Just before, you see concert master Alexander Schneider lean forward and start to conduct a little with his bow. Probably because Maestro Casals - one of the greatest cellists of all time, but never a great conductor - was getting a bit vague. The poor horn player didn't know who to follow. The result was...well, one of those moments. Funny in retrospect, but horrible while it's happening.
"Casals was overrated in [your] view"? Just to draw you out a little and get specific, just HOW does your "view" find him "overrated"" As a conductor? As a cellist? As a composer? As a pianist? As a musician in general? As an opponent of fascism? I agree with you--re: too slow--but only in the first few bars when Casals couldn't really find the right tempo or else made the strange decision to do the opening slower than what turned out to be tempo primo. The rest of it is done at roughly the same tempo as the Marlboro performance conducted by Schneider.
I most definitely agree with you. Erratic rhythm throughout and a conducting "technique" which has the poor players guessing as to where the beat really is. Pathetic. History will prove that some artists which are venerated today are overrated. Casals was appreciated for years but mostly because he had a sincere love for music and never tired of telling the whole world how much he loved music. As a player he was never more than mediocre (by today's standards) although he practiced a LOT - like his countryman Segovia. This performance is a B+ at best.
The great American sociologist Daniel Bell tells the story of how, as a boy, he told his Rabbi that he had doubts of God's e+istence, or something along this line. The Rabbi replied, "You think God cares?" I trust you may be able to connect the dots.
Just ONE example of how much the poor musicians are struggling to stay together under the Casals "baton" is at 3:52. Schneider is seriously attempting to signal the beats to the horns and they still can't stay together with Istomin. Casals reputation as a musician is a myth. Charisma? Yes. Ability? No - not in the world-class sense. Horowitz, Heifetz, Rachmaninoff, (Carlos) Kleiber, (Glenn) Gould, Milstein, Rabin, Josefowicz, Gitlis, Starker, Sokolov, and just a very few others - these people are (or were) phenomenal musicians. (I've heard stories of how Casals ran rehearsals - they were disasters full of sweet, self-serving lectures. He may not have liked Franco, but he himself was a little dictator on the podium, though an inept one.)
The degree of vituperation here is strange indeed. There was always some reasoned criticism of Casals's approach, notably by the late Michael Steinberg, who observed the tendency to perform Bach in the style of Brahms, the ignoring of and disdain for all 20th century music, but nobody I've ever read has ever not taken Casals seriously and granted him great respect as an innovative cellist (prior to 1900) and as a musician of enormous integrity. You are the first and only person to "put him away" in a basically ad hominum way, despite the accident you point out where the blame can actually be equally shared. I doubt that any of your "world-class" folks would agree with you.
![ทุกครั้งที่หลับตา (Lucid Dream) - AYLA's [ Official MV ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4i1OBAQyv58/mqdefault.jpg)
Lol!! The look on Istomins face at 3:53 when the horn enters too early is precious!!
Just before, you see concert master Alexander Schneider lean forward and start to conduct a little with his bow. Probably because Maestro Casals - one of the greatest cellists of all time, but never a great conductor - was getting a bit vague. The poor horn player didn't know who to follow. The result was...well, one of those moments. Funny in retrospect, but horrible while it's happening.
Casals was 95 , amazing
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Actually 93, still amazing.@@cellomoore
Beautiful concert
God Bless the Artistes
Thanks please
ah.......thank you thank you ♥
wonderful performance
Here is one of the greatest violin Piano Sonatas written by Puerto Rican composer Luis Rosalebron
Great upload! Do you know where the rest is?
Hello, do you have more historical recordings (audio even), from casals festival, particularly 1970?
regards
jaime
To the uploader: are the 2nd and 3rd movements not available?
Casals genius
Why on earth was Casals a genius? Don't try to mix politics to music! Listen to Antonio Janigro and you'll hear what a great cellist ought to be.
Too slow and stogy. Much prefer Serkin's Marlboro performance from that time. Casals was overrated in my view.
"Casals was overrated in [your] view"? Just to draw you out a little and get specific, just HOW does your "view" find him "overrated"" As a conductor? As a cellist? As a composer? As a pianist? As a musician in general? As an opponent of fascism? I agree with you--re: too slow--but only in the first few bars when Casals couldn't really find the right tempo or else made the strange decision to do the opening slower than what turned out to be tempo primo. The rest of it is done at roughly the same tempo as the Marlboro performance conducted by Schneider.
I most definitely agree with you. Erratic rhythm throughout and a conducting "technique" which has the poor players guessing as to where the beat really is. Pathetic. History will prove that some artists which are venerated today are overrated. Casals was appreciated for years but mostly because he had a sincere love for music and never tired of telling the whole world how much he loved music. As a player he was never more than mediocre (by today's standards) although he practiced a LOT - like his countryman Segovia. This performance is a B+ at best.
The great American sociologist Daniel Bell tells the story of how, as a boy, he told his Rabbi that he had doubts of God's e+istence, or something along this line. The Rabbi replied, "You think God cares?" I trust you may be able to connect the dots.
Just ONE example of how much the poor musicians are struggling to stay together under the Casals "baton" is at 3:52. Schneider is seriously attempting to signal the beats to the horns and they still can't stay together with Istomin. Casals reputation as a musician is a myth. Charisma? Yes. Ability? No - not in the world-class sense. Horowitz, Heifetz, Rachmaninoff, (Carlos) Kleiber, (Glenn) Gould, Milstein, Rabin, Josefowicz, Gitlis, Starker, Sokolov, and just a very few others - these people are (or were) phenomenal musicians. (I've heard stories of how Casals ran rehearsals - they were disasters full of sweet, self-serving lectures. He may not have liked Franco, but he himself was a little dictator on the podium, though an inept one.)
The degree of vituperation here is strange indeed. There was always some reasoned criticism of Casals's approach, notably by the late Michael Steinberg, who observed the tendency to perform Bach in the style of Brahms, the ignoring of and disdain for all 20th century music, but nobody I've ever read has ever not taken Casals seriously and granted him great respect as an innovative cellist (prior to 1900) and as a musician of enormous integrity. You are the first and only person to "put him away" in a basically ad hominum way, despite the accident you point out where the blame can actually be equally shared. I doubt that any of your "world-class" folks would agree with you.