Eliot Fisk - Cordoba at Boston Guitarfest 2008

[MikeyIV]

omg how is this guy even remotely known? That was choppy, disjointed, and weirdly phrased....And he does vibrato bending the string and changing the tone....Vibrato is side to side! But besides that, it was pretty good...

[NeuralLotus]

@MikeyIV Doe it matter if the performance was not completely traditional? To critique based simply upon tradition is ridiculous, and if this were the norm many of the world's most renowned guitarists would be completely unknown. Every critic would want to kill John WIlliams for using simple amplification or burn down Greg Smallman's house. The classical guitar as we know it would not even exist if tradition was never broken.

He is known because, like you said, "it was pretty good".

[Dhammawitt]

Camel Toe

[DenianArcoleo]

I enjoyed this a great deal. Very fresh and alive interpretation.

[alexvallejos]

MAESTRO, una increible interpretacion realmente fuera de serie, creo que ni en piano e escuchado una version de esta obra a este nivel, sin duda lleva la musica a otro plano. un fuerte abrazo maestro.

[beathcox]

Thank-you for a beautiful, internalised and poetic performance.

[steinarbeddari]

I bet when Fisk rehearses he sounds like everybody else, and that he takes some kind of hallucinogenic for his perfomances to be able to play like this. Or maybe not. Either way, this is the very best the classical guitar scene has to offer.

[poupee58]

Way too much Tambora (banging on the guitar) tasteless

[NightGallery]

@poupee58 "I consider Eliot Fisk one of the most brilliant, intelligent and gifted young musical artists of our time." —Andres Segovia

What would the maestro say of your technique?

[valleyofsnakes]

Did you see that? 0:37 his left hand from 3rd fret to 8th fret.He used 3rd and 4th fingers on 8th fret :) I tried now on my guitar and i have some pain on my left hand.

[mrwormburn]

@valleyofsnakes lol, yes fisk has gargoyle hands. lucky!

[RomanCoronado]

@valleyofsnakes Indeed....but listen to that tone he gets when he does that. I try my hardest to go for the long stretches because you can get some amazing tones that way but sometimes my left hand can't take those stretches.

[TheGuitarSuite]

The guy's a beast. But he does remind me of a mix between Andy Dick and Bill Gates.

[inglesdeconversacion]

SIMPLY, A FABULOUS PERFORMANCE. I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYBODY SAYS.

[eiss90]

No hay comparación, John Williams simplemente es mejor guitarrista.

[noamboyk]

this guy is always fresh!

[stealthamp]

Fisk is always exciting to listen to. Great dynamics. I like his playing a lot.

[spectrumifs]

It would be great to see a slide show of just his facial expressions without the music.

[GTCooper223]

Wow...Eliot clearly does not care about his overall tone, he just stabs at the notes.

[aclouti6]

One thing I can always say about Mr. Fisk's playing is that for better or for worse, I am never bored. Whether I'm amazed or downright offended, he always delivers something unexpected and fresh sounding. This is certainly an example that amazes me, and even though his interpretations don't always line up with my tastes, I certainly appreciate his courage an willingness to put himself out there and try something different. Never change, Mr. Fisk.

[60moo]

Eliot certainly extracted the most one could possibly expect out of this piece (even if it at times it threatened to become a caricature of itself), and, although I'm a huge admirer of John Williams, quite frankly he puts JW to shame here.

Julian Bream's recording is the one that strikes the happy medium for me, but well done Mr.Fisk!

[xxtopher31xx]

i didn't know andy dick could play guitar!

[politicopol]

wonderful performance by Mr.Fisk...someone mentioned the word "dry" in connection with Williams' performance...not an unfair word to use...however must credit him technically...

[ericlarkins]

Listen to Adam Del Monte play it

[mrwormburn]

It is difficult to know where to stand with Fisk. Not quite luminary in my opinion. I think an appropriate analogy is to Hawking. Very imaginative but lacks the proof (technique) to really materialize his ideas. Also, like Hawking, a God amongst most everyone except other contemporaries or the slightly lower and discerning tier.

[kielbarry]

Better than I could do in three lifetimes, but he's still a gay woody allen.

[Vladislaw81]

@kielbarry He's not. He is the great Eliot Fisk.

[inglesdeconversacion]

Beautiful, Mr. Fisk. I must confess I was one of those who never thought you would make a great guitarist. You should be very happy. YOU ARE A GREAT GUITARIST. This interpretation of Cordoba will go down in history!! ...and now I must eat my words...

