My violin stops me falling over
OrchestrasLatest publicity pics from French violinist Esther Abrami suggest she is using her 1700 Carlo Giuseppe Testore instrument as a prop to keep her upright. Surely not what she intended.
Ms Abrami, 28, lives in Manchester and is social media hyperactive. She performs the Mendelssohn concerto next week at Cheltenham Town Hall (where this picture is posted).
From her bio: Esther’s extensive and ever-growing following via social media has led her to work with fashion luxury brands including Ming Ray, Harper and Brookes, Kartel Scotland, Subella London, Alany Luxury and many others, as well as renowned music related brands such as D’Addario Strings and Beaumont Music. Esther is represented by the Influencer’s Agency The LDN Collective.
Esther Abrami @sonyclassical
That’s all lovely. Now have a listen to her actually playing. Resist the urge to turn the volume down.
If I had a penny for every note she plays in tune, I’d be….very poor indeed.
I did just now. I am speechless.
The absolutely least mean thing one can say is that whatever it is she thinks she is doing with a violin, she should not do it with a Testore.
She’ll marry a rich guy and then the agents will find the next early 20s female fiddler to fill the role.
She brings her fans a bit of balance. Many of them are probably spending more time reading up on the Kardashians and rapper feuds. Her presence is a bit like having okra with your Big Mac to offer up some nutrition, albeit deep fried and dipped in ranch sauce.
She is to fashion what TwoSet is to entertainment.
What a smart and enterprising young woman. If you’re planning a career in classical music, alternative sources of income must be almost a necessity these days.
We could always be purists and hold that marketing shouldn’t be necessary, while we sit back and wait for the latest boxed set of ancient recordings to appear.
Unfortunately it is very necessary indeed if the classical music industry is to survive.
Wow, posting incessant bikini clad thirst traps, with captions like ‘please focus on my music’. Taking clothes off – all smart AND enterprising. And necessary, as you say.
In the meantime, pass the tissue box to Andrew…
Oh I don’t need tissues, honey. Last night I watched a brilliant production of Massenet’s “Cendrillon” from Glyndebourne with Mrs Christie in the title role and an inspired London Philharmonic playing their socks off. Conducted by a man who looked familiar. Yes, it was The Man We All Love To Hate, John Wilson. John Bloody Wilson!!!
As for cheesecake, I do get YouTube notifications from Miss Maddie White, a model, and Lizzie, a shuffle dancer.
A much needed laugh. Thanks.
yeah, except Esther Abrami sucks. Objectively, she would not be hired to sit in the back of the 2nd violin section of most regional orchestras in America. I wouldn’t hire her to play even WEDDINGS with my group on the basis of her playing.
Any orchestra or concert promoter that engages her as an overpaid soloist is doing so in the vain hopes that their organization/business/etc will benefit from her social media following – she has an audience and is pretty. Of course, does this translate to ticket sales? Who are the people that are her 329k IG followers? Are they genuine classical music lovers that will actually attend a classical concert? And will they attend a classical concert if the featured soloist isn’t an “influencer”? Or are they just horny old men?
Yeah I’m pretty sure most of her followers are contemporaries of NL……
Would she be more acceptable for the funerals and bar Mitzvas?
I think Birmingham is about to find out ….
Is there an international official exam I can do to assertain if I am a ‘genuine classical music lover’?
As a young scientist I was told I was ‘too good looking’ to be taken seriously!
Those were indeed ‘the good old days’!
She really isn’t good at all, and is only where she is because of her looks and social media fake niceness. “Oooh, look at me, I care so much about everything!”
Isn’t it “my violin stops me FROM falling over”?
Or, a full stop after “me,” and a capital F.
When Lebrecht has nothing better to report than trivia …. Which is the essence of Slipped Disc
He provides another place where we can comment to no effect.
I didn’t know there was an “influence agency” but I suppose someone will claim to do it.
I wonder what their take is.
Well, at least she’s got no beard.
Thanks for the reminder to not buy d’addorio strings.
I can’t help recalling some of the great-but-schlubby-looking virtuosi of old, like Oistrakh or Perlman, who spent decades of their lives developing their artistry. Is the first and foremost criterion for a soloist now that they be eminently f*ckable? Must they also be good dancers?
Imagine the conversation with your luthier if the violin has to be taken in for repairs because the button has been pushed in and the bottom block inside the fiddle has become dislodged. “Well I was posing crouched down in stiletto heels holding myself upright using the violin, and then I heard this noise …..”
In fairness to Esther Abrami however (I’d never heard of her before this) I did listen to a fair number of her YouTube vids, at least, those where she was playing real repertoire, including the Bach Partita No. 2, and the Paganini Cantabile. It is to be sure not always on the mark in the intonation department and sometimes blandly inexpressive, but there was also some very nice playing. I think some of her detractors in the earlier comments over-state her lack of qualifications to make their case. But admittedly I cannot think of a reason to prefer her over the many other options, both currently active violinists and historic names.