[caption id="attachment_12403" align="alignright" width="137" caption="Janine Jansen"][/caption] [lacking in focus/can't follow] There are those who say a musician needs a certain amount of life experience before playing certain pieces of music. (I think that the rest of the composers not mentioned should be a little insulted, but I'll save that for another blog) Dutch violinist Janine Jansen begs to differ. Think about it...experience causes us to approach similar situations differently as we get older, but it shouldn't mean we don't attempt things when we're younger. Think of the things we would not have...What if Jacqueline DuPre hadn't recorded the Elgar Cello Concerto at the age of twenty? [youtube OH0jUQTCCQI] By her late twenties, she could no longer play. Which of her recordings would we now want to be without? I counted 64 album covers on her website. Glenn Gould retired from concert life in his early thirties. [youtube Kj8-9-5XERo&feature=related] By the time he was fifty, he had recorded all of the piano literature that interested him and turned to conducting. Shortly after that, he died of a stroke. [youtube 0ObXmnpGW9M&feature=related] Yes, all of us try things that might be beyond our grasp at the moment, but it is in the trying that we find wisdom, inspiration, and the challenges that make life worth living. Whether we fail or not, or whether a performer gets a bad review, I hope we'll keep trying. It is what life is all about. Janine Jansen has recently released a recording of the Beethoven and Britten Violin Concertos which, once you listen to it, may make you happy that she keeps trying. -- Boyce Lancaster [youtube F9ognm8Yu6A] [youtube OcIeru0grjs&feature=player_embedded#!]
Too Young to Play Beethoven?
