Shaham - Sibelius Violin Concerto in Dm 4 of 4

[Dannepihls]

Can't handle it.... It's soo good :)

[jhlavka1]

An amazing performance!

Any chance to upload the video in better quality again? :)

[emilyisalsum]

this is great, would really love to learn how to play it :)

might take a year.. but would be a great performance for my orch and for my hsc :)

[IAAN0108]

This made me cry. So beautiful...

[MsModernComposer]

@IAAN0108 Same for me. It's absolutely gorgeous!

[stringisking]

If you listen to many of his recordings, they sound too controlled, too robotic...Gil Shaham is much better in concert, he plays with fire, passion and vunerability...

[misspookette]

the beginning is really scary. this orchestra woucl give me a hard attack if i were playing something as hard and as fast as gil takes this. they are not together!

gil's playing is brilliant this has to be one of the most technically sound sibelius concertos i've ever heard. it battles the greats, like oistrahk. beautiful sound, robust tone, very flash, but still very sweet and supple.

[juremix]

He looks so relieved once they finished since he wasn't feeling so well.

[gimaru1]

Beat this...!

[lovesGenet]

his clear rythm of theme is amazing.Chang doesnt have his or Hahn's technique or POWER!!!

[Brunildilla]

Hilary Hahn my darling.... you have to learn to play the violin like Gil Shaham

[Brunildilla]

WONDERFULLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ilkolli]

no words...at the end you can see him literaly crying...from 6.15 on

[LisaJ4Liberty]

@ilkolli -- "at the end you can see him literally crying...from 6.15 on"

Yes, you're right, I went back and looked. It's really inspiring the way artists at this level can get so toally immersed in the music. I'm always amazed.

[slychihuahua]

@violindae ....he plays on a 1699 contess polignac long pattern strad once owned by the mistress of benjamin franklin. his violin and sarah chang's del gesu are my favorite sounding of famous violins.

[josevln]

I'm sorry Hilary.

[wgj7gec]

His sound and passion are sooooooo amazing! :) the only thing that bugs me is that there are points where his violin turns completely sideways....it looks uncomfortable and unhealthy.

[yourforte]

Love this.

[fifteeneightytwo1582]

they hug at the end, etc., because shaham's younger sister olri (a pianist) is married to the conductor.

[leoncioviolin]

BRAVO

[333Sonnenwelt]

The best version I've ever heard! Thank You, Gil, you're blessed with your talent!!! :)

[josesblima]

@333Sonnenwelt *work not talent...

[seattlegrrlie]

@josesblima BOTH! A dedicated student cannot get there with work alone nor can a talent artist get there without work. What makes this piece so unbelievable is Shaham's interpretation. That could not happen if he did not have his own voice (talent) to put into it.

[violingdae]

what violin did he use? I like its sound!

[robotnik77]

@violingdae

A 1699 Stradivarius, the "Comtesse de Polignac" , on loan from the

Stradivarius Society of Chicago, IL.

[chenneyweny]

@violingdae are you sure its just his violin, or more so his playing? =P

[gimaru1]

Ohhh... that hurts me! Shaham rocks

[slychihuahua]

i noticed that he plays alot of concertos pretty fast, however, you can distinctly hear every note, and he plays with such power and crisp style of sound. i also love his accents

[blaklite47]

@slychihuahua

especially the harmonics around 4:53

[raulishnikov]

I like Shaham's playing so much... when i'm listening other players in a certain piece and listen Shaham i always like his better..don't know why as my musical knowledge is very scarse yet as too tell so.

[frankcisyarmi]

Excelente genial Gil Shaham!!!!!! uno de los mejores q dio el siglo xx y acerca de las discuciones arriba sobre uno u otro tanto M Vengerov como Hilary Hahn tienen sus versiones impecables del Sibelius y tambien geniales se puede disfrutar de los sin buscar un mejor

[Zigeunerweisen]

I love Gil! He always has that look on his face like, "Okay. I'm gonna start now. Ready?"

So genuine!

[onlypeace023]

WOW.Gil plays this full of character, primarily derived by his emotions it seems like.Every time his bow touches the string he is trying to convey something.There is thought behind every note, every phrase.His harmonics during that section are flawless, def. one of the best i've ever heard!And his facial emotions are so captivating!David Robertson and him have an amazing connection,it makes me so happy watching both of them interacting throughout,especially at the end.Purely amazing..speechless!

[prayformercy4]

very nice

[floydordie]

I prefer by Hahn

[bountyhanz]

Shaham is still a human afterall. Every human makes mistakes, if he doesn't , he's 'inhuman'. Even though he's one of the sort after violinist,he still will make mistakes, it's just that the mistakes he make are probably minor.

[wangman19]

why do you even feel the need to defend him? this is as close to godliness as a human being could. ultimate beauty is what i think it is, what he's doing is revealing the ultimate essence of music, its enlightening beyond words. vengerov, repin, they're all fucking good!

[Csiga1000]

Shaham is a MUSICIAN! And he has so much to say....i don´t understand how can somebody hear only technical mistakes, and bowing....he tells a story with all the notes, he plays.

[kosmamkosmam]

I understand you, but if you want to listen true story, listen vengerov performance. Shaham is more technical star, but vengerov (for me of course) has got better interpretations.

I agree, a discussion about different bowing is totally meaningless, because every different publishing house do it different...

[kosmamkosmam]

it don't change my opinion shaham is the best violinist ever! i love listening to him and even looking on him when he plays :D

[pinchaszukerm]

Quite disappointing. He doesn't use the original bowing in the beginning of the 3rd movement (the thirds have to be in up-and-down staccato, not ricoche. This makes it much easier)

[carlosking007]

i'm sorry but you are questining one of the best preformens of all, based on nothing a simple change of bow style without knowing exactly why he dosen't use the bow style that you are saying is the right one???who do you think you are???are you better than gil shaham???

[pinchaszukerm]

No, I am not questioning Shaham's ability. But this performance is not up his own standard. And I am sorry to say it, but the bowing is extremely important in this piece. You may ask any professiona player about this and he/she will confirm.

[FoggyRoad81]

I very much agree and I say that as a major Shaham fan, something went horribly wrong in this.

[violatione]

Concrete bowings are for people who are not true musicians. This concerto had changed a lot since it was written, and to denounce a great performance because of a bowing change speaks to your ignorance. And by the way, I know your namesake personally and I've NEVER seen him execute down bow staccato.

[pinchaszukerm]

Not to offend you (though you seem to be VERY offended), but I am not a purist. If the bowing makes sense, fine. In this case, the playing is simply off the deep end (he was just NOT in SHAPE in this performance). I regret that you don't recognize it, but, instead, respond somewhat angrily.

[violatione]

I'm not offended. And you can be a bowing purist if you want. However my guess is that when you play paganini caprice no 5 you cheat on the bowing. Lastly I'm a pro and I've played with Gil, I can recognize when someone is in shape. If you can hit false harmonics and octaves and play through a whole concerto...you are in shape.

[violatione]

Oh and by the way Oistrakh does the run all up bow staccato. Are you going to crack on him too?

[pinchaszukerm]

I think this conv. goes nowhere. I dont care whether someone sticks always to the original bowing or not (you are right about Paganini 5.).

However, if you listen to the ENTIRE clip, you'll hopefully notice that this was definitely not one of Gil's strongest moments in terms of intonation, bow control, meter - technique in general. It is not BAD of course by all standards.

[violatione]

Ok I'll concede that this performance was not up to the usual level of quasi perfection that he usually exudes.

[pinchaszukerm]

Thanks. And, by the way, I particularly find those players likeable who aren't always perfect.:

[bountyhanz]

Who say when u're performing infront of all the audience must be 100% accurate?? It doesn't neccessarily meant that though. Even sarah chang's sibelius on youtube here is out of tune, but in her cd recording, it's not. So please dun't presume that a virtuoso violinist must be 1000000% accurate while they are executing any note.

[carlosking007]

i'm sorry but i'm a great profetional player...i'm only 16 but i have played this concerto many times and i honestly have to say that this performens is up to his ability and his standard, and the bow is not that important what it is important is the tempo and character that the player prints into his performans...sorry that's my opinion...

[Paradoxicc]

yea you maybe a professional musician but you can't spell. Sorry, it just bothers me.

profetional = professional

performens/performans = performance

[carlosking007]

i'm sorry, i forgot to mention that i'm from venezuela, play in the simon bolivar youth orquestra, sorry if my english is nor quite right

[lauramcmillanpiano]

You are such an amazing musician. Wow, I love this, thank you!!

[espantanubesSA]

Sencillamente, increíble. Vaya forma de pasar el arco, de atacar las notas... No me canso de escucharlo.

[robynsalain]

un violon éblouissant,un feu d'artifice !

[kianu310]

it has everything. sweet, tear, sorrow, joy

Gil, you are so blessed.

[dxhaloxc]

clean.

very.

clean.

[OriginalMoonbeam]

He is SO consistent with harmonics-I don't think I have ever heard him miss one or even cloud one. Enjoyed this very much..thanks for sharing!

