Christian Ferras plays Ravel Tzigane

[pete2872]

wish the recording was better, but great rendition

[goodchessactor]

Ferras played the "Milanollo" Strad and the Prasident Strad. Anyone know if he's playing one of those here?

[voxhunden]

It's been a while since I've been genuinely and thoroughly touched by a (to me) new violin performance. It happened just now:)

[lindensong1]

It's a damn shame that this was recorded in a sterile TV studio. It really lacks the acoustic of a concert hall to draw you into the violin sound after those dramatic phrases in the cadenza. Superb performance!

[klavierspieler72]

Magnificent, unique violinism. Pianist really has a hard time, poor Guy Bourasson. Bravo Ferras!

[mizzothify]

I love Ferras, but the pianist can't play ist solo at 5:33!

[mcnardo]

@mizzothify Yeah, the pianist didnt seem to know his part that well, even though he seemed to play from memory lol

[pete2872]

YES haha he plays it like me with is more succinct sharp style and all these ppl criticize me for it at school

[darkviolin13]

Very nice performance with fire and the perfect vibrato for this Ravel Tzigane maybe the best here in you tube and good soul too by the way i think this is better than the Oistrakh interpretation.

[cleansky10]

I hate his vibrato

[theviolinist12345]

@cleansky10

and what kind of vibrato you like ?

those superslow and superwide? that kind of vibratos have majority of nowaday violinists and many people can agree me- that vibrato is completely boring and at least for me- disgusting.

But Heifetz,Ferras,Hirshhorn and Kogan- even on slow piecies faster vibrato sounds so beautiful and gives extra excitement to listener.

[battleblades]

I heard 1:44-1:47 and I was like "WHOA HOW DOES HE DO THAT???"

And I still can't fathom it.

[ina1470]

crazy... ;-)

[themusicdr]

stellar

[TheAlonetogether]

Comme toujours chez Ferras, le violon est légèrement à gauche. Le délié, le musculaire, le son tactile, la netteté ambiante montre à quel point l'harmonique et la beauté se rejoignent. L'archet est à la fois présent et cambré. Autre particularité de monsieur Ferras, les cordes sont souvent "glissées" et non frottées ou même touchées. Ravel s'ennuie dans cette composition d'un autre âge. La partie de piano est là nous savons tous pourquoi, inutile d'insister.

[tadamtadadam]

Est-ce un extrait d'une critique de l'époque?

[tadamtadadam]

This is my favorite interpretation of Ravel's Tsigane untill now. Thank you to reveal it to many people through youtube!

[kzh1000]

The most emotionalizing violonist ever existed!  .

[porippon]

Awesome!!!

[ipmoic]

Very interesting, thoughtful comments here. "Mania" is the perfect word for Ferras.

Hell, the pianist almost beats him to the end! Does anyone know if Ferras played with this pianist regularly? He doesn't seem to know his part all that well.........

I too enjoy the violin/piano version more.

[OriginalMoonbeam]

Thanks for posting this--I have wondered about the chin rest as well..how he is able to play so powerfully in the absence of one. Enrico Onfri plays without one but has a way he ties his violin at the neck with a silken sash, I think threading it through the tail piece then around his neck. Great video..thanks so much!

[semisavage]

I play without chin or shoulder rest myself, although I am no Ferras. It really isnt difficult once you learn how. The problem is most violinists are so dependant on the shoulder rest that they have allowed their technique to become heavy including a static left elbow and poorly developed left thumb with almost no responsibility. After long training (from childhood) with the chin/shoulder rest it takes more sacrifice to return to original violin technique than most are willing to make.

[semisavage]

Playing without the shoulder/chin rests demand a well conditioned left thumb and an active left elbow swing, as Menuhin describes in his book, although he used a chin rest he totally rejected the shoulder rest. This original technique requires better bow control and sound development that uses far less pressure from the right index finger, more of a natural weight and speed from the bow itself, so the violin sings of its own qualities rather than being pressed/forced into service.

[OriginalMoonbeam]

nice that you can do it without the chin rest--the sound benefits are interesting. But you are correct about the sacrifice and not one I am willing to make with my chin rest--I learned without a shoulder rest but I do indeed want my chin rest. My compliments that you can play without as I am sure it gives your violin amazing sound

[semisavage]

OMB, you might try removing the chin rest just as a means to develop the left thumb/hand. You can easily put it back on, and you will notice a big gain in left hand. Try just doing scales in all positions, and a few simple arpeggio exercises. This is what I did a few years ago, and after a while I never wanted to play with chin/shoulder rests again, and in the mean time it was a great benefit to my technique in general. You wont regret it, I promise you that.

[OriginalMoonbeam]

I will give it a try when I don't have to play responsibly and my practice time doesn't matter so much :) It sounds interesting...believe me, as little as my hands are--my thumb gets a work out every time because I MUST use it and have had to learn to pivot off of it..it is integral for me, I did read an article by a luthier about the chin rest and how much tone value its pressure took away from the instrument (far more than the shoulder rest) I think it was like 30 % Shoulder rest was small.

