It did come up a couple times, but only a couple. A couple more-choice nuggets:
"You have a very democratic spirit" was used in reference to the treatment of all voices with equal color and dynamic in passage from a Bach fugue. Frankly, the overall performance of said fugue was already very good, and I believe rendered even better by the event. The archlutenist defended his playing a descending scale into profundo range in excessive forte (inappropriate prominence given to what is essentially an ornament) as "I wanted to show off my basses for all the guitarists in the audience." Hoppy's reply: "Imagine it's an audience of *musicians* instead." Ha! ...And I'm not ashamed to call myself a guitarist. Eugene > -----Original Message----- > From: Roman Turovsky [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 1:26 PM > To: Edward Martin; Eugene C. Braig IV; [email protected] > Subject: Re: [LUTE] Re: Hopkinson Smith Concert > > out of curiosity: > how many times did Hoppy use the expression "That was almost good!" during > the master class? > RT > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Edward Martin" <[email protected]> > To: "Eugene C. Braig IV" <[email protected]>; <[email protected]> > Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 1:15 PM > Subject: [LUTE] Re: Hopkinson Smith Concert > > > > Yes, he is an absolute master, and I am in awe of him as well. He > > has the way of getting to the point, in a most insightful manner. > > > > ed > > > > At 11:52 AM 4/6/2011, Eugene C. Braig IV wrote: > > > >>I do not know of Mrs. Smith's musical activities. However, I can tell > you > >>about a similar event I coordinated in Columbus, OH this past weekend. > I > >>was very pleased with the turnout for Hoppy's concert and all the > support > >>from Early Music, WOSU, the Columbus Dispatch, etc. We had attendees > from > >>as far away as Peabody in MD and Sarnia, Ontario. > >> > >>Concert was Friday evening. For a pre-concert talk (expected on the > Early > >>Music series with whom we collaborated), Hoppy took Sanz's one-line > >>tarantella and discussed in lay terms (and demonstrating on his guitar) > >>how > >>he elaborated the rasgueado patterns and concocted melodic figures over > >>the > >>notated progression to arrive at a performance piece worth hearing. I > may > >>be biased, but his was one of the most entertaining talks I've ever > heard > >>on > >>that series. The concert itself was good: guitar music by Sanz, Guerau, > >>and > >>Santa Cruz. > >> > >>The master class he gave on Saturday afternoon was the highlight of the > >>weekend for me. It was both insightful and a near-overwhelming display > of > >>the man's genius. We also had four performers; they played Bach on > modern > >>guitar, de Murcia and Bartolotti on 5-course guitars, and Piccinini on > >>liuto > >>attiorbato. There was also a piano handy in the chapel where the master > >>class was held. To demonstrate phrasing and musical ideas, he would hop > >>between his own (5-course guitar) and participants' instruments and > piano, > >>transposing by ear at the piano to accommodate different concert pitches > >>and > >>play in tune with whatever participant's instrument was on deck, > realizing > >>complex harmony on the fly. Remarkable! ...And he conveys all with an > >>air > >>of sincere generosity and without me perceiving any arrogance. > >> > >>I'm still reeling. > >> > >>Eugene > >> > >> > >> > -----Original Message----- > >> > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > >> > Behalf Of Edward Mast > >> > Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 11:42 AM > >> > To: [email protected] Net > >> > Subject: [LUTE] Hopkinson Smith Concert > >> > > >> > I had the pleasure of hearing HS give a recital last night of Spanish > >> > music of the 17th century (on Baroque guitar). I've heard him twice > >> > before in recitals of Renaissance lute music, but even though the > lute > >> > is > >> > the instrument I'm trying to learn to play, this guitar recital > >> > captivated > >> > me in a way that the lute recitals didn't. Not sure why. But I came > >> > away > >> > with a bit of envy for you baroque guitarists who have this wonderful > >> > repertory to draw on (eg. Sanz, Guerau, Santa Cruz). > >> > > >> > The evening before, I attended a master class given by HS. Four > >> > guitarists (modern) played; three played transcriptions of Bach, > while > >> > the > >> > fourth played a Kellner transcription. HS showed profound insights > >> > into > >> > the music and worked with the players in a congenial, but musically > >> > exacting way. > >> > > >> > A 'mini review', for what it's worth. I think Hopkinson Smith is > one > >> > of > >> > the more remarkable musicians in early music; a wonderful player, and > a > >> > fine pedagogue. Does anyone know if his wife is also active in the > >> > early > >> > music field? (A recorder friend of mine thinks she may have been a > >> > teacher > >> > at a recent workshop on early notation which she attended). > >> > > >> > -Ned > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > To get on or off this list see list information at > >> > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > > > > > Edward Martin > > 2817 East 2nd Street > > Duluth, Minnesota 55812 > > e-mail: [email protected] > > voice: (218) 728-1202 > > http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1660298871&ref=name > > http://www.myspace.com/edslute > > http://magnatune.com/artists/edward_martin > > > > > > > >