[lunox]

the orchestra sounds superb! and gil shaham, as always, delivers. i love how his sound is so clean and at the same time has this gruff-ness to it.

[bountyhanz]

I think if u could play any masterpieces 100% in tune , any 'Funny' , 'odd' positions , fingers, thumbs, bowings, etc , i think we could ignore dhem[: . Like Salvatore Accardo, his thumb Could Bent so much!!! i dunt noe hw he play his violin, and he's counsidered to play pagainini the best!!

[jostropovich]

RHYTHM!!!

[wilhelminas]

This is superb! He is by far my favourite violinist ever! (Not bad to look at either!)

[CknSalad]

I saw this on television. amazing performance by Shaham. My favorite current violinist right now. :)

[violatione]

All of you people who rip on stupid things like posture are scrubs! I've played with him in Verbier and he is one of, if not the violinist of our current age. I've never heard him have an off day (ever! and I've played with many soloists), but back to the point, posture and hand position don't matter only your ability to convey musical meaning so stop ripping on dumb stuff.

[ultradevil1988]

but somehow i think his bow is not straight enough

[travistheman91]

His poor neck!!! I strongly dislike Shaham's posture.

[piccolino]

You are the poor thing, idiot.

[travistheman91]

That was very uncalled for.

He's an amazing player, don't get me wrong,

but that doesn't mean his posture is amazing.

Holding the violin in bad angles could cuase problems for him in the long run.

Many soloist, such as josh bell, suffer from aches and pains do to the amount of playing and preforming they do. And i would hate to see him preform less do to pain in his neck.

[johntomfoolery]

i've wrestled with varying postures and chinrests and shoulder rests as all violinists do over the course of my career and i can find none so comfortable as Gil's. it is the same setup and posture i use now and it has freed my muscles, not to mention my playing, so much. he's not pulling or stretching anything. rather, he's adjusting everything in a fluid manner with the sound being the guide and the muscles naturally following. there is no strain, just movement and adjustment.

[jabsomdoc]

why don't all of you idiots just listen with your ears instead of your eyes. everyone's different. as long as it's not affecting his technique, what's the difference? heifetz' bow arm isn't where it's "supposed to be," but whatever works goes.

[violatione]

I agree! But Heifetz's bow was where it was supposed to be. He was an Auer student. They all had that bow technique.

[shirusubemonaku]

shaham charges like a bull in this piece, in a cool way :)

[scottbos68]

the broadcast featured a short bit about the life of sibelius do you have that too?

[robotnik77]

Nope, sorry. I do have the 'Swan', though,

and the interview of Shaham w. Bubbles.

[ooziemac10]

not very clean playing or "incredible". don't get me wrong, i LOVE gil shaham, but his playing was rough through this whole concerto. probably just one of those nights...

[nviob]

But i think this is best performance . this performance faster than Maxim Vengerov or Hilary Hahn performance .

And i think Gil Shaham is the BEST !

[batuocanhsang]

of course Gil Shaham plays better than Vengerov n Hilary =D ... But overall, i like Kyung wha chung's interpretation of this movement better, just my opinion.

[concertolover81291]

so with you ... it's either one of nights, or he didn't practice as much as he should've prior.

[cremona32]

Bloody awesome!

[AquariangyrL15]

4'30 and on always gets to me. I remember watching this when it aired in 2002 (?) I believe...Oh and the harmonics passage...he vibratos the harmonic...I love Gil Shaham

On a side note, David Robinson's conducting bothered me so much when I first saw this and it still does.

[PeterChang0414]

read the description.

it says "LIVE June 15, 2005"...

[lonestargirl500]

That is nothing short of Incredible.

Wow.

[Zhou9]

I like the replacement of the upbow staccatto with the spicatto. It's much cleaner.

[msiu]

Have you watched Oistrakh's version? Would you say his upbow staccato is not clean enough? Personally I find the replacement with spicatto to be rather lame, to be honest. Most modern violinists chicken out on that passage though.

[Zhou9]

Of course. Oistrakh is my favorite violinist of all time. It's not that his upbow staccatto isn't clean- it's just that upbow staccatto in general isn't as clean as spicatto.

[violatione]

Ok that's true, spiccato replacing staccato is a little lame. Barring that this is one of the 5 best Sibelius recordings I've ever heard.

[nviob]

best version ! shaham is amazing ...

[sn0wybutts23]

amazingggg!!!

[gimaru1]

shaham rocksssssss.

[agw87]

WOW! How is it possible to play so fast, yet so accurately? He is amazing!!!