Watch: Solo cello is best to start the ball game
mainFrom New Orleans Pelicans vs. Houston Rockets last night.
‘Put your hands on your hearts’
Daniel Lelchuk is assistant principal cello at the Louisiana Philharmonic.
Comments
MOST READ TODAY:
-
Opera
Peter Gelb: How I, I, I saved the Met
From the general manager’s self-admiring Sunday sermon in…
-
RIP
Russian ballet star, 39, ‘died in balcony fall’
The press service of the Mariinsky Theater has…
-
Orchestras
This maestro likes to give massages, young students say
From the French magazine le canard enchainé, under…
-
RIP
Sudden death of violin legend, 88
We have been notified of the death this…
Why can’t cellists play in tune?
I always think it’s funny when someone doesn’t know how to listen to, or contextualize, music, and defaults to blaming ‘tune’ as though they have such a great ear. @Ju-Rah Park — you think playing the national anthem in an NBA arena is the same as sitting in a practice room? But hey, easy enough to sit on the sidelines throwing shade via online comments, right…?
That is an exceptionally astute and lofty observation, Ju-rah.
If you can also detect a pea under your mattress we’ll be positive you’re a real princess!
It sounded very well in tune to me.
You sound like kind of an asshole.
It sounded in tune to me, Jurassic Park…..also very heartfelt.
I’m sure the instrument was in perfect tune. I’m also sure the fingers were playing in perfect pitch. Vibrato does not resonate unless played in perfect pitch. That is a first year skill! He is a very accomplished professional after all. What you and I were hearing were the intricate embellishments and string crossings that just did not reach the listener’s ear in the way they would have if you had been standing right in front of him. Maybe a simpler more direct arrangement would have been more appropriate for that stadium and that audience. I also heard what appeared to be foibles, but I’m sure they were not. They were consistent, not random.
As interesting (not) as the discussion about intonation is – what is to be celebrated is that someone was willing to take the risk of using a solo classical cellist to play at a major sporting event in front of thousands of fans. The artist pulled it off and got a rousing ovation. That’s good news for classical music.