The general view of YOUTUBE is that it's full of nerdy rubbish. Sadly this is true; but among the many tens of millions of movie clips stored there you can find real gems of classical performance, plus ballet, opera, rare archive recordings, some going as far back as the 1930's.
By its nature YOUTUBE video is low quality and the audio output via your computer is poor. It does, however, give a presenter to a U3A Music Group a way to illustrate a talk, and sometimes to provide insights into performance that mere words can't match.
We hope that the examples below illustrate such insights. If you have requests for other examples that you think have merit please let us know on the DISCUSSION page.
Scarlatti Sonata Opus 141, played by Martha Argerich. Since her outstanding performance of Chopin's Etude in C major (Op. 10, No. 1) at the seventh International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1965 there has never been any doubt of her ability as a pianist. But her refusal to give concert appearances means she is not as well-known as many other pianists.
Here is an example of her astonishing keyboard technique.
What a voice! Here is Conchita Supervia giving a thrilling performance of Musetta's Waltz Song from the 1934 film 'Evensong'. That fast vibrato was her trade mark, and there have been few Coloratura Mezzo Sopranos that could match her range.
Her entry in Wikipedia says: She made her American debut in 1915 as Charlotte in Jules Massenet’s Werther at the Chicago Opera, where she also sang in Mignon and Carmen. Back in Europe by the end of the First World War she was invited to Rome, where she started the Rossini revival that made her world-famous – as Angelina in La cenerentola, Isabella in L’Italiana in Algeri and Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, in the original keys. Conchita SupervÃa had exactly the type of voice for which Rossini wrote these works – a "coloratura" mezzo-soprano. Is there any singer alive today that can match the astonishing musicianship and range of her Angelina in La cenerentola -- just listen to it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ke1pkzaHuQ
The Rite of Spring. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Part One "Adoration of the Earth".
Tom Holloway writes:-- "It is now 68 years since I first heard this - yes, you can no doubt guess, Disney's Fantasia - and still those first few high notes on the bassoon give me goose-bumps. Some years back I had the good fortune to see Salonen conduct it with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and it was an astonishing performance.
"I've never forgotten it; and I will never forget it".
But what about ritual rape as 'Art'? See the ballet version and judge for yourself
If this were some other field of endeavour one might say that this five-year-old child (name unknown, although I have searched for it) is being pushed at an age where she has no opportunity to live the life of a child. Exploitation on the part of ambitious parents? An examplar of the Suzuki method of music teaching? Child labour? I hope I can provoke a response in our Discussion page....
Questions of Music
Wagner: with Richard Burton
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