PAGANINI, Nicolò
Violin Concerto No. 2 in B minor, Op. 7 (reduction for violin and piano)
III. Rondo (“La Campanella”)
Miriam Fried, guest professor
Eduard Kollert, student
Vadim Gladkov, accompanying pianist
After the student’s performance of La Campanella, Miriam Fried asks him about the music and its purpose in relation to the emotions to be expressed. For the professor, this piece represents virtuosity and fun, and she felt the latter was missing from his performance: he must enjoy being able to showcase all those virtuosic skills.
Starting again from the beginning, the professor and student discuss issues of phrasing and articulation, expressiveness, color, and the direction of the music based on harmonies and meter. They also reflect on the most appropriate sound production for this piece, and the professor recommends exploring this more deeply and listening, for example, to operatic compositions with a similar aesthetic to this work.
They then review the melodic section with double stops, and Fried asks him to forget about the double stops and seek the most suitable sound without expressing or communicating anything negative about this part. He should never play anything he does not truly like, and his attitude and approach to the piece must always be positive.
Finally, Fried shares an anecdote about an old recording of this work with the Suisse Romande and Ruggiero Ricci to illustrate her advice.
Language: English
