent part to play.
The distinction of the instrumentation plays well in a live performance. The sound is coming from a spot on the stage and the audience can hear the music being passed from one area to another. This is something recordings cannot recreate — yet.
And so we return to our opening thought. Rimsky-Korsakov's technique as an orchestration expert, coupled with that of the orchestra, offers a better experience than that of any technology.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Technique versus technology
San Diego Symphony's second night of the Masterworks season showcased the power of place and personality
Technique versus technology
San Diego Symphony's second night of the Masterworks season showcased the power of place and personality
Yuja Wang.
In this day and age of computer-generated sounds and images, as the precious bud of virtual reality starts to blossom upon our consciousness, it’s nice to be reminded that technique often trumps technology. On Saturday night, we got that reminder as Yuja Wang and the San Diego Symphony did their entire concert without any CGI or sound effects.
The concerts on Friday and Sunday had Ms. Wang playing Mozart but on Saturday night it was Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 2. The technique for which Wang is world famous was out for all to hear and see.
Video:
Mikhail Pletnev - Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No 2 in G major, Op 44
The last time Tchaikovsky’s second was performed by the Symphony the soloist was Garrick Ohlsson. I’m not about to compare the styles of different pianists but I will say that hearing Wang play the Tchaikovsky was a different experience than hearing Ohlsson play it. I understand how sensitive these types of comments can be so I’m couching it as well as I can. Neither was better but both were superior in their own unique way.
On Saturday night, Wang’s performance came off as super-human. If, theoretically, Tony Stark were to produce an Iron Man suit that played the piano, it would be based on Yuja Wang. The technology would have to be based on her technique. However, the performance was not all super feats of pianistic heroism.
The second movement is something of a contemplative triple concerto with the piano, violin and cello. Concertmaster Jeff Thayer handled the violin and principal cellist Yao Zhao provided the cello. The communication between the three soloists and the orchestra created some magnificent and tender moments.
The final movement was the auditory equivalent of the visual highlights of an Avengers movie — I’m sticking with this Comic Con vibe for now. The feeling of being overwhelmed by an unstoppable force might be the only way to describe it.
Video:
Rimsky Korsakov Capriccio Espagnol Op 34 Berliner Phil Dir Zubin Mehta YouTube
Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio espagnol could almost be entitled Rimsky-Korsakov’s Guide to the Orchestra. Each section of the orchestra was featured almost as if it were a didactic piece of music. It is not an educational treatise but each section of the orchestra has a prominent part to play.
The distinction of the instrumentation plays well in a live performance. The sound is coming from a spot on the stage and the audience can hear the music being passed from one area to another. This is something recordings cannot recreate — yet.
And so we return to our opening thought. Rimsky-Korsakov's technique as an orchestration expert, coupled with that of the orchestra, offers a better experience than that of any technology.
Comments