[alvinoncillo89]

way to add some spice to a classic

[azphael]

lol he is the bernard henri-levi of the guitar hahaha

[theoden707]

I wish this were a real round table discussion, so I could reach across the table and dislocate some jaws. The ignorance out there is mesmerizing, people bowing before Williams with his dry playing makes me sick. Take your dick out of your hand and listen to real music.

[gitarre1987]

He's always the best!

[CarlosMacMartin]

Yeah,all salute your King Hack. He's a true "Legend in His Own Mind"!!! Clap Clap Clap!!!

[Einoela]

PRECIOSO!!!!Espanol verdadero! :D

[OGERMAIN]

That's a good performance no doubt about it but i still prefers John Williams and David Russell version.

[Dcomp29]

you guys act like he can't play. He chooses to play the notes that way, you can not criticize his technique, perhaps his interpretation, but please stop being so pretentious

[antione101]

I dont dispute Elliot Fisk as an artist and musician. He obviously knows how to read and play music. What I dispute is his interpretations. I just feel that he slaughters every piece with over-enthusiasm. He should take some lessons from Williams on civility of performance. I'll admit that this piece was technically awesome, but a little over emphasized at points. Better than his usual.

[egotisticalguitarist]

wow. what a swell performance. It has certainly inspired to practice more. I feel like this kind of music should be played with more expression as Eliot does. By the way, can you all start saying "swell" from now on? I'm trying to resurrect it.

[nikolaygavlishin]

@egotisticalguitarist That was a swell comment on this video.

[realrastaman]

Fisk is a quite disputed artist, but anyway an artist. He can pull emotions out of a piece, that you do not expect (such as anger, stress, depression and rage... all in one sometimes). This interpretation of Albeniz' Cordoba is in fact a real good one, I think. It gets, what the piece is about and underlines it. 5 stars at least from me.

[chingersfreind]

Eliot Fisk is one of the most emotional and riveting guitarists around period.All of you critics out there need to clean the wax out of your ears. That was the best rendition of this piece that I have ever heard. It makes john williams version seem dull and drab. ALL guitarists out there should play with such enthusiasm and vigor. I applaude you ELIOT FISK YOU ARE THE MAN.

[pengeaumont270508]

No way. Listen to Bream play this. It's more music, and the notes are actually clean. A really pro can have both technical security and outstanding musicality. John Williams is very musical too. He's just a more subtle player.

[poupee58]

Beautiful music massacred by fisk.

[poupee58]

Elliot ,please leave out all the Tambora ,it is in poor taste.

[boombox129]

We just had him play for us at the Commonwealth School in Boston, it was simply amazing!

[Mufasajazz]

great ! It almost doesnt seem like the normal energetic and rude fisk but an inspired poet

[allmdiym]

Somedays your in the zone others not to much. But this is definantly one of the calmer moods ive seen.

[Jhairio]

nice to hear that fisk is doing music isntead of trying to be a robot that playes notes with the speed of light. 5 stars

[LittleCR]

Anyone not moved by this performance is suffering from some major lack of musical taste, his playing is practically superhuman!

[pengeaumont270508]

I completely disagree. It's scruffy and he doesn't even stick to the score properly. There are bits that are pleasent, but i have a feeling thats just because its a beautiful piece not because Fisk plays it especially well. Bream plays this an awful lot better!

[LittleCR]

Bream is amazing but he's himself. These guys are artists. Let's not compare them like they're race horses. When the original score to a piece is written for a virtuosic 19th cent. pianist, a transcription to guitar should definitely contain liberties from any sort of dogmatic approach. There are plenty of squeaky clean performances to satisfy your own subjective tastes. Fisk is actually original.

[pengeaumont270508]

I agree that you can't literally read off the piano score when playing it on the guitar. For example, the rasgueado in the climax of the piece is meant to cover 8 bars, but for some reason he adds a bar to each chord progression to make 10 bars in total. That ruins the sense of pulse and is completely unnecessary. Its technically scruffy too.

[LittleCR]

He definitely misses notes and as you point out, he adds notes sometimes. But 'scruffy' playing with this style of music is actually a necessity to some degree. Technically straightforward guitar virtuosos come a dime a dozen and too few seem interested in taking the sort of risks that express this level of intensity via timbre and amplitude. What he lacks in superficial accuracy, he makes up for in his original and strong expressive tones with his right hand, in particular.

[VictorDanDan]

Ha !

Fisk is always good at handling fast parts.

[JukaduI]

genius

[egssproductions]

Thanks for this video. This is not a guitar player, Is an ARTIST.

