EF’s a great player with an over active brain. Can only imagine how long it takes him to fall asleep at night. He seeks an improvisatory feel- he ‘s like a race car driver speeding through, crashing into barriers, recovering, only to bash you again with his sonic ideas. Certainly not boring like so many of today’s straight wrist players. Love his Segovia right hand slicing strokes. Klezmer meets Baroque...
I really think its simple minded people who cant appreciate his brilliance. FORGET comparing him to bream or williams, whatever you say Fisk has the most original style out there. I respect his style, bravery challenging the doctrine way to play. I know Eliot a bit personally, and hes no doubt a genious
This may not be his "best" performance but if you listen to his recording of all six of the Sonatas and Partitas, understand he recorded them all in 6 days. Just 6. That's amazing
All the criticism here are all expectations of how the piece “should” be played. Where do these people get off thinking they know the “right” way the chaconne should played? Fisk is a force to be reckoned with. It has taken most of my guitar playing life to recognize this
I first saw Eliot play at his High School in late 70s. I was just blown away by his left hand - just huge, long fingers. Always thought he was a bit limited by right hand as he doesn't have great nails. And true, he can be a bit sloppy live. Still think he is one of greatest classical guitarists of all time. He can play things that nobody else can. Recorded all the Paganini Caprices??? No one has done that on guitar. And his transcriptions of D. Scarlatti sonatas are sublime; and like most of his transcriptions nearly impossible to play by most guitarists.
Agreed! But how exciting this must have been live: he gets some really incredible sounds! There was a trashy sci-fi movie "The Giant Claw" about a giant flying turkey buzzard whose pecking power and beak are clearly inspired in Eliot Fisk's right hand. His early recordings are among the best to this day.
Aniello Desiderio has some powerful, butcher-like hands (like Segovia's sausage fingers), but Eliot's hand are absolute monsters that shred. It's understandable that the great Angel Romero (who also has blessed and exremely powerful fingers, albeit more for the flamenco technique) admired him. I think only Kazuito Yamashita surpasses Eliot (and all other 6-stringers) and by a large margin as he even made the back-then Eliot look like a kid with his transcriptions that no one has been able to play (sorry Jorge Caballero) like he did. But both were seekers of the impossible,
Maestro Fisk is always so thoughtful of the music, always thinking on the essence. We should be so happy to have such a brilliant musician in our time.
He is extremely dedicated to his instrument. I took lessons from his first teacher in Philly and he was a complete jerk and couldn't play worth a damn - his nails were horrible and he would raise his voice at me and blow smoke in my face every session. He taught me Carcassi then Sor studies then La Catedral.
Segovia did NOT get better with age! The 1978 white house concert was a total embarassment. Fisk is a butcher who is only concerned with showing his awsome technical skills which he doesn't possess. Sloppy, brutal, gross, harsh, nonmusical, disgusting are a few adjectives to describe this fraud. The music a only a vehicle for his giant ego.
In my modest opinion, I think this version is a little too fast for my personal enjoyment. One of the reasons I love listening to Segovia, Raphaella Smitts, Breams, and Williams playing this piece (For the guitar at least) is that they really take the time to let all the right notes sing at the right time. Does it take talent to perform all those fingerings at that speed? Sure, but music isn't a talent show to see who can play the fastest. Not to mention there were a lot of sloppy notes. Again, I'm not claiming I can do this better. I can only play half of the Chaconne...but if I've learned anything from playing instruments, it's that slowing down will do two things for you: 1. Make many pieces sound much more beautiful and allow you to apply more emotion to certain parts. 2. Allow you to play cleaner and make less mistakes. Isn't that great? You can kill two birds and one stone without any comprimise. :)
Can you actually put in words what is that misterious quality that we can't understand? if you can't then it is something YOU can't understand yourself and therefore can't you have a clue wether you are right or wrong.
I'm sorry, I refuse to debate you on youtube. But, seeing as you have no clue who I am/ my experiences or perceptions it is rather arrogant to say I don't have a clue if I'