Robert McDonald Masterclass at Biola - Liszt: Sonata in Bm, S. 178 / Brahms Mulyawan (10/9/24) (CC)

Details
Title | Robert McDonald Masterclass at Biola - Liszt: Sonata in Bm, S. 178 / Brahms Mulyawan (10/9/24) (CC) |
Author | Marlin Owen |
Duration | 56:47 |
File Format | MP3 / MP4 |
Original URL | https://youtube.com/watch?v=zft4fbS86zg |
Description
Liszt: Sonata in B Minor, S. 178 (Closed Captions Available)
00:00 Lento assai - Allegro energico - Grandioso - Allegro energico
Brahms Mulyawan, piano
(Dr. Beth Nam Studio, who studied with RMcD at Juilliard.)
13:08 Lesson
15:28 Let's look at the scales. The scales are hard to play - better control
18:38 What is your idea at the beginning?
19:28 Allegro energico (m8) Only the 4th note shouts.
23:40 (m 14)
27:50 When does the tonic finally show up? It's a great moment!
What is the purpose of the tonic?
28:40 (8)
32:20 (33) Instead of both hands competing against each other, it should be effortless for the listener to follow the right line.
34:18 (45) LH arpeggio - is putting pressure into your fingers, slowing you down?
37:00 (51) There's a wrong rhythm. It's already been pointed out.
39:39 (105) Grandioso - sometimes it sounds rough
41:05 RMcD Demonstrates Long line vs jagged holes.
43:15 His markings are interesting. Accents going one way and others another way.
44:35 Play again and notice the articulation differences.
Why does that seem more human?
You're making judgments all the time how the markings relate to each other.
47:00 Let's stop - for another day.
47:37 (197) hole the trill
Question - How do I phrase it better?
49:12 How much time have you spent looking at how he put the piece together? There's not another piece that he wrote that has as much care. So much of his craft as a composer is hidden as it's done. It's all about thematic transformation, and he picked it up from Schubert and ran with it.
Performances often fall short, but it's not the composition.
51:02 When I was your age (a kid), I had that as an assignment. The pyrotechnics of it are totally secondary to the quality of the musical expression.
52:40 What is he doing when he gets to the G minor chord? The way he leads us back to the recap is one of the most beautiful passages.
He leads us through so many chapters of experiences - there's that deeply personal quality to the music. So how does that translate through your own experiences? And your experiences in your time of life count just as much as mine, just different.
Crowell Hall, Biola University - La Mirada, CA (9/27/24)
Robert McDonald teaches at Juilliard and Curtis.
https://www.juilliard.edu/music/faculty/mcdonald-robert
Three other Robert McDonald Masterclasses at Biola.
Chopin: Preludes: Op. 28 13-17 / Yang Xiao
https://youtu.be/Uv3SaK7VO2M?si=buLWXNoz-WrNuleR
Liszt: Sonetto 104 del Petrarca / Kai Lee
https://youtu.be/-TtU2ooLZUg?si=PGRhxN58L1qCi6Rv
Schuman: Sonata in F#m, Op. 11 / Rochelle Yuan
https://youtu.be/d5nKjwYhMW8?si=v1XxyU9VAFlGbm_3
Biola Conservatory of Music Piano Department
https://youtu.be/qP-hKGTF5e0?si=q4sIlpDn4N6IzOF5
Menahem Pressler’s solo recitals, masterclasses, chamber music, and concerto concerts were magical, euphoric, and inspirational high points of the year for our conservatory. He would typically be with us for 3 - 5 days. In 2006, when Dr. Lishan Hung became our new Department Piano Head, she expanded the masterclasses by reaching out to the “Pressler Teaching Tree” and to all of his and her dear colleagues and friends who so powerfully reinforced the “Inspiring Art, beauty, and uncompromising musical values” of our beloved Menahem. I’ll begin by posting the masterclasses and performances of his devoted students;
Angela Cheng, Alan and Alvin Chow, Christopher Harding, and Ilya Friedberg.
And close friends/colleagues:
Boris Berman, Melinda Lee Masur, Robert McDonald, William Nabore, Ann Shein, Sandra Shen-Wright, etc.