5000 Stars

[Niodo]

wow

[baritonZIGS]

Haha, i like his orgasm moment at 3:21. Great playing

[wassuppaska]

haha, reminded me of "jizz in my pants" :D

[wassuppaska]

3:21, that is

[crawlersilverwind]

Truly a classical guitar master. Bravo Maestro!!!

[zznarcolepsy]

Very richly played, and I like that. I think the one hang-up on this performance is that his accentuations affect the flow. Being one of the first serious pieces I learned, the rhythm is such an integral part of maintaining the "allure". By playing a couple measures with nice flow, and then stopping for his unpredictable accentuations (2:36), it becomes ajar. I opine that this piece (like Rach's opus 3 No. 2) is one whose power is best utilized by having mostly consistent dynamics & rhythm.

[verdi0381]

Great interpretation. This piece of Albeniz is the pure soul of spain: comes to me rumours in a moorish garden, oriental lutes, sorrows of a lost faterland... I am from Colombia but I love Spain whit all my soul, and his music

[goroundit123]

I echo what you say...

[Fragglestickcar666]

He's okay when he's going real slow, but when the pace picks up, so do the mistakes. It looks like he gets to excited at certain notes and screws them up. If you look and john Williams he is perfectly calm, and the music is perfectly played.

[donnyboy057]

and perfectly dry

[voodooorc]

you are a robot.

[victormainguitar]

So, whatever you may think about Fisk as a musician or guitarist aside everyone has to agree that he rocks that white suit with a pink shirt...I mean c'mon thats bad ass.

[Orange1117]

seriously, he should try on looking a bit more confident and relaxed when playing

[theoden707]

Greatness, I was at this concert and it is always amazing to see and hear fisk play. Shame on all you haters, take the wax out of your ears and listen to other instruments besides guitar for a change and you might understand, though your ignorance discourages me from believing this.

[mtb2004uk]

Man, this sucks!

For a professional player who does this for a living, this is very poor.

[ddontforgett]

that's odd,

i was impressed...

[thegoddelusion2010]

Never have I seen nor heard a more terrible guitarist than Eloit Fisk.

[kdang1]

comparing to Julian Bream or Barrueco, Fisk still have a lot to learn about real music. His mental age should be 10 years.

[llgarcial]

Brilliant!

[gitarre1987]

I like Fisk a lot! He must be the best!

[osobuco232]

se ve que de grande se a puesto a hacer un poco de musica ,bien por el !!

[giorgiopicker]

bello!!

troppo forte!

tnx!!!

[MarcosFernandez1]

Hello,

who do you all think you are?

[zaken6]

wow that piece is extreme hard

[albatross111]

Brilliant! An extremely expressive performance - loved it.  One of my favourite of this piece. Unfortunately too many 'experts' here on youtube don't have the musical ability to listen past technical errors and hear the music.

[goyroyni]

Amen brother. This rendition is pure genious.

[gitarre1987]

super great!

[capnpayne]

This is just beautiful

[Y2H]

I dont care what anybody says, I like this interpretation and Eliot Fisk. I heard John Williams and it made no sense whatsoever to me! It made me hate the piece!

[nareksaribekyan]

A very expressive performance indeed. There would be no point of playing this piece if he played it like John Williams. Although, I don't agree with people who say that John Williams's interpretation is poor. I think that his interpretation is more delicate, which makes himself transparent to the listener. This puts more emphasize on the music itself rather than the performer's personality.

[ditman333]

@Y2H Then you have no idea what a guitar is suppose to be played like, that's for sure. John Williams blew this piece out of the water, and totally owned it. This guy may be good, but you don't have to try and ruin the reputation of the best guitarist in the world. Shame on you....

[peplicus]

Chico Marx on Eliot Fisk: Well...Jesus a no please everyone either...

[sbridgefield]

Fisk-bashing: He's playing too fast; he's playing too slow; I don't like the tempo; he has too much fun playing it; he's playing too hard; etc. Mr. Fisk is quite obviously a genius. His critics simply cannot even come close to his abilities.

[peplicus]

I have noticed that Mr. Fisk has gotten better over the years, whereas his bashers are still at the same point they started (with a Chico Marx accent): too much adis...too much adat...too little adis...too little adat...I donna likea dat...I donna like the tone...I donna like nothing of dis Fisk...

[azphael]

@sbridgefield if you talk like that you haven't seen him killing paganini's caprice n°24.

[pekkamac]

In my opinion the opening section of the piece sounded excellent but then either me or mr Fisk lost the rhythm.

[Ken1567]

Eliot BRISK!!!!

[d0m1985]

Amazing performance..especially the begining. It is magical, and very much segovian played. Those of you who are criticising his playing are just proving to all of us who know music how ignorant you are. Unortunately you understand guitar technique very limited... you cannot see musical breathing.. difficult jumps that are connected, segovian accents, rubatos and vibratos.. and what is impressing and fits well with Albeniz is a beatifull flamenco touch with rasguados.. the list is endless...

[peplicus]

I agree. A splendid performance, full of fire and passion and a whole range of colors. The fact that Fisk is so criticized just shows you how brilliant he is. Angel Romero wrote a fine defense of Fisk, and Angel´s opinion on music and guitarrists is worth more than all the other anonymous Fisk-bashers. Not to like is one thing; to call him a joke, to say his playing is a mess, no musical ideas is the height of idiocy.

[thejugglenaut91]

you fail to see the limitations of "segovian" playing, and how much more there is to interpretation than segovia. Segovia, as his successor John Williams puts it, was a very limited teacher and a very limited musician.

[d0m1985]

heavy words from you.. when you get some arguments and more than fifteen years of playing and studying with some of the best guitarists and musicians in the world post a response.. saying that segovia and his work is limited shows how mediocre you are.. peace

[thejugglenaut91]

"as his successor John Williams puts it". His works are good, but there is infinitely more to the world of music than segovia whereas segovia himself thought otherwise. Whats up with all this antiintellectualism going on nowadays where noone can have an opinion or a critique without being a master. In that case, why are you commenting? I could very well be better at the guitar than you, infact, looking at some of your vids, i probably am but this a discussion not a pissing contest

[d0m1985]

boring

[thejugglenaut91]

that's how intelligent people rebuke during conversations... good on ya mate

[thejugglenaut91]

i don't mean to flame, whereas it is obvious that you do. I provided john williams' quote as a defense of the, as a literate person would comprehend it, implied argument. Since he is his pupil! It's not like i read john williams' quote and then said "well segovia does suck!" No, i started to not like segovia long before I even started serious study! idiot. Anyways, you've made your point clear, that you have no point except senseless idolization of segovia.

[levitemusicstd]

I begin by saying that I can only hope to have a smidgent of Fisk's skills. However, he interprets and arranges in a manner in which his virtuousity supercedes the music and true intent of the composer, and renders his performance an exercise of vanity rather than homage to this great composer and his work. A precise transcription of this piece was not adequate enough to fully showcase Fisk's virtuosity so, like Segovia, he takes unprecedented liberty, making this performance a circus act.

[smoothie66]

@levitemusicstd i agree. It's like we're not listening to music; we're listening to Eliot Fisk.

[gextvedde]

Without wanting to get into Fisk bashing I really don't like his interpretation here. It sounds jerky with bizarre accents in random places turing a lovely piece into a rather jarring sounding mess.

[leandrobeikes]

i don't know any other guitarist that is able to have fun with the guitar like Fisk... he's an amazing musician and he is a real free player!!

[pengeaumont270508]

Please justify that! Firstly i dont see any evidence for Fisk enjoying his playing more than say Bream, who clearly loves the guitar. In fact, from watching these video's it looks like he hates his guitar and is trying to hurt it! Secondly why is he a good musician? He plays way faster than he's capable of, resulting in his playing sounding like a total mess, and even if he does have any musical ideas (which if he does are very shallow ones), he has no sense of control and pulse, which is vital

[SingHouse]

ok i retract that it sounded good until he started playing the middle bit all weird

[SingHouse]

never heard of this guy before, he sounds pretty good in my opinion

[pengeaumont270508]

I actually watch this video because it makes me laugh! Fisk is a joke.

[gitarre1987]

He's the great though

[pengeaumont270508]

No he isnt.

[thejugglenaut91]

he's just so bloody pretentious. When I play a piece, is is with me on my knees praying metaphorically. But to him he has the mindset of "oh, music is a piece of cake". At least that's what he sounds like.

[lZay007]

Pienso que segovia estaria muy desepcionado en ver como uno de sus alumno destruye cada pieza que toca . . .

[skepticdude2]

well...for once he didn't play a song 10 times too fast. But now the criticism is that he speeds up and slows down in all the wrong places. John Williams played this piece with far greater precision and more appealing accenting in the "Seville Concert" video. Nobody doubts Fisk has great technical ability, but his choices on which parts to accent simply make for a rather uninteresting version of an otherwise beloved piece of music. Cordoba is John Williams' favorite piece.