Violin Hating: Nerd Fight
A few months ago, I was on this really big nerdy Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto kick, and I listened to more versions of the piece than I’m comfortable mentioning, usually one after another like crack. Somewhere along the way, I found out about the Tchaikovsky Competition, which led me to a goldmine of translations of the concerto. Well, you know YouTube works, and one click led to another, until I’d watched all the finalists for the competition during its various stages.
A few years ago, Mayuko Kamio won. Here is an excerpt of one of the stages of the competition. It would seem as though everyone had to play Waxman’s Carmen Fantasy, which I don’t particularly care for, I much prefer Sarasate’s version, but whatever.
Her interpretation of Waxman is problematic, sure. Think what you will about her playing, what I care about most is how people responded in the comments section. They’re brutal. Most of them seem to have a working knowledge about music, though they’re probably not actually musicians. Many of them are racist. At least no one was blatantly sexist.
Here’s a little taste of some of the saucier things exchanged:
ghettowizard: well, it IS a Japan-sponsored competition, so her being Japanese didn’t hurt. but the Thaik competition is crooked beyond belief anyway.
unicornstars: that was awful. she just ripped through the whole thing like it was something she had to conquer. no musicality whatsoever. she won..??
cromulentinnoc3nce: 0:32 almost made me gag.
nilssche: my god, she plays like a machine, very boring…
dkurgano :its pretty boring…not as clean as some other performances on youtube either. cant believe she got 1st in tchaik.
cgd147: hehehe chinese! ending….? 95% out of tune???!!!
calloffthedogs: god awful. she shouldnt have made the top 10 in the Tchaikovsky. Zachar Bron rigged the competition. pathetic.
moonkasnow: yes she won, and everybody knows that, except her teacher (zakhar bron) that was part of the jury in this competition.
issavestheworld : Ridiculous intonation. How CAN someone possibly play THAT in-tune?
But on the other hand, I find lack of musicality in her playing….
moonkasnow : haha and the worse of all this is that she won this competition haha
amati147 : Why so fast? THE fastest ending of all time. It didn’t impress me. I don’t like this playing, scratchy. 1.42- 1.45 uh!
penguinshin : whos the accopmianmist, shes really good, to be able to keep up with that unexpected and immature tempo!
leopianotuner: the playing is too tense and serious, tone too harsh, no sense of musical bon vivant, no sense of dance. She has some technique but plays like just another amateur, .
felixjkz: you’re just a Nazi. Every Armenian is better for you than everyone else.
Jan2ek: Such scrapping and slashing about !!!!! too painful to hear – she must learn to make music
crazyninjaful: Umm…do these people actually LISTEN to what they are playing? Competition winner or not, it sounds like she is sawing a house in half or something.
Not interested in perfect saw technique.
fishpig20 : 0:32 is funny
honkeydonkeyponkey : that wasn’t even music. there was no point in that performance. horrendous.
Reading all this makes me wonder: What is it about the internet that makes people so angry? She’s just a 20-year-old violinist. Why get so pissed? Why hurl such personal assaults? It’s not like any of these people were actually affected by Kamio winning the competition, nor were their lives worsened in any way by this one particular performance. And yet, their panties are all in a tizzy. Furthermore, what is it about the internet that makes everyone an expert? I didn’t put in all the comments about Heifetz, but people kept comparing her to Heifetz, as if a comparison could even be fair for any number of reasons. (They also assumed that Heifetz should be the “gold standard” for all music, just listen to his version of Tchaik to see why he shouldn’t be, esp. in comparison to someone like David Oistrakh, who I’d marry in an instant, if I weren’t already married and he wasn’t dead.) People comment like they have intimate knowledge of the music, the score, like they’ve played it, been the soloist, and I’d wager of all these assholes, maybe one or two of them have actually played the piece, much less with an orchestra as the soloist. I’m just saying.
Reading those comments, I wanted to find Kamio and give her a hug. Whereas I understand participating in the Tchaikovsky Competition makes her a “public figure” and she should be ready for criticism, I really wonder what it is that allows these people such bravada to say anything and everything with such great expertise, regardless of how transparently stupid they are, especially when discussing something as harmless as some girl’s interpretation of Waxman’s Carmen.
As an added bonus, here’s her actually playing Tchaik. It’s very good. Worth a listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSoNgAB5P2c
And for the record, one of the comments reads: “A typical pedantic interpretation by an oriental violinist - their mannerisms are just as predictable as their phrasing….”
Fucking stupid fuckers. Or maybe I’m just defending my fellow “oriental violinist” sister, since we all must be related. Ok, I’m done.
I think it takes a lot of courage to put something on you tube – those people there can be real assholes. My Favorite classical guitarist (Ana Vidovic) gets lambasted in every video of her playing something perfectly. She also gets called mechanical. I don’t think I am made of the right stuff to put something there – then again, I’ve noticed that the mediocre get a lot of compliments and praise and while this does offend me (the praise of the mediocre) I could never get worked up about it like these people do.
Question, why is playing something correctly called mechanical? jealous much??
Janine Jansen is currently my favorite Violinist but this is bound to change at anytime. Have you listened to her Tchaikovsky? quite good. Thank you for the Video of Kamino, it was delicious.
It seems the reason the commenters are so harsh is due more to the fact that they feel she undeservedly won the competition. If she had played poorly (according to them) and that was all, the comments would probably be less heated. Maybe they are just nerds seeking justice in the world.
