Comments on: Bach Marathon

By: Regula

Regula — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:18:31 +0000

Dear Alban,
wow, what an experience this must have been, for both the player and the audience!
Love your comparison with the market story-teller – one of the great qualities of your music-making is that the “story” seems so immediate and exciting every time even if the plot is hundreds of years old. Can’t wait to hear you “speak Bach” in Stresa on Saturday – though I’m glad that it will be just a half-marathon, for my daughter’s sake 🙂
All the best, Regula

By: David

David — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:27:37 +0000

Well done, would love to hear them at the Wigmire (sic – liven it up a bit). You’re in good company – the mighty Natalia Gutman has been playing them (not sure if all six) at Verbier at around the same time. Just missed her there, curses.

By: Betty Sekhri

Betty Sekhri — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:09:53 +0000

Oh Alban, your description of your feelings about that amazing conert is so vivid I almost felt I was doing it with you (and I haven’t a clue how to play the cello). Jennifer told me she is going to hear you play the Bach suites at the Stresa Festival….I would so love to be there too. However the ‘marathon’ is going to be divided up I see.
Would love to hear you play again…..live that is…..but I don’t see your coming anywhere near where I live though. Lots of love………….Betty

By: George (from California)

George (from California) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:18:52 +0000

Bravo to you Alban…Yes, it’s me…(i’m still around)..what a marvelous acheivement..I would love to see pictures of the performances and you with the lighting you describe at the various locations in the hall…I find it hard to believe that this was more difficult than the Suk concert…but I’ll take your word for it…I have not checked your blog for quite some time…You are still out there amazing people with your artistry..Your not gettting old…your getting better!…All the best to you!!

By: Kat Alder

Kat Alder — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:50:21 +0000

So impressed, I have run a marathon but I doubt I could match that intensity and especially skill 🙂 well done!

By: Eva

Eva — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:09:03 +0000

Lieber Alban,
Ã¶fters habe ich es als physisch anstrengend und kÃ¼nstlich empfunden, inmitten von einem fremden Publikumsblock zu sitzen und zuzuhÃ¶ren, bloÃŸ nicht husten, bitte unter Kontrolle bleiben usw. – selbst wenn die Musik mir gefiel. Wie wird so etwas aufgelÃ¶st?! Gestern ist es jedenfalls gelungen… und das Konzert war wunderbar *** Gefreut habe ich mich auch Ã¼ber die Bemerkung “ich habe nichts dagegen, mich zu irren”, so etwas hilft in stressigen Zeiten. Vielen Dank!

By: Michael Chen

Michael Chen — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:03:42 +0000

Hi Alban:
While intimidating to the performer to no end, playing Bach is so rewarding because of its truly endless possibilities. I can speak to this mainly based on his keyboard repertoire which is even more mind boggling with the lack of dynamic marking but the essence is applicable to all his works. Mahler proclaimed a symphony should encapsulate and embrace the entire world. I think we truly encounter this universality in Bach’s composition. What the performer extracts from it ( and the audiences too ! ) is only limited by his/her imagination of the moment…and afterwards…..The score is an eternal text, emotion and philosophy distilled and refined. One can go back again and again with joy, grief, introspection and exhilaration in life. I remember talking to my heroin the great Italian pianist Maria Tipo after her Bach performance and telling her how astonishing the feeling of liberation was in her playing that night. Her reply was simply:” …THAT ‘s Bach.”

Michael

By: Claudia

Claudia — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 10:27:58 +0000

I was in the audience last night and it was one of the most impressive concerts I have ever been attending. It was perfection – with a human touch. I experienced not only a great musician but a sympathic and humorous person.
Thank you, Alban Gerhardt, you created a great event with just you and your cello.