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Author Topic: Your first classical 'hero'?  (Read 3493 times)

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Mark

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Your first classical 'hero'?
« on: October 27, 2007, 07:04:00 AM »
For me, Jacqueline Du Pre.



Hers was the first 'name' I ever knew in classical music, aside from those of major composers. I remember reading an article about her and her sister, Hilary, around the time of the release of this:



I'd never heard her music at that point, but her life fascinated me. When eventually I did hear her famous recording of the Elgar Cello Concerto, it left me breathless: she became a heroine for me from that day forward.


If I had to pick another, I'd go with cellist, Maria Kliegel:



I was captivated by her playing immediately, and I have almost every one of her many discs on Naxos. I've also seen her play live at St. John's Smith Square in London on the occasion of the inaugural Naxos Live! annual concerts. I sat just feet from her, and know that she could tell how much I was adoring her performances because we later corresponded by email and she remembered the smile on my face.

Aaah, hero worship. Ultimately pointless, but childishly delicious. :)
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Offline Greg

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Re: Your first classical 'hero'?
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2007, 07:12:19 AM »
Paganini  :-X
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Mark

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Re: Your first classical 'hero'?
« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2007, 07:17:08 AM »
Quote from: greg on October 27, 2007, 07:12:19 AM
Paganini  :-X


Nothing wrong with that. Unless, like him, you're planning to sell your soul to get virtuoso talent. >:D
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Offline AnthonyAthletic

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Re: Your first classical 'hero'?
« Reply #3 on: October 27, 2007, 07:18:21 AM »
Penn'orth, Nobody does it better :D




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Offline Peregrine

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Re: Your first classical 'hero'?
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2007, 07:34:29 AM »
Sir Thomas Beecham, obviously for his conducting, but also his wit.

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Offline Que

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Re: Your first classical 'hero'?
« Reply #5 on: October 27, 2007, 07:40:54 AM »


               Nathan Milstein

Q
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longears

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Re: Your first classical 'hero'?
« Reply #6 on: October 27, 2007, 07:41:57 AM »
Mahler.  Big, brassy, audacious, a bit of a rebellious outsider, and not yet inducted into the canon when I was a teen.
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Offline js bach

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Re: Your first classical 'hero'?
« Reply #7 on: October 27, 2007, 07:48:19 AM »
Mozart ....... well past the point of healthy worship .........
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Mark

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Re: Your first classical 'hero'?
« Reply #8 on: October 27, 2007, 07:49:53 AM »
My memory truly is bad: the actual first 'name' I knew in classical music (though only from his Last Night of the Proms appearances) was conductor, Sir Andrew Davis:



His work on those occasions used to delight me, and I loved his rhymed speeches based on the season's performances. But I chose Du Pre because I didn't connect Davis with anything other than the BBC Proms, and certainly didn't know he'd made any recordings.
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Offline carlos

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Re: Your first classical 'hero'?
« Reply #9 on: October 27, 2007, 08:21:29 AM »
The great Jascha  :D
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Offline Brian

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Re: Your first classical 'hero'?
« Reply #10 on: October 27, 2007, 09:17:29 AM »
Il'ya Murometz, actually...  ;D

Or if you wanted a real person, look to the left.
« Last Edit: October 28, 2007, 10:58:29 AM by brianrein »
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Offline Norbeone

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Re: Your first classical 'hero'?
« Reply #11 on: October 27, 2007, 09:22:36 AM »
Tchaikovsky, and his 5th Symphony was a particular work of his that had me lulled into doing nothing else than listen to it, EVERY DAY FOR ABOUT 2 YEARS.    :o

I've grown out of that now, kind of.   :D
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George

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Re: Your first classical 'hero'?
« Reply #12 on: October 27, 2007, 09:30:08 AM »
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Offline sonic1

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Re: Your first classical 'hero'?
« Reply #13 on: October 27, 2007, 09:40:01 AM »
I'll probably get shit for this, but this is the man who drew me into the classical realm. I have told this story before, but when I was a kid I grew up in NY and was in receptive distance from the Vassar College radio station, which played EVERYTHING. One night I heard this music that was absolutely engaging. I couldn't stop listening to it. I found out after the piece that it was Schoenberg and the piece, if memory serves me correctly was Verklärte Nacht. Before that I only had a few classical records which I had no passion for. Suddenly I gained an interest in them too (a Beethoven and a Bach).

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longears

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Re: Your first classical 'hero'?
« Reply #14 on: October 28, 2007, 09:33:26 AM »
Quote from: Mark on October 27, 2007, 07:49:53 AM
My memory truly is bad: the actual first 'name' I knew in classical music (though only from his Last Night of the Proms appearances) was conductor, Sir Andrew Davis

Heard him conduct the Pittsburgh in a terrific performance of Sibelius's 5th recently.  Raised him a couple of notches in my estimation.
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Offline Peregrine

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Re: Your first classical 'hero'?
« Reply #15 on: October 28, 2007, 10:12:41 AM »
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George

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Re: Your first classical 'hero'?
« Reply #16 on: October 28, 2007, 10:14:03 AM »
Quote from: Peregrine on October 28, 2007, 10:12:41 AM
Wow, she look's really hot in that photo, very sultry... >:D


Yeah, check out the video.  :o
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Offline Peregrine

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Re: Your first classical 'hero'?
« Reply #17 on: October 28, 2007, 10:23:00 AM »
Quote from: George on October 28, 2007, 10:14:03 AM
Yeah, check out the video.  :o


What a babe!
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George

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Re: Your first classical 'hero'?
« Reply #18 on: October 28, 2007, 10:27:51 AM »
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Online Renfield

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Re: Your first classical 'hero'?
« Reply #19 on: October 28, 2007, 10:29:12 AM »


And he still is. In fact, Karajan is one of the very few people that I have come to accept as alternative "father figures" to me, perhaps because as I've said before, the reason I'm not pursuing one of my "dream" careers, in music (conducting), is that I would have at best done the same as the man above. And so I would rather listen to the work of that man, him being as imperfect as anyone, but also as alike to me (or me to him) as few. I understand Karajan. :)


Concerning Argerich, didn't she marry a series of co-workers, anyway? :P
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