Of course the racial comments are always uncalled for (and don’t make any sense). Sadly, the only thing more prevalent on the internet than porn and lolcats is racism.
By the way, I know absolutely nothing about music, and thought she was quite good.
“Mechanical” is an easy jealous dig at someone who plays with technical precision, but it’s a valid criticism. A machine could play a violin but when a master plays, you feel a swell of emotion somehow through the imperfect medium of a wood/metal object. It’s kind of a miracle to watch a master play. Joshua Bell has been my favorite since I was 16–watching him play the Beethoven violin concerto in D in 2006 remains one of my all-time best memories of music–and he gets called mechanical all the time. Haters gotta hate.
i’ve had sarah changs tchaik in my car that i listen to most.
i dont think people are angrier on the internet as much as they are less inhibited about showing it.
I like Sarah Chang’s version. She’s takes small liberties that are absolutely audacious.
Just watched Janine Jansen play Tchaik. That was hot.
It’s here if anyone else wants to see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geFXEdMuXl0
i’m more curious how many of these shit mouthed old white dudes wrenched on their turkey necks while watching the video of the 20 year old girl.
i’m guessing 65%.
at least.
Don’t leave the women out, Jereme! Equal opportunity pleaser, if you will…
how do amputees do it?
yes! her cadenza floors me.
I’m less impressed with the cadenza, in general. I’m a fan for the double-stop section that precedes the cadenza, usually between minutes 7-9, depending on tempo. That’s how I judge. Most soloists rush through it. Sarah Chang takes her time. So does David Oistrakh. Heifetz plays it cleanly but too quickly and without due emotion. I really dig the Janine Jansen Jhon mentioned above. Good stuff!
HTML GIANT has such a sublime combination of the high brow and the low, the earnest and the inane, the hip and the nerdy. I love it!
cadenzas in general always move me, especially if they take their time, long pauses.
i remember finding that jansen stuff, there’s a documentary somewhere about her too somewhere.
here it is… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nKv3AJks4c&feature=related
I think it takes a lot of courage to put something on you tube – those people there can be real assholes. My Favorite classical guitarist (Ana Vidovic) gets lambasted in every video of her playing something perfectly. She also gets called mechanical. I don’t think I am made of the right stuff to put something there – then again, I’ve noticed that the mediocre get a lot of compliments and praise and while this does offend me (the praise of the mediocre) I could never get worked up about it like these people do.
Question, why is playing something correctly called mechanical? jealous much??
Janine Jansen is currently my favorite Violinist but this is bound to change at anytime. Have you listened to her Tchaikovsky? quite good. Thank you for the Video of Kamino, it was delicious.
It seems the reason the commenters are so harsh is due more to the fact that they feel she undeservedly won the competition. If she had played poorly (according to them) and that was all, the comments would probably be less heated. Maybe they are just nerds seeking justice in the world.
Of course the racial comments are always uncalled for (and don’t make any sense). Sadly, the only thing more prevalent on the internet than porn and lolcats is racism.
By the way, I know absolutely nothing about music, and thought she was quite good.
“Mechanical” is an easy jealous dig at someone who plays with technical precision, but it’s a valid criticism. A machine could play a violin but when a master plays, you feel a swell of emotion somehow through the imperfect medium of a wood/metal object. It’s kind of a miracle to watch a master play. Joshua Bell has been my favorite since I was 16–watching him play the Beethoven violin concerto in D in 2006 remains one of my all-time best memories of music–and he gets called mechanical all the time. Haters gotta hate.
i’ve had sarah changs tchaik in my car that i listen to most.
i dont think people are angrier on the internet as much as they are less inhibited about showing it.
Not to be a hater, but why is her arm planted against her ribcage?
I like Sarah Chang’s version. She’s takes small liberties that are absolutely audacious.
Just watched Janine Jansen play Tchaik. That was hot.
It’s here if anyone else wants to see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geFXEdMuXl0
i’m more curious how many of these shit mouthed old white dudes wrenched on their turkey necks while watching the video of the 20 year old girl.
i’m guessing 65%.
at least.
Don’t leave the women out, Jereme! Equal opportunity pleaser, if you will…
how do amputees do it?
yes! her cadenza floors me.
I’m less impressed with the cadenza, in general. I’m a fan for the double-stop section that precedes the cadenza, usually between minutes 7-9, depending on tempo. That’s how I judge. Most soloists rush through it. Sarah Chang takes her time. So does David Oistrakh. Heifetz plays it cleanly but too quickly and without due emotion. I really dig the Janine Jansen Jhon mentioned above. Good stuff!
HTML GIANT has such a sublime combination of the high brow and the low, the earnest and the inane, the hip and the nerdy. I love it!
cadenzas in general always move me, especially if they take their time, long pauses.
i remember finding that jansen stuff, there’s a documentary somewhere about her too somewhere.
here it is… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nKv3AJks4c&feature=related
Not very good posture. I think it’s supposed to make her look more “passionate”?
Not to be a hater, but why is her arm planted against her ribcage?
Not very good posture. I think it’s supposed to make her look more “passionate”?
the cute and the cantankerous
the righteous and the raving
the professorial and the bad-boy
boyz and gurls
puppies and primadonnas
Beckett and “fuck it”
Balzac and ball sacs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLSBBpxsGO0
the cute and the cantankerous
the righteous and the raving
the professorial and the bad-boy
boyz and gurls
puppies and primadonnas
Beckett and “fuck it”
Balzac and ball sacs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLSBBpxsGO0