Here's my opinion for everyone giving the standard "he lacks emotion" complaint. Sure, he doesn't utilize dynamics to the same extreme that one might with Schubert and such, but he makes up for it in very colorful tone, bowing and greatly balanced rubato. Emotion and color, as it seems most people interpret them to be, are not just measured in a constant heavy vibrato or wild dynamic leaps 24/7, but also in texture, tone, and tempo. In those aspects, I think this kid nails it. I agree he doesn't have superb dynamic, but that doesn't make it "unemotional". This kid won one of the most prestigious international youth competitions, and the judges (who, by the way, have far more musical talent and knowledge than me or anyone shitting on this concert) chose him for good reason. Looking forward to what he brings us next.
Not sure if anyone gives a damn but if you are bored like me during the covid times you can stream all of the new movies on InstaFlixxer. Been streaming with my gf for the last few weeks =)
There are a ton of comments saying he shouldn’t have won first. Unfortunately for all you haters, not a single one of you has the capability to truly judge this. Myself included. However, the people on the judging panel aren’t idiots, this is the most prestigious competition in Asia and there is no doubt the judges have credentials that far exceed the commenters here.
Heard him play Paganini's 1st Concerto live in Reykjavik last night, and I don't expect to hear better violin playing than that ever again. He had no problems with the fearsome technical demands of this work, all his thirds and octaves were perfectly in tune, however fast he played them, yet his speed was never such that we couldn't hear every note, and his tone in the more lyrical sections was of the utmost sensitivity and beauty. His natural rubato never troubled the essentials of the rhythmic structure of the phrases and his focus was always 100%. There were no weak moments. I heard someone ask him if he had recorded the piece, and he calmly said no. So that will be something to look forward to. I have never praised anyone to this extent in my long musical life, but the guy is out of this world.
This is insanely good. The passion he is playing with can't be taught and is incredible to witness. I hope he keeps playing for the dear love of music. Please, no one force this kid play and make him hate music and give it up. PLEASE. This is DAMN good. Screw the ignorant haters and "armchair critics".
While both of them are absolutely amazing players for their ages, viewing this performance and the second prize performance of Wieniawski by Soo-Been Lee, I must say that to me Lee was the clear winner by virtue of virtually flawless execution and musicality and physical expression well beyond her years. Not that it matters that much (the difference between 1st and 2nd is almost negligible).
For people who don't play the violin or read music, I've been playing violin for about 20 years and can barely play this piece (not even half as good as this kid did) it's immensely complex and technically challenging. A lot of professional violinist stay clear of Sarate's music, as he basically has his own genre of violin music.
By the way, he announced an encore last night, and his voice has broken. As for the "listeners" here, who turn up to see a show, but who lack the ears to hear music, I always recommend the elephants and tigers which are to be found elsewhere. Zhu's calm stage manner resembles that of some of the greatest violinists ever in their best years - TH-cam has many examples - but his external calmness never gets in the way of his powerful musical soul. Even Rachmaninoff was said to look like a monk when he played, but the life in his finger-tips was unbelievable. Hear Zhu live if you can. Paganini himself could not have failed to be impressed by this amazing youngster, although I will admit that nobody would claim that Zhu plays as if he was possessed by the devil, as was said of Paganini...
For me, discovering this TH-cam twelve years later, and having had the opportunity to listen to his presence at the Paganini, and the Queen Elisabeth competition of 2024, as well as some of his most recent interviews, some of these commentaries make me smile and pity those who failed at recognizing the amazing talent, which at that time was budding, yet delineated amazing aptitudes and an outstanding maturity and technical control. Intelligence, when this authentic, never hides for long. Precious. Thank you! Jean-Louis
He may not have "emotion", but the kid's probably too young to have been inspired by something like love or loss. Every note besides maybe the pizzicato and the harmonics sounded full. He didn't feel it in his heart, he felt it in his mind.
+THEROTATINGFOOT Yeah, because you said so and that's probably why you are so ugly I guess, because you loved too much, right? Com' on, shut up you freak and child hater! What are you a GP? Right a novel about your love life and be ashamed for this. You GP monster! Yuck...
The boy is fabulous and is bad to compare so talented children but when it is competition the Jury should be able to notice that the winner of this competition can be only Soo Been Lee! Her artistry, her natural musicality and depth of feeling are so rear that a very few of the greatest masters can match it. Well, good luck to both of them. It is amazing what they have achieved at such young age!
His playing reminds me of Bach technical works; not much emotion, but a shit ton of skill. Fabulous work, indeed! I'm not much of a violin fan myself, but I can see why he won first place. Soo-Been was remarkable as well, but you just gotta love the skill Kevin has...
So many commenters are saying this performance doesn’t deserve first, but if anything, the judges know how to judge this competition better than most of you (including me) so it would not be sufficient to say lee played better because you think she has better “musicality.” Keep in mind that everything is subjective, and the winner is the winner. I thought he played with just as much passion and made has much music as the second place winner.
I have played and performed the Sarasate Carmen Fantasy and the Variations on an Original Theme by Wieniawski. These pieces are of high level, and it is phenomenal that such young musicians are able to perform them. However, the Variations are significantly more difficult and Soo-been managed to capture the colour and phrasing of some extremely technical places.
MenuhinCompetition, thank you for posting these videos of such phenomenal talent. Kindly correct the name of the composer. It should be Pablo de Sarasate.
Divine genius. Only criticism is that the audio is slightly out of sync with the video. But still, amazingly spectacular and the pianist is fabulous also
Anyone who is hating should watch 2024 queen elizabeth. People were saying he shouldn’t have won this but now everyone is saying he should have won queen elizabeth. He has always been amazing.
He did wonderfully! As I listened to this, even if I wasn't able to see his expression, it gave off something great! I guess that's what they say down there that he gave off the colors err vibeee. I know he'll be able to reach and do greater thiiings.
Soo-Been Lee’s playing was more flash, which I think is why people regard her as better, but Zhu’s playing is smoother in this video, I think (I think I also heard a couple slight mistakes in Soo-Been’s performance, which could’ve been what put Zhu above her). I don’t play violin, so I cannot claim to have a true idea of who is better. I suppose it’s subjective.
Gercekten şahane bir sunum. Tekniğine bayıldım. Bu yaşta ne yetenek ama!- Oh my God, I really enjoyed his performance. What a magnificent and gorgeous talent in this age
I see that a lot of people are saying that Soo been Lee should have won, but I believe that Kevin's technique is much better. I think they made the right choice, making Kevin the winner. Kevin is a very good violinist, and he should keep improving and practicing! Katerina
Both of them are spectacular and the judges must have had a difficult time deciding the winner but I agree that Kevin does have a better technique overall
Em là niềm tự hào của những nghệ sỹ trẻ châu Á. Thật tuyệt vời. Em biểu diễn rất có hồn, rất hiểu biết về nội dung tác phẩm. Nghệ sỹ Piano và em đã có những sự hoà đồng trong việc sử lý tác phẩm. Thật hoàn hảo. Em sẽ còn tiến rất xa...hãy xem.
Lmao so many comments saying Soo been should have won, I think mostly because the Wieniawski had a more impressive aspect , BUT at this level judges are listening to the most details parts and ability to control the musical communications ...at some points it seems as if Soo been lost control and the difficulty of the piece got better of her , which didn't allow her to play the way she wanted to interpret some parts
Those who complains.... post a video of yourself playing all the pieces he played in this competition within one performance and I will see.... tq 😟there are always some self-righteous musicians who think they are superior than others but in fact they are lacking of the attitude as a musician....
*this is what my non-musical parents show me when I stay on a note too long* AIE-YAH LOOK AT THIS BOI LOOK HOW GOOD TSK TSK LOOK AT YOU WITH HELL PLAYING
* Looks at Picture. Frowns. Comes back a year later. Looks at subscribers. All ROTMG players. Looks at channel home. Sees one Chinese video of some kind and a tennis video. Frowns again *
This guy and the other girl Soon Bee Lee play with very good control.... that's the most necessary thing to have before talking about the expression.... but I believe.... most kids at their age can't do that and that's why there are moving into the finals... or perhaps winning the competition....
Here's my opinion for everyone giving the standard "he lacks emotion" complaint.
Sure, he doesn't utilize dynamics to the same extreme that one might with Schubert and such, but he makes up for it in very colorful tone, bowing and greatly balanced rubato. Emotion and color, as it seems most people interpret them to be, are not just measured in a constant heavy vibrato or wild dynamic leaps 24/7, but also in texture, tone, and tempo. In those aspects, I think this kid nails it.
I agree he doesn't have superb dynamic, but that doesn't make it "unemotional". This kid won one of the most prestigious international youth competitions, and the judges (who, by the way, have far more musical talent and knowledge than me or anyone shitting on this concert) chose him for good reason. Looking forward to what he brings us next.
+ZiggyTheDawg People who criticize this kid are just jealous
He's 11, so he has plenty of time to mature musically. And he already plays better technically than most musicians.
Not sure if anyone gives a damn but if you are bored like me during the covid times you can stream all of the new movies on InstaFlixxer. Been streaming with my gf for the last few weeks =)
@Jesus Alex Yea, been watching on InstaFlixxer for years myself :)
Ye
There are a ton of comments saying he shouldn’t have won first. Unfortunately for all you haters, not a single one of you has the capability to truly judge this. Myself included. However, the people on the judging panel aren’t idiots, this is the most prestigious competition in Asia and there is no doubt the judges have credentials that far exceed the commenters here.
T H A N K Y O U
Heard him play Paganini's 1st Concerto live in Reykjavik last night, and I don't expect to hear better violin playing than that ever again. He had no problems with the fearsome technical demands of this work, all his thirds and octaves were perfectly in tune, however fast he played them, yet his speed was never such that we couldn't hear every note, and his tone in the more lyrical sections was of the utmost sensitivity and beauty. His natural rubato never troubled the essentials of the rhythmic structure of the phrases and his focus was always 100%. There were no weak moments. I heard someone ask him if he had recorded the piece, and he calmly said no. So that will be something to look forward to. I have never praised anyone to this extent in my long musical life, but the guy is out of this world.
This is insanely good. The passion he is playing with can't be taught and is incredible to witness. I hope he keeps playing for the dear love of music. Please, no one force this kid play and make him hate music and give it up. PLEASE. This is DAMN good. Screw the ignorant haters and "armchair critics".
Don't worry, just look at him now :)
no emotion????? amazing playing, full of fire and life..sends shivers up my spine...bravo!!
While both of them are absolutely amazing players for their ages, viewing this performance and the second prize performance of Wieniawski by Soo-Been Lee, I must say that to me Lee was the clear winner by virtue of virtually flawless execution and musicality and physical expression well beyond her years. Not that it matters that much (the difference between 1st and 2nd is almost negligible).
Do you realy hear Music? The difference is so big. Or you like Show?
maechel200 well I mean he/she is a violist
Ling Ling Chua viola
Eric Chae Lee viola gang viola gang viola gang spend ten racks on a C string
For people who don't play the violin or read music, I've been playing violin for about 20 years and can barely play this piece (not even half as good as this kid did) it's immensely complex and technically challenging. A lot of professional violinist stay clear of Sarate's music, as he basically has his own genre of violin music.
By the way, he announced an encore last night, and his voice has broken. As for the "listeners" here, who turn up to see a show, but who lack the ears to hear music, I always recommend the elephants and tigers which are to be found elsewhere. Zhu's calm stage manner resembles that of some of the greatest violinists ever in their best years - TH-cam has many examples - but his external calmness never gets in the way of his powerful musical soul. Even Rachmaninoff was said to look like a monk when he played, but the life in his finger-tips was unbelievable. Hear Zhu live if you can. Paganini himself could not have failed to be impressed by this amazing youngster, although I will admit that nobody would claim that Zhu plays as if he was possessed by the devil, as was said of Paganini...
what do you mean his voice has broken?
For me, discovering this TH-cam twelve years later, and having had the opportunity to listen to his presence at the Paganini, and the Queen Elisabeth competition of 2024, as well as some of his most recent interviews, some of these commentaries make me smile and pity those who failed at recognizing the amazing talent, which at that time was budding, yet delineated amazing aptitudes and an outstanding maturity and technical control. Intelligence, when this authentic, never hides for long. Precious. Thank you! Jean-Louis
He may not have "emotion", but the kid's probably too young to have been inspired by something like love or loss. Every note besides maybe the pizzicato and the harmonics sounded full. He didn't feel it in his heart, he felt it in his mind.
THEROTATINGFOOT i actually think this kid has a lot more emotion than other kids his level and age. kudos
+THEROTATINGFOOT kids have crushes at a surprisingly young age tho lol.
+THEROTATINGFOOT Ur just jealous
+THEROTATINGFOOT Yeah, because you said so and that's probably why you are so ugly I guess, because you loved too much, right? Com' on, shut up you freak and child hater! What are you a GP? Right a novel about your love life and be ashamed for this. You GP monster! Yuck...
+Chris L I was complimenting him
10:09 his bow is moving so fast, precisely and efficiently that the camera can't even catch him 😭
The boy is fabulous and is bad to compare so talented children but when it is competition the Jury should be able to notice that the winner of this competition can be only Soo Been Lee! Her artistry, her natural musicality and depth of feeling are so rear that a very few of the greatest masters can match it. Well, good luck to both of them. It is amazing what they have achieved at such young age!
I agree! I am korean and I am really proud of her.
Agreed
Конкурс Добротворчество Категория Музика I also agree!
행복한바이올린 저도요
alan2021233 he won because of showmanship, extremely impressive control of bow
he has such depth when he plays. my god it's beautiful
Any inauspicious comment is simple envy; this child is a genius!
Emanuel
Emanuel Maurice Winocur
ABSOLUTELY!
Well said.
Soo true man
I don't know why you included your name at the end as if we didn't know it but I couldn't agree more.
Yes, his playing is just straordinariamente grande!
(Extraordinarily great)
Wow. That was quite beautiful. Congratulations to Kevin on a wonderful performance.
This is just crazy insane!!!!
How come a 11 year old boy play like this!!
DANG! THIS IS AWESOME!!!!
I was 10 when I first sight-readed this... it isn't that hard, you know
houxiao yu you right
houxiao yu you wouldn't happen to have a video of you playing right ?
houxiao yu proof?
Child prodigy my friend
Kevin Zhu is an absolute pleasure to listen to! Bravo !
All these hate comments don't matter anymore, given HE JUST WON PAGANINI
You can't teach this kind of playing. Amazingly mature and poised.
This is a prodigy.
Beautiful, I have no words! (how can possibly people click a "not like"?) This boy is amazing!
Thank you for playing this piece, Kevin!
My mind can't comprehend such immense talent...brain...fingers...malfunctioning...jaw...dropping...
This is simply unbelievable. Kevin is a huge talent....a new Paganini....?
+47cybele59 You are right. It was sort of speaking :-)
What I really love about Kevin is that unlike many other kids with his level of technique, he plays very musically and passionately. Wow wow wow
Kevin is a giant of the violin ! Congratulations.
His playing reminds me of Bach technical works; not much emotion, but a shit ton of skill. Fabulous work, indeed! I'm not much of a violin fan myself, but I can see why he won first place. Soo-Been was remarkable as well, but you just gotta love the skill Kevin has...
So many commenters are saying this performance doesn’t deserve first, but if anything, the judges know how to judge this competition better than most of you (including me) so it would not be sufficient to say lee played better because you think she has better “musicality.” Keep in mind that everything is subjective, and the winner is the winner. I thought he played with just as much passion and made has much music as the second place winner.
I have played and performed the Sarasate Carmen Fantasy and the Variations on an Original Theme by Wieniawski. These pieces are of high level, and it is phenomenal that such young musicians are able to perform them. However, the Variations are significantly more difficult and Soo-been managed to capture the colour and phrasing of some extremely technical places.
Astonishing! He gets my vote!!
Who else is here from TwoSet Uncle Roger?
Me
its moi
Nah searched for “Carmen Fantasy” and this showed up
Me 2
Meeeeee
what a TALENT!!!...also nice to see an accompanist as sensitive as this!
Ahh I’m amazed so so beautiful! I applaud him.
THE BESTTTTTT, ABSOLUTLY AMAZING, COLORFULL AND WITH A LOT OF EMOTION
sure about emotion what tho?
Exquisitely phenomenal.
Props to thr pianist..Best piano accompaniment to this piece
MenuhinCompetition, thank you for posting these videos of such phenomenal talent. Kindly correct the name of the composer. It should be Pablo de Sarasate.
This is a really good piece. It matches Kevin's ability to play violin. In other words, simply AMAZING. O_O ---- Amazing!
Divine genius. Only criticism is that the audio is slightly out of sync with the video. But still, amazingly spectacular and the pianist is fabulous also
Mensch, da kann man nur staunen. Toll!
Anyone who is hating should watch 2024 queen elizabeth. People were saying he shouldn’t have won this but now everyone is saying he should have won queen elizabeth. He has always been amazing.
Wow, este niño hace estremecer mi corazón con su interpretación, tiene un carácter increíble aún estando tan joven.
Technically brilliant and beautiful sound at the same time! I saw you playing paganini in 2018. Amazing!
I know he will not disappoint us. Bravo!
wouaw!! quelle personnalité déjà si grand!! On le reconnaitra tout de suite ! son est déjà bien personnel bravo!
Beautiful!
He did wonderfully!
As I listened to this, even if I wasn't able to see his expression, it gave off something great!
I guess that's what they say down there that he gave off the colors err vibeee. I know he'll be able to reach and do greater thiiings.
Soo-Been Lee’s playing was more flash, which I think is why people regard her as better, but Zhu’s playing is smoother in this video, I think (I think I also heard a couple slight mistakes in Soo-Been’s performance, which could’ve been what put Zhu above her). I don’t play violin, so I cannot claim to have a true idea of who is better. I suppose it’s subjective.
Emily Harrison yeah Kevin also has some mistakes so,, idk guess we will never know.
Gercekten şahane bir sunum. Tekniğine bayıldım. Bu yaşta ne yetenek ama!- Oh my God, I really enjoyed his performance. What a magnificent and gorgeous talent in this age
That kid's hands are bigger than my feet! Stunning performance!!
look at him just down right shredding that violin. bitch i’m milly rocking to this
Amazing!
Fantastisch!! superschön
Bravo!!!!!!!!!
Love this kid!
Fantastic!!!
I LOVE U KEVIN ❤❤❤❤
His playing is more silky smooth than his shirt.
I see that a lot of people are saying that Soo been Lee should have won, but I believe that Kevin's technique is much better. I think they made the right choice, making Kevin the winner.
Kevin is a very good violinist, and he should keep improving and practicing!
Katerina
Both of them are spectacular and the judges must have had a difficult time deciding the winner but I agree that Kevin does have a better technique overall
Amazing …wow…still shocked by this kid…
Amazing.
00:59 the person who says "wow"
Jason Brk I think it was a cough
that's awesome bravo!!
¡Bravo! Excelente violinista, muy bien acompañado por la pianista. Buen ensamble musical. ¡Felicidades!
Brings back memories of the young Sarah Chang who played this so well at only 9 years old.
große Zukunft!
Em là niềm tự hào của những nghệ sỹ trẻ châu Á. Thật tuyệt vời. Em biểu diễn rất có hồn, rất hiểu biết về nội dung tác phẩm. Nghệ sỹ Piano và em đã có những sự hoà đồng trong việc sử lý tác phẩm. Thật hoàn hảo. Em sẽ còn tiến rất xa...hãy xem.
amazing!!!!!
Is it only me who thinks that or he actually does look like a mini Eddy Chen
😂😂😂😂😂 mini Eddy!! Fellow twosetter!!! You saw their reaction on this video?
@@himeiji he does look like a mini Eddy!😂 nope, I haven’t seen that yet. Would you be so kind to send me the video link?😁
@@PhymacssI think uncle roger was with them for that one 😂
How does he produce such a rich sound at that age?!
Amazing kid!!!👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
The sound and his movement is different...from 4:45
Nailed it
Too bad I can hit the like button only once
Bravissimo!!
1:48 is the best part
Exceptional ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
blown. away.
I'm going to meet him at a violin camp in Iceland! Congratulations!
Es bravissimo por este chico. Lo amo.
Bravo!
Goodness!!!! It seems even Sarasate himself has difficulty swallowing after this one!
I'm breathless watching this prodigy perform. Must work on aerobics for increased stamina.
x_x incredible!!!!!!
1:00 1:11 i heard somebody sayin "stop" thats absolutely disrespectful
I didn’t hear it
Thats a cough
Un miracolo della natura
Lmao so many comments saying Soo been should have won, I think mostly because the Wieniawski had a more impressive aspect , BUT at this level judges are listening to the most details parts and ability to control the musical communications ...at some points it seems as if Soo been lost control and the difficulty of the piece got better of her , which didn't allow her to play the way she wanted to interpret some parts
Muy bien, la práctica hace al Maestro y con seguridad algún lo será. Felicidades
Menuhin really screwed up this amazing performance by having half of the video out of sync with the audio
Those who complains.... post a video of yourself playing all the pieces he played in this competition within one performance and I will see.... tq 😟there are always some self-righteous musicians who think they are superior than others but in fact they are lacking of the attitude as a musician....
Inspiring :)
*this is what my non-musical parents show me when I stay on a note too long*
AIE-YAH LOOK AT THIS BOI LOOK HOW GOOD TSK TSK LOOK AT YOU WITH HELL PLAYING
Haahahaahah😂 yeah they always compare
It may have been the audio or the performance hall, but the playing was very shrill in some parts.
ce fain!!! :))
Braavooooooooooooo
toooo good.
* Looks at Picture. Frowns. Comes back a year later. Looks at subscribers. All ROTMG players. Looks at channel home. Sees one Chinese video of some kind and a tennis video. Frowns again *
:/
+周 むてん（Lel On'Yomi Readings） stop hating
Jacob Wang
I quit that game. My goodness, it's annoying when you die with a bracer.
I quit too. Its annoying to die with anything.
Spoiler: HE IS THE MOST GREAT NOW, KEVIN ZHU
Niceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :)
This guy and the other girl Soon Bee Lee play with very good control.... that's the most necessary thing to have before talking about the expression.... but I believe.... most kids at their age can't do that and that's why there are moving into the finals... or perhaps winning the competition....
Gotta love the shiny shirt
Perełka-KEVIN -MAŁY CZARODZIEJ-BRAWO
NICE kevin