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Saturday, 30 October 2010

Hey, That's My Kind Of Music! (6)



Nigel Kennedy & Kroke Lullaby For Kamila

My two favourite classical instruments are the piano and the violin (I used to play keyboards myself for a short while in a local rock 'n' roll band). While Alfred Brendel is my favourite classical pianist, Nigel Kennedy has got to be my favourite classical violinist. Although, of course, he plays a much wider repertoire than classical alone: he's experimented with rock, and with jazz, and recently has been working with the Polish Klezmer band, Kroke. (His second wife is Polish. He has a house in Krakow, and spends much of his time there.) I know his outspokenness and abrasiveness rub some people up the wrong way - but I love his unconventionality, and his genius. He can't do anything wrong as far as I'm concerned.
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6 comments:

  1. Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed.30 October 2010 at 15:37

    Haunting music Robert. So many Klezmer pieces have such a plaintive quality while laced with notes of hope ... Violins in plaintive pieces like that can simply make my heart feel like it is about to break.

    I am about to begin reading Hans Fallada's "Every Man Dies Alone" and I think this kind of music would be a perfect, if wrenching, 'soundtrack'.

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  2. Ruth30 October 2010 at 16:25

    Very beautiful. Thanks for the introduction.

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  3. The Solitary Walker30 October 2010 at 18:27

    Yes, Bonnie - I just couldn't add anything to what you say. Except that, though I've not read the book you mention (and it's now definitely on my list), Primo Levi's 'If this Is A Man' comes to mind.

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  4. The Weaver of Grass30 October 2010 at 21:15

    I like him too Robert - he has got nicely away from the stuffy image that so many classical soloists portray.

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  5. ksam31 October 2010 at 16:50

    Beautiful. And I'd have to agree with Bonnie's note. I keep coming here and the list of reading and stuff just gets longer...I need more hours in the day! Thanks

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  6. Rachel Fox2 November 2010 at 10:58

    I've never listened to any NK. Enjoyed this.
    x

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