[eudoxas]

I don't use a shoulder rest either- most people use shoudler rests because they feel that the sound is affected without one, but thats nonsense. However, I do play with a chin rest!

[cattleman6420012000]

Ferras was fantastic.Musically so allive and he had brilliant technique.

[jjaci]

lol i'll just look it up. thanks:)

[Octopussey]

damn this guy's fast

[jjaci]

by the way, what's his violin?

it's soooo beautiful ^^

[masked1one]

I think it's a baroque violin

[fullargon]

Ferras used to play two Strads: the Präsident and the Milanollo. He got the latter in 1967 and this video is from 1961. So it's very likely that the one he uses for this Tzigane version be the Präsident, a 1721 Strad.

[jjaci]

WOW!!! i love his interpretation compared to Oistrakh!! he played this piece gypsy-ish.

seems darker than how Oistrakh played it.

[thesillycunt]

Isaac Stern's rendition is the best here on youtube thus far.

[freeyourcrt]

Heartily I disagree. Lendvay's has his way with this piece.

[semisavage]

I prefer the simplicity of the duo between violin and piano; much more personal and intense. Lendvay is too halting for my taste, he lacks the natural flow and mania of Christian Ferras and Guy Bourassa who walk that fine line between reckless abandon and high musicianship with perfection and ease. There is a lack of continuity of the musical intention with Lendvay that is so brilliant with Ferras' interpretation. Lendvay plays discrete parts: Ferras one intense organic whole.

[freeyourcrt]

I've seen it performed live as a duo and it works well in that format. But I am surprised ss. I would have thought you would appreciate the controlled recklessness (mania) of Lendvays for the same reasons you seem to favor the artistic liberties and boldness of Ferras playing in certain instances.

[semisavage]

Free, Ferras is the perfection of intellectual and emotional focus in performance. He rarely allows his internal energy/intention to go anywhere but directly through the violin. Little hints occasionally escape through his face, but only rarely. Never a vulgar display like Vengerovs visual dissipations; nor sterile like Heifetz. Ferras was on fire internally, and he channeled it with perfectly measured discipline in total service of the music. Ferras is criminally under appreciated.

[assa123assa123]

that all holds true, but I still admire Maxim, especially in his interpretation of Ravel. Nobody else quite touches me similarly and I don't think some square prescriptions on how an artist should behave on stage must prevail. But Ferras was absolutely great, especially on Foure. Astonishing.

[OzzyKingofKings]

@semisavage I would beg to differ on the subject of Heifetz; I'm not sure I could describe any element of his playing as "sterile" other than his relatively impassive physical appearance. In fact, the particular brand of burning lyricism and virtuosity he brought to violin playing is anything but "sterile," I feel.

But I do agree that Ferras was/is amazing and deserves far more attention than he gets. I'd take Ferras over someone like Vengerov and his spastic gyrating any day.

[chopinopus28]

@thesillycunt check out kogans interpretation, live from salzburg, it has bad sound but it is totally on fire!!!

[omgitsnaruto]

Does he even arc? i dont see it.

[semisavage]

I'm not sure what you mean by the term 'arc'. At the risk of sounding ignorant: What is it to 'arc'?

[omgitsnaruto]

To arc, is to bow in a curved direction because when your bow reaches the tip,it will move away from the bridge, arc-ing helps the notes sound sustain

[semisavage]

He had the best bow hand/arm in the business. If you look at any of his videos where he is filmed from overhead you will notice the perfectly straight line he draws with the bow. He mastered bow direction in every way. Most performers follow the modern take on bowing and 'break the wrist' at the frog to begin the down-bow. But Not Ferras: His wrist doesn't belie the direction of the bow. Up-bow was simply 'reverse' motion. He understood what 'Change' actually is: The Species of Motion.

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

That's called "pronation" not arc-ing

[fiddlinmatt]

yep, definitely no chinrest. Oh My. Wow. We should all just quite violin while we're ahead. Really I don't think I've ever seen that before...

[muffinscousin]

one word: godlike

[himejaganshi]

Tell me...WHY ARE ALL PEOPLE COMMENTING HERE SO FORMAL desu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...

Sorry, I guess I just cracked.

Oooooooohh! Another Tsukimori-kun!

Just jokin'. [giggles]

[semisavage]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that Ferras did not even use a chin rest. This would clearly put him at odds with the 'moderns' and be a source of considerable envy, as this is the purest approach and by far the most demanding. Notice how the camera always neglects to show him from over the left shoulder or when he adjusts his cloth during a rest. I could very well be wrong, but I've looked pretty hard and have no positive confirmation of the existence of a chinrest.

[Nicole7Queshua]

I agree. In fact, around minute 2, he lifts his cheek to adjust and you can just glimpse the absence of a chin rest. Amazing.

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

This is a superior performance of the Tzigane, although I once favored Szeryng's rendition, this is now my favorite, it's simply out of this world.

