Watch this: One woman plays the Mendelssohn Octet

Watch this: One woman plays the Mendelssohn Octet

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norman lebrecht

July 03, 2020

Malin Broman, concertmaster of Swedish Radio, got tired of having to deal with colleagues so she played all eight instruments in the chamber-music masterpiece.

Very fast and with great daring – especially the cello parts. For which she needs glasses.

Comments

  • Alexander says:

    More hype, I think would be better when she played one part well… just my opinion, of course

  • Tony Oft says:

    Is anyone really crying out for more of these multitrack videos? I can’t think of a more dull format.

  • Tiredofitall says:

    Amazing. Now that puts a smile on my face first thing in the morning. What a great solution for social distancing on stage! And quite a budget buster…

  • Elizabeth Owen says:

    OOOH there’s clever!

  • Ken Olsen says:

    I can’t believe anyone would have a negative comment about this! It’s brilliant! Put a huge smile on my face!!!! Brava Malkin!

  • Sally says:

    What’s the point? She seems to have forgotten what music is?
    Does she have sex with herself too….?

    • Sally says:

      Please remove my unkind comment Norman, I loathe music that fails to communicate anything but my reaction was unnecessary

      • M2N2K says:

        You forgot to add “to me” before the word “but”. If it does not “communicate anything” to you, it does not mean that it does not communicate something valuable to others. It is not the most profound piece of music of course – after all it was written by a teenager – but it certainly does communicate to many of us. This performance is a considerable technical achievement by an outstanding musician, even though admittedly it does not contain any interpretative revelations.

    • Joel says:

      Here’s the weird thing I noticed about it: it was really good. Perhaps it is bad for the viewing and listening experience to have a giant chip on your shoulder? I also enjoyed the clever touches that communicated to attentive viewers that it was done in good fun. I don’t know what three instruments you have mastered, but I’m sure we would all love to see you outdo this. Or if you’re more of a purist, just play us a bit of solo Bach or something to show us how a real, tasteful musician does it.

  • SVM says:

    A remarkable and truly excellent performance that belies its multi-track origins. I would be interested to know in what order the eight parts were recorded — I am assuming that there must have been some overlaying, since some of the Bromans seem to have a small bit of cable near the ear (implying earphones, implying that she recorded some of the tracks while listening simultaneously to existing tracks)…

  • buxtehude says:

    Wonderful!

    (But why did she leave the drums out?)

  • Walter V says:

    Nothing is easier than fault-finding; no talent, no self-denial, no brains, no character are required to set up in the grumbling business.

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