Eugene Ysaye plays Hungarian dance No. 5 (Brahms)

[Mnacuspia004]

wonderful: legendary violinists to hear in youtube! thanks!!

[2ndviolinist]

The biggest misconception of the 20th & 21st century is that Heifetz set the technical bar higher. It's such a persistent lie. Many before and during his time were his equal and better. Even limiting technique to facility, it's still a lie. Listen to Sarasate, Prihoda, Kubelik, von Vecsey, Maud Powell, etc. and tell me that lie again. This doesn't address artistry. Here, nearly all the early greats outshine Heifetz - Kreisler, Ysaye, too many to list.

[An0niempje]

@2ndviolinist I have listened to many of the violinists that have been called greatest or best, but I come back to Heifetz all the time. Kreisler, Menuhin, Rabin and Oistrakh have all made one or two recordings that I enjoyed more then Heifetz's, but their technique was equal to him at best.

Sarasate was a great composer, but I have never heard anything that proved his technique was special.

[HIMADESU223]

What amuses me of Ysaye was that his slides were very unique. He had different emotions of slides and many layers of color in his playing. If you hear carefully, you can hear his arranges of slides in this piece, or in any music that he has played. And as Dogaradodia said, it is In tergalactic. Superb playing with this incredible technique he had in his playing. To be Frank, he is not the best violinist that I've heard, but like I say, everyone has their own playing styles

[sostenuto]

So textbook...

[unclejuniorsoprano]

To say that Ysaye, Huberman, & Szigeti are "far greater artists" is simply ridiculous even in an opinion. Heifetz needs no defense; his reputation as the "greatest violinist of the 20th century" still stands. I don't, of course listen to only Heifetz, but whenever I hear a Heifetz recording, my ears suddenly perk up & I know immediately that it is him. 3 violinists, among many others, idolized him; Perlman, Stern, & Rabin. Stern placed him among the top 5 violinists of all time.

[sobie99]

@unclejuniorsoprano Well, it's good to notice me stating "artists" rather than violinists...as I said I acknowledge Heifetz his technical skill as a violinist...it's just that... I want more ;)

[unclejuniorsoprano]

@sobie99 I know what you mean, but I hardly think that Heifetz could take a backseat to anyone in music. His interpretations are legendary. Watch him explain how/why in his Master Classes videos.Nothing gets by him artistically. Little do people know that Heifetz was also a master violist & was able to play all of the Beethoven PIANO Sonatas! He was also able to memorize any score after only a single playing & could make a factory made violin sound like a strad. How much more do YOU want?

[LeopoldAuer]

I like this tempo he plays it at. Most play this piece too fast.

[digitalwhiplash5]

Ysaye is really just beyond restriction and comparison. He just has his own realm of violin playing in my mind.

[artistinthemoon]

thanks!

[taiwan886]

this is how they played before Heifetz (whose playing I love) came along and set the technical bar higher. In any case, Ysaÿe thankfully brought us a wonderfully round bow arm and continuous vibrato. Thank you!

[sobie99]

@taiwan886 Well, to be honest, I've never been a big fan of Heifetz, though I do acknowledge his technical skills, I always think that communication comes first in art, rather than a technical show-off. Ysaye, enescu, huberman, szigeti.. are far greater artists in my opinion ;)

[symfotroll]

@sobie99 Exactly right, that's why Heifetz is the greatest - his art, his musicianship is superior to everyone else's.

[2ndviolinist]

@taiwan886 Utter BS!. There were many before and contemporary to the "god" Heifetz with greater technique, much better tone, and much greater musicality. Kreisler, Ysaye, Thibaud, Joachim, Auer, Powell, Sarasate, Kubelik, von Vecsey, Elman to name a few. Heifetz is better than today's sad sack crop of fiddlers but that's damning with very faint praise.

[LeopoldAuer]

@2ndviolinist You're an idiot. And a deaf one.

[2ndviolinist]

@LeopoldAuer Thank you for your succinct and insulting comment. Feel free to insult long-dead fiddlers but I'm neither a correct target for abuse nor an idiot nor, most definitely, deaf.

[2ndviolinist]

@LeopoldAuer Tried to send you a message on your channel but found out you only accept messages from friends. I'm not really worried about being insulted. You get used to it when you're out of the mainstream. Maybe you could put up some videos of what you like. Check out mine, don't think it'll hurt your ears.

[chris2442uk]

@2ndviolinist Interesting that you say Kreisler is better than Heifetz. After Kreisler saw Heifetz perform he said, "The rest of us might as well break our violins over our knees." So, Kreisler himself would not agree with you.

[2ndviolinist]

@chris2442uk Kreisler was universally liked as a person, he seems to have had quite a charming personality. Of Heifetz it was said, "As a violinist you can't touch him, as a human being you wouldn't want to." I think Kreisler was being kind and he certainly didn't quit performing and recording. His quote can also be interpreted as the critics and press giving so much attention to Heifetz that others were being, rightly or wrongly, out shown.

[wks1978]

@taiwan886 Who is "they" and why do you think you're qualified to criticize Ysaye's technique

[themontyshow]

@taiwan886

I don't think that the technical standards are any lower now or even for hefietz than they were in the days of ysaye and joachim.

i think intonation is a little more precise, but have you ever tried playing on all uncovered gut strings? i bet if they had pirazzis and dominants, they'd be just as in tune

[2ndviolinist]

@themontyshow Intonation is a little more precise? Can you really say that with a straight face? I hated Dominants. They hold tune but start out harsh and ugly and stay that way until they broke.

[Mozart99900]

Ysaye here is certainly beyond Comments

[brother234]

We haven't gone really very far have we. In fact i've never heard anything so lusciously artistic in intrisic qualities toward etherial bliss since this recording. just me maybe.

[calloffthedogs]

what a treasure!

[Dogaradodia]

Certified Intergalactic!

[sobie99]

hehe, that's what I thought !

I just couldn't find the right words ;-)

[Cojonimo]

It doesnt just seem so... ;-)

[Kukabuja]

seems like its 100 years difference from now

[MrNymoron]

you do know it was recorded in 1912 or 14

[martin12tut]

whats about the tempo - he is changing the metrum in an interesting way? how funny. thought that changing that much (for example like gitlis does) is a individual anarchie of some modern artists. but it seems, that it was a common way to play (listen also to joachim).

[DevilViolinist]

It sounds like he practiced it the day before...i like it though

[marccreate]

So great. My teacher knew him.

[Jenjoliveur]

Your teacher must be quite old, because Ysaye died in 31...

[stomentendo]

He was talking about Brahms.

[wks1978]

brahms died in 1897

[stomentendo]

Irony!

[wks1978]

Sorry - I didn't get it.

:s

[poseuresque]

if you were born in '50, which wouldn't make you really that old (by the way you'll be old as hell one day, so be nice), it wouldn't be a longshot...your teacher when you were young might have been fifty or so, and been a pupil or fan. no stretch of the imagination.

good fact though