Commentaires sur : Adrenalin junky

Par : Alexander

Alexander — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 06:57:59 +0000

Hello Gerhardt!

I heard you play in San Diego some months ago … the best cellist I’ve heard so far live. I know this comment does not belong exactly here, but I don’t where else to put it. Anyways, keep up the great work.

P.S. Do you teach your son cello? Is your wife a musician as well? (Where is she from by th way?)

Alex

Par : Alban

Alban — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 13:52:04 +0000

Hi Thomas, yes, I agree, the Dvorak is much rather a symphony than a typical concerto – if it came across that way, I am happy!
Glad you liked it, haven’t listened to the recording yet, will do though soon…

Hi Wanda, yes, I remember my debut with you 15 years ago – gosh, how time flies. Hope all is well in Montreal, I enjoyed my time back then very much (now I didn’t have much time to enjoy this beautiful city).

Best wishes,

Alban

Par : Wanda Kaluzny

Wanda Kaluzny — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:15:47 +0000

Hi Alban,

I don’t know if you remember your Montreal debut with the Montreal Chamber Orchestra in 1992 . . . I was delighted to see that you were playing a recital in Montreal but unfortunately was unable to attend.

Best regards,

Wanda

Par : Thomas Walter

Thomas Walter — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 11:51:31 +0000

Hi Alban!
Dvorak was beatiful! And I am of the opinion thats the concerto sounds much better if it is more or less a romantic symphony… on the cd which could be bought after the concert there is a much beter balance than on others i guess; one had to watch out more than on other recordings, where all is served on a silver tray 🙂

Sicerely
Thomas

P.S.: Loved your interpretation of “silent woods”!

Par : Alban

Alban — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 22:18:05 +0000

Dear Sharon,
oh yes, I loved my short little stay in Montreal, what a beautiful city, absolutely worth the effort of flying across the Atlantic for not even two days. I adore the Kodaly, didn’t realize people left before that, their loss, because it’s one of the greatest pieces for cello solo. But maybe they just hated my Bach so much, that they couldn’t be bothered by more Alban… Thanks for your sweets words!

Hi Thomas, I hope you liked the Dvorak, probably quite a different experience to cd – on cd’s the balance is often wrong: too much cello, not enough orchestra, so I guess you were shocked by the softness of the cello. Oh, the Britten is a marvellous piece, just the first movement is a bit grim, but if one follows Brittens rather exact instructions, it comes out actually extremely beautiful. And the SchÃ¶nberg is completely tonal, based on a Cembalo concerto by a baroque composer, Monn. So don’t be afraid of that kind of music, some of it is most gorgeous.

Hi Terri Cherney, as I just wrote to you in a personal e-mail, I love to meet living composers, but I have a total overload on modern solo pieces at home that I don’t have much hope ever learning even 10% of them, especially since I am playing mainly concerto repertoire and rather rarely solo programs. Sorry 🙁
But I am glad you liked my one solo recital of the year!

Best wishes,
Alban
Best wishes,
Alban

Par : Terri Cherney

Terri Cherney — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 18:54:37 +0000

Hello Alban Gerhardt: I attended your Montreal performance and I thought you were really wonderful. My husband Brian Cherney is a composer who has written several pieces for solo cello (two were written especially for Antonio Lysy) and we would like to send a couple of scores to you.

By the way, we were in Berlin last November when a choral work that Brian wrote for the Rias Kammerchor was performed.

May we send you a few scores? If so, to which address should we send them?

Looking forward to hearing from you and again — bravo and congratulations on the stimulating and exciting performance of the Bach and Kodaly in Montreal.

Sincerely,

Terri Cherney

Par : Thomas Walter

Thomas Walter — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 18:57:56 +0000

Hi Alban!
I am happy since im going to visit your concerto in cologne with Dvorak. It will be the first time that i hear it live and not from cd! How do you manage it to play that pieces like Britten etc without practasing it 2 month before? I can immagine thats it`s very hard to make a sensible interpretation of them; for me Britten and especially SchÃ¶nberg often sounds like some noise without any sense … Well maybe i can understand that music later 🙂

Sincerely
Thomas

Par : Sharon H. Nelson

Sharon H. Nelson — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 13:08:14 +0000

Dear Alban Gerhardt,

Thank you for making the effort to come to Montreal on such short notice. You provided a wonderful and unexpected musical gift for your audience here. I hope the journey was worth it for you and that the standing ovation and sincere appreciation of a knowledgeable audience will have buoyed and energized rather than drained you.

I very much enjoyed your performance of the Bach cello suites as music to which one could actually dance and look forward to adding your recording of them to my collection soon. I did not know the Kodally and enjoyed your playing of it enormously. Thank you for introducing me to it. I understand several members of the audience left after the Bach on the grounds that the Kodally is a boring piece. That probably means that they have not heard it played well, and it’s a pity they didn’t stay to enjoy your marvellously sonorous and narratively intelligent performance of it. The Rostropovitch encore was a brilliant choice to follow and made him very present in that small space.

All good wishes,
Sharon H. Nelson

Par : Alban

Alban — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:22:10 +0000

Hi Betty,
actually I am also happy now that I made it to Montreal – it was absolutely worth the effort. Wonderful audience, great hall (and a nice reception afterwards). You can watch a bit of the Ligeti in the video of my homepage, yes, it is in my repertoire, and yes, it fits extremely well as encore, both movements by the way. I am using them often as encores also after concertos – great piece, isn’t it? Next time I come to Montreal, I do the Ligeti, promise!
Best wishes, Alban

Par : Alban

Alban — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:19:18 +0000

Hi Jerome, there have been many people feeling young and vibrant, and suddenly they were burnt out by overestimating their own resources – but thanks for believing in my energy, I hope the burning out will wait a bit longer, so I can do some crazy travelling in the next few years, until I am 85 (it’s not so far away, just 47 years, that’s nothing). To record the Bachsuites? Thanks for the encouragement, and you are actually right; it would be interesting to have three recording throughout my life and then I can compare them with my greatgrandchilden 🙂 No, seriously, maybe it is just a bit cowardish of me to shy away of this task, but now that I have played them all in concert, I might do it sooner than 10 years…