Hi Bill and David, Good points. And yes, it reminds us of our own mortality, but I wouldn't say there's anything wrong in it. I was fortunate to attend his last recital in London 1987 (South Bank - QEH as far as I can remember). It was a very unusual concert. Segovia could hardly walk (someone supported him on his way to the chair). His guitar was brought to the stage afterwards and he began to play with obvious difficulty. There were mistakes and memory lapses, but nobody expected him to be in the same form as he was during his youth. The concert ended with a long standing ovation, and I had a deep feeling that people just wanted to pay tribute to him for what he was and have done to classical guitar, rather then compliment his playing during this particular concert. His life was full of passion and love for his chosen instrument and he couldn't part with it. He preferred almost to die on stage, and he died a couple of month later. There is a difficulty in accepting this, because we live in a world that promotes youth mainly. I don't mind if someone disagrees, but not everything is outdated only because it's old. His musical output is another matter and assessment will always be subjective.
Best Jaroslaw > > > Well observed, David! He is a historical figure, though it is hard for > those of us who heard him playing in person to get our heads around it. > It reminds us of our own mortality. > > Bill > > [1]Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android > __________________________________________________________________ > > From: David van Ooijen <[email protected]>; > To: lutelist Net <[email protected]>; > Subject: [LUTE] Segovia and HIP (was: Segovia, Segovia, Segovia) > Sent: Wed, Dec 18, 2013 9:20:40 PM > Forgive me for forgetting who asked about the relevance of this > Segovia > thread (plural), but I couldn't resist: > In Holland we have a classical guitar (OT) player who released two > CDs > with Segoviana. On his latest CD he plays a period Hauser restored by > Hauser descendants with materials from the original Hauser workshops, > went to great length to acquire the correct, period (gut!) strings, > tries to emulate the technique and tone of the master and naturally > the > programme is all Segoviana. it's all very well done and very > beaitiful. > It appears Segovia has acquired hip-status and is sanctified into an > Old One. > You laugh at this story? I don't. > Look in the mirror and see what you/we are trying to do with 'our' > Weiss/Dowland/Francesco and 'our' Hiebers/Burckholzers/Sellasses and > 'our' Venices/Pistoys and what-not hip paraphernalia. > In other words: I think the relevance of Segovia to this list is > self-evident; observe reactions from contemporaries, myth forming, > canonisation of technique, interpretation, instruments and > repertoire. > Need I go on? > David > ******************************* > David van Ooijen > [1][2][email protected] > [2]www.davidvanooijen.nl > ******************************* > -- > References > 1. mailto:[3][email protected] > 2. [4]http://www.davidvanooijen.nl/ > To get on or off this list see list information at > [5]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > -- > > References > > 1. http://overview.mail.yahoo.com/mobile/?.src=Android > 2. javascript:return > 3. javascript:return > 4. http://www.davidvanooijen.nl/ > 5. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > >
