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Has anyone seen Anderson & Roe's video of their two-piano transcription of Schubert's "Erlkönig"?
I'm at a loss for seriously critical words but "astounding," "brilliant artistry" "over-the-top," "bottom of the barrel," "trash," "ho-hum," "boring," or just "the usual A&R mess ..."
Fleeing Steinways (can you blame them?), breaking casters, stealthy but killer piano wires, carnivorous grands, enough perspiration to fill a bathroom sink, oil spills ... what? oil spills, you say? No, that's black vampire blood! Ooooh! Coolest!
I really want classical musicians to do things outside the usual ritual of performance. But I hate hate hate Anderson and Roe; I can't even stand to look at them when they play!
I didn't like it but I liked it. I don't care for that many camera angle cuts and some of the imagery didn't work for me but I'd like to see more efforts of this type.
In some ways I think Anderson and Roe are a potentially very good piano duo. What I have not liked about their videos : - many of the earlier videos are about Anderson and Roe more than they are about the music, as in : look how cute/clever we are! - this latest video seems to be all about the imagery and, again, less about the music.
I think it's a shame that musicianship is marketed - I was going to say "wasted" - in this way.
On the other hand, there's always the argument that if this brings in more viewers of/listeners to classical music, then so much the better.
Like A&R. Like the transcription. Like the performance.
Don't like the video. To be fair, I hate most current TV/film for the same reason - very fast cuts between scenes. The narrative is fine, and I like the campy "being devoured by the instrument" thing. But with almost every image lasting less than a second on screen, the story gets lost in the frenetic light show. I also wish the narrative would follow the piece a bit better. The piece is a dialogue between characters and the moment when each is speaking is very distinct. The characters in the music don't line up with the characters in the film, which means that the film actually makes more sense if you don't know what's going on in the music. (Or maybe the director was trying to line everything up and because the frenetic energy of the visuals, it doesn't read.)
After I minimized the window and gave it a second listen, it was far more enjoyable.
"If we continually try to force a child to do what he is afraid to do, he will become more timid, and will use his brains and energy, not to explore the unknown, but to find ways to avoid the pressures we put on him." (John Holt)
But I prefer to hear a good singer instead of a piano for the voice part. I like Dieskau's version.
For the video, I like that they try something else. But this is a bit funny and messy, much shaky videos and unclear images. I like the shot at the end though where you see a hand disappear into the keyboard. But it all seems little related to the original.
Haven't been able to bring myself to watch. For one thing, I think I may have an aversion to them based on some other video that was brought to our attention some time ago.
Basically, for classical music, I prefer fairly straightforward videos of the performance or else score-following videos. Just a static image or two that I don't feel any need to pay much attention to is fine, too, particularly for old recordings - a plain text graphic of the composer, title, and performer(s) does nicely. I think I actually hear a lot better if there is little visual input going on during a performance - I often close my eyes when I really want to concentrate on listening.
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