Rare Guitar Video: Sharon Isbin plays BWV 997 Lute Suite No. 2 Double by Bach

[michaelreaper666]

this is so bad ....really cant believe it  :(

[05rsx]

How this woman became the head of Jilliards guitar Dept is beyond me,every performance her tone is harsh as well as her musicality ..wish I could BS my way up the classical guitar ladder like she has lol

[diegoarboli]

Seems to me it´s a rookie going nervous. I´m sure Sharon Isbin wouldn´t play it like that nowadays :)

[hstrath93]

amazing job at destorying beautiful music, congratulations.

[rwmcmullin]

@hstrath93 everyone starts somewhere - let's hear some of your "stuff." oh wait, let me guess, you're just a critic!

[hstrath93]

@rwmcmullin Well I just think her reputation is over inflated. Yes I do have 'stuff' on youtube, but I am not claiming to be a professional.

[JonahCorn]

Butchered. 

[laserdudeman]

This is amazing. 

[musikaNeues]

yecch



[karton1317]

esto suena todo menos a bach !! escuchad la grabacion de goran solscher , no tiene nada que ver.... pero tambien hay que tener en cuenta que en este video todavia era muy joven , probablemente ahora lo toca de otra forma porque si no ...

[roman14032]

i hate her playing, what the fucks her problem, does she listen to her own bullshit?

[altriego1]

Dang, tearin' it up! This piece is very challenging to play.

[GyveTurckee]

Yuck



[mivec25]

hot



[DaveInVein]

Very technically skilled yet lacking the beauty of this song. Good recording none the less.

[Honghaguitarist9]

very nice playing...

[wenglish1968]

Definite 6/8 feel. The quality of the recording is they only bad thing about this performance.

[tinargimon]

technical dexterity is there, but missing the 'swing', should have the back-n-forth wave of the gigue that precedes it.

[masterkuprij]

Disculpen, pero toca como si odiara a Bach =(

[mormorgranat]

if the exact same sound would come out of sabicas guitar everyone would cheer, she is doing this one almost without flaws. Very good

[basiacomeout]

hahaha!!!  it never fails to amaze me. every video of sharon isbin always has somebody making negative comments about it. As if they could do better.

[JEatsbabies]

I sure hope that i'll someday be able to play this "badly" 

[TheDogfairy]

Well, shoot. What a bunch of sourpuss, jealous critics we have here! Puleaaazzze....none of you could touch it so don't get so extreme.

[pantel031]

this is 1981....they did not about performance practice beck then ,i think this is very passionate and good!

[STIKEMJIM]

ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE TALENT, AND ANYBODY THAT COULD MOCK SUCH TALENTS, WELL," UP AGAINST THE WALL WITH YA , IF I HAD IT MY WAY .............. I'D HAVE ALL OF YOU SHO'T "

[srumbledor]

not fast enough.

[Ykguitarsesh]

really dreadful

[Ykguitarsesh]

pretty much dreadful

[Honghaguitarist9]

Great playing!

[bachsuonalcitofono]

Less speed should mean less errors and more music. Should. Bleah! :P

[witwaltman]

It is poorly mic'd. But it is a passionate performance, and a fine interpretation. Executed with a virtuosity that nobody posting here can touch, I imagine.

[aimjames86]

I'm not impressed at all by this. Sounds unmusical.

[shredorshred]

noooooo¡¡¡¡¡¡

que le han hecho a esta pieza

si la van a tocar a esa velocidad lo menos es que los bajos sean fluidos y se entiendan que no sean estaccato

[SonofBrunhilde]

She needs to spend more time practicing and less time carpet munching. Maybe then she wouldn't sound like complete shit like she does in this video.

[eb0043]

@SonofBrun

How ignorant, the comment about carpet munching!

#1, this recording was made in 1981. Since she has pioneered, aided by Bach scholar Rosalyn Turek, new techniques to play Bach on the guitar.

#2, The poor quality of the recording aside and granted she could have been less rigid in her rendition, this piece in particular requires tremendous amount of talent to execute, and she did a pretty good job!

#3, She grew into an outstanding performer and a brilliant teacher. 2 GRAMMYs

[SonofBrunhilde]

eb0043, sorry if I offended you with my last post. I'm guessing you're a carpet muncher too?

[yuepon13]

a beautiful piece RUINED

[carystrings]

A very valid interpretation. Not to everyone's taste, but no less a good performance. Remember not everyone liked Glenn Gould back in the day either....

[elpeludo2189]

that's a horrible tone

[aedo67]

lol! that's heavy metal Bach! :-D

[ruithael]

I like her soul. It's aggressive and no nonsense. You people who don't like her renditions because they don't have the atmosphere you're looking for, maybe you should just dig up your old dusty records and listen to them. You obviously don't have the balls or the capacity to enjoy the simple beating you receive when Sharon Isbin rocks your ass, and that turns you all into whiny little bitches.

[vgraham44]

@ruithael That pretty much sums it up.

[vgraham44]

@ruithael That pretty much sums it up. Shes a force of nature.