[semisavage]

I loved Henryk's version very much: until THIS! This IS Authentic Dynamism. God how we need more Artists in the world! Not empty 'performers' or even solid 'musicians', but those truly in touch with the philosophy of life and the ongoing necessity of the ACT of Creation and so become an active participant in the act of creation themselves. Art is beyond performance as 'Light' is beyond the chemical process of oxidization. We've become enamored with the abstract 'Process' so become artificial.

[badstringer]

This is excellent. Kavakos is good on this too - not a live recording unfortunately.

[semisavage]

I just heard Kavakos interpretation. Very well played, but again it is a very romantic and expansive approach rather than the visceral 'authentic' mania of Ferras' approach. Kavakos approach makes it so much bigger and richer it almost sounds like a different work, I suppose this is one why of approaching it, but I prefer the authentic 'real' unpolished fire of Ferras which is much more the musical exorcism it was meant to be. Kavavakos approach doesn't 'drive out' the wild spirits within.

[badstringer]

How about Ginette Neveu?

Szeryng, Neveu, Kavakos, and Ferras each offer very different, but excellent interpretations. I don't know which I like the best. There all good in their own way.

[soundviewbx]

comparing this with the sibelius concerto (interpretation and dynamics)

here, his intense vibrato is applicable. He starts out the Sibelius concerto with the same vibrato, and in my taste, I would have used a much softer vibrato....

just a thought

[incasmaya]

who is the pianist?

[semisavage]

Guy Bourassa

[semisavage]

This guy is a great violinist. He's beyond 'bold', he's fearless. If you haven't heard his Sibelius you don't know what you're missing!

[sleepyjumpy]

COULDN"T AGREE MORE!!!!!!!!!!!

[semisavage]

Ferras really understands the Mongolian mania here, as a true gypsy. He plays like he would feel just as comfortable standing in front of a 900 lbs. bull with a piece of red cloth! I think this is the best interpretation of this work I've ever heard, and although many play it cleaner they miss the whole spirit of the work. Ferras follows the spirit and lets the material realm follow as it may. Our modern technocrats could learn a good deal from this example.

[MrFullService]

Ferras plays the Tzigane the way it was heard in Ravel's head, sounding as though it never came from written notes, but totally born on the spot - Gypsy improvisation! Raucous and not always polished. By far my favorite with not even a remotely close second.

[elisabeth717]

Ferras stays one of the best violinists for me!!!

[MrFullService]

By far the best and truest interpretation of the Tzigane I've ever heard. He's French and plays it more in a European way, or Gypsy style with that wonderfully slightly maniacal honesty that Ferras always was known for. He's absolutely all business and NO CRAP!

[semisavage]

Ravel was French too, and now that I think about it, the French have a very real occupation in the development of the Gypsy. French were the main force in the Crusades, and after several centuries of mingling the French and Arab blood was mixed pretty well. Then there is the Italian connection in Sicily, where the Arab/Mongol made deep penetration, and then there is Spain, where the Arab/Mongol ruled. Turkey and Syria too, major intermixing of East and West. The Gypsy is Homogeneous.

[maireboy]

I've heard this many times, many great technicians play it well, but I found this haunting.

[Mancuspia01]

Ferras was born in where?

[KoganSvetlanov]

France, I think Marseille, but I can't remember, he was born in 1933 ?? He was a child prodigy , his career started a little bit after the IIWW end , among his teachers were Jacques Thibaud(Who sponsored him during his youth )and Enescu, he won le grand prix du conservatoire du paris and first prize in Thibaud violin competition in Paris during the 50's.Amazing violinist and musician, he killed himself in 1989 after a long depression.Check his sibelius!!

[Funkimunkeee]

He was born in Le Touquet which I read is in northern France instead of Marseille and he killed himself in 1982. I like his sibelius very much too I think it is it is a very sad interpretation it sounds a lot heavier than others I've heard.

[Jextxadore]

HIs style of pllaying is so different from anyone I've heard play this song. He really plays it harshly, wihout hesitation. Not always good in every song, but it fits this one perfectly! I've never heard anyone with such style like his.

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

I agree that he plays it amazingly(obviously), but I wouldn't use the word "harshly" to describe his playing, I think that word fits Maxim Vengeroiv's interpretation better lol.

[semisavage]

Who used the word 'harsh' to describe Ferras' interpretation?? I agree that Vengerov is harsh, but not Ferras. Ferras is 'violent' and raw, as the piece calls for these temperaments, but 'harsh'ness is only used by those who have little sensibility to the finer inflections of communication. Ferras has great awareness. Vengerov has no sensibilities beyond himself. Vengerov Cosmology goes as follows: I AM WHO AM. He has deified himself. Just ask him.

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

Jextxadore used the word "harsh", he didn't mean it in a bad way though, he meant it in the same way you said violent. It's just that I couldn't help but feel that even with good intention the word "harsh" could be used to describe this playing. I agree with your opinion on Vengerov, he's the ONLY person who makes extraneous scratchy noises in his interpretation of this piece. I don't see how any one could like his playing unless they are ignorant as to what gypsy playing really is.

[MilsteinOistrakh]

Thank you very much for posting this! :)