William Primrose - J S Bach Suite 1 Corrente

[muken48]

Intonation is not a problem here at all. I don't know why that is even brought up for discussion. It's virtually perfect playing.

[andreabubus]

@muken48 points of view...

[zzausel]

Regrettable

[IPoafdosfch]

Perfeito, mas 1000 Km/h

[vlnvlaclogbaerhpno]

I can play it that fast too, and so can a lot of my colleagues. The question is WHY would you?

[stringscgda]

Primrose was older here, so quit griping about intonation, lol. You lose your hearing a bit when you get older. If you think he never had good intonation, listen to him play Paganini's caprice 24 on viola here on youtube.

[stringscgda]

BAROQUE was influenced by DANCE music :)

[mila87s]

AZZ....io ci metto il quadruplo del tempo (se ci basta) per fare questa corrente...wow!

[mccreadyk]

agree with Parti0San

[andreabubus]

Me too... :)

[nickmaestro]

0:57....OMG!

[nickmaestro]

God Almighty! That was pretty sick nasty (the good kind). If I tried taking that speed, it would be a mess. I'd have to take it 10-15 bpm slower. Awesome stuff Primrose, and thanks for walking on this planet.

[jonab788]

Great

[andrehuf]

that was gross

[Shadowtech666]

he is deaf. play that well without being able to hear.

[Parti0San]

i prefer sound, emotion, intonation, ...

but yeah, speed up and have fun ;)

[violatione]

Back in the day people performed Bach two ways, either stodgy or speedily.

[2ndviolinist]

Listen to his recording of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with Albert Spalding to hear deep emotion. This is a dance, not a sarabande or preludio and has no cause for agonizing over. We are so used to sluggish and sloppy performances these days that quick, crisp playing is a surprise. Too quick or not, show me Bach's metronome marking. BTW his intonation is impeccable.

[andreabubus]

Sorry his intonation seems to me NOT so impeccable... perhaps was truly deaf...

Bow technique is astonishing...

[andreabubus]

@2ndviolinist Sorry, Primrose was behiond uman but in this record intonation is NOT impeccable. Is gross, perhaps because he was losing earing... I disagree for the fact corrente don't need emotion or feeling. Bach NEEDS feeling. 

[ktprivett]

i personally dont care for this speed, but holy crap! it seems like his fingers go faster than the camera

[cakiefuti]

I dare you to play it this fast on such a large viola...

[andreabubus]

Obviously i can't, but I don't mind playing so fast...

[Duramlam]

@andreabubus but can you do the sound like his? such strong right arm

[andreabubus]

@Duramlam No i cant. The sound is trong and i love the right arm work, but i would not mind playing like this. Not mi kind of playing. Thanks for posting :)

[NeverMindBird]

I'm sure he was just having fun. Seeing how fast he could do it. Ya know what i mean? Right?

[andreabubus]

umpf... yes...

[wfshipley]

I want to know why this video was even recorded. It obviously was him just messing around, not really performing, so why do we have so many camera shots? Is this from some video he did or something?

[49testsamiam49]

The problem isn't necessarilty the tempo but a lack of grace in this performance. and thats surprising. maybe he was reading it. ha ha

[andreabubus]

Yes, agree... a tecnical trick that has my respect, but is not i intend bach.

Thanks

[violatione]

None of his students surpassed him. In his prime, his playing rivaled that of Iosef Heifetz.

[pviola314]

True, because Primrose had been affected by some performance practice at the time that suggested to play bach at much higher tempos. Still a legend.

[zzagzagg]

this recording is a piece of shit

[XDarKMiracle]

Was this before or after he completely lost his hearing?

[baabroma]

after...it was really weak, and I think this was not a display of his musicality, but he was showing off his chops...it's like he's saying "guess what? I can still play!!!!"

[andreabubus]

Yes... not the same as intonation and musicality in execution... semms like a mere exercise... (i think at milsteins' sonata and partita at the age of 65-70 ... real MUSIC! ... )

[andreabubus]

True!... But i agree he was an outsider as viola player!

[andreabubus]

Well, sincerely i thing was a great violist, among all (I admit, not my favorite...), technically superior... but talking about genius i don't feel him like that, for example i think a real genius was Piero Farulli from Quartetto Italiano... a monster of music, and i think also a talented genius, great player !...

[oOmadpintoOo]

OMG!!!!!!!

[PooopsterTom]

How do you play so fast?

[andreabubus]

Probably if you play all life... and perhaps some particular physical quality...

[Shadowtech666]

This guy was the best violist in the world at one time lol. This is so easy for him.

[andreabubus]

Yes, is true but sincerely is totally unexpressive... and also technically is quite embarassing because is out of tune for a great part... but the bow technique is great!...

[Shadowtech666]

The recording is a bad one and the guy is deaf give him some credit, he may have lost a lot of intonation, but he has certainly retained his technique.

[fossils12]

A viola solo is always a pleasure to listen to!

[charlescunningham]

that poor sod should have stuck with pagganini.

[Domgenstein]

For his age though, I mean--I think he was already going deaf at this point.

[andreabubus]

Well, i don't know if the problem is becoming deaf... sometimes i thing the problem is being too much technic and playing at astonish level too long; seems like listening to the music you're playing and feeling it (damn, this piece is bach!!!!!) is loosing importance at this point... only speed... (and superbous right hand/volume of sound... )

Thanks for comment!...

[jabsomdoc]

my teacher was hiroko primrose (his wife) and yes, he was going a bit deaf. in the end, heifetz made some very insulting comments to him about his hearing when they decided to stop doing chamber music.

[jackaroo1690]

He's my hero.

[andreabubus]

Well,

a great musician and a violist of astonishing level... but sincerely this performance seems to me a show of technique and nothing more... a bit poor, perhaps, even if high-level!...

Thanks for comment!