[jhg12989]

What a bad tone... she plays with a much more pleasant sound currently. Gotta use that fine grade sand paper, jaja

[Deerse]

Well , I think that in 1981 this was acceptable , although we had Williams , Bream , Russel , Segovia at that time .

Nowadays we have e.g. Jason Vieaux playing Bach , just listen , two different worlds.

[ILikeClassicalGuitar]

How about Manuel Barrueco? She beat him in a competition with this "acceptable" playing.

[Deerse]

@ILikeClassicalGuitar I wonder who was in the jury at that time and what the criterium was to let her win. Indeed, she did beat Barrueco and I don't understand why, although I don't believe in the artistic value of competitions.

I am not talking about the possible results of a competition because it can lead to many performances and recordings ( e.g. Naxos which does a tremendous job with Norbert Kraft ) as well.

[Deerse]

@Deerse And, if I hadn't made my point yet, is and was the playing of Manuel Barrueco far superior from both technical aswell musical aspects to that of mrs Isbin. Just watch fragments of the recitals of the winners of I believe '78 and hear Mallorca by Sharon Isbin and Sevilla by Manuel Barrueco.

I know these are different pieces but still..... just close your eyes.

[mimbster1972]

I know her interpretation is not perfect and sound quality either by recording or the guitar itself is not up to standards but so many of you are haters. Some of you sound like experts but honestly, what can you do? If you are better than her, you wouldn't be here browsing to talk smack, I am sure about that....

[OktoberStorm]

So you're saying one isn't allowed to critisize the performer if one can't play better?

I have better tone that she displays here, but still I'm around to post my comments on the playing =)

[mimbster1972]

I am not saying no one can criticize. I agree the sound quality isn't all that good and something isn't right about the piece. But what I am saying is that she is still a better guitarist than most of us 99% guitarists and fans. I don't look for flaws to criticize, but rather look at the big picture.

[OktoberStorm]

As a listener you have the right to criticize, no matter what level you are or if you've ever touched a guitar.

With all respect, you are a little arrogant in implying we're "loking for flaws" and can't see the "big picture" as well as you.

[ivaltierrez]

@mimbster1972 well said!!

[bzeliotis]

It's not much better in her recording either... I've got her CD and I was amazed about the clickety click sound she gets out of her guitar. And to think she has won Grammy award too! She should learn to make a beautiful sound and let the music breath. She might be good at other guitar music but I don't feel Bach is her forte.

[DonAnzalone]

If you think this is the worst Bach recording played by a guitar professional, you are wrong. Elliot Fisk plays Bach even worse.

[jllobet]

@DonAnzalone I totally agree with you, but Fisk doesn't only play Bach worse, he plays anything worse, LOL

[simonshusse]

@DonAnzalone I reccon mr. Fisk is american as well then? Americans have so much tension in their relation with culture from the old world. :-)

[SonofBrunhilde]

Agreed.

[Rexicano]

@DonAnzalone

I agree about Fisk; he's awful.

I think Isbin has gotten a lot better and some of her recordings are great.

This isn't her at her best though.

[emeraldomusik]

@DonAnzalone that 's what i think too !

[johnbobpoker]

@DonAnzalone I realy do agree, i mean, i seriously hate this interpretation, i rather listen to MIDI. And i m fucking seriously serious about that. ;)

[MusicTerry]

shes an eggspert for sure amazing

[GinoTheSinner]

She beat Barrueco? Barrueco is the man. Saw him live once and he played Chaconne and some works of Piazolla. Best guitar experience ever.

[LOUISGUTIERREZ1962]

Reminds me of Ana Vidovic without the softer edges. Just because you can play it fast, should you? Where are the dynamics? fffffffffff BLASTISSIMO!

[tymsmanifesto]

having in mind that this video is from 1981, and that in the past 28 years guitar has improved a lot, I don't find this performance awful. Its just like whenever we were little kids and wanted to play everything as fast as we could.

It is simple to understand why Barrueco even losing is among the greatest guitarists today, while Isbin isn't on the classical guitar circles' discussion.

[glissato]

fantastic example of how we have NOT to play the Bach music!

[pxs109]

is this really music?

[TheJester1962]

Sounds like a plastic toy guitar with too many alkaline batteries ... one hears of Spartan work-outs with a metronome, but this has resulted in sheer torture. Barrueco's gone on to prove he's the real McCoy, of course.

[ff2piranha]

Very disappointing. Not only is fast and without emotion, but it is also rather dirty and with unclear sound. Not very enjoyable.

[mohflamenco]

awesome 5*

[raulrolonguitar]

I cannot really believe she won over Barrueco in a competition... of course she is very skillful

[ricstang]

Don't know what to think... not bad, but nothing exceptional. I just love seeing someone pull off that 5 second part around 1:20... I don't think this guitarist should ever have beaten Barrueco in competition though.

[treinspore]

Where are the dynamics? Where is the emotion? The tone? Come on, I was expecting way more.

[XeroK00L]

Does she have to play it like a military march song? She needs to soften it up a bit.

[tiskdude]

@XeroK00L I bet anything that she's better than you

[van1976]

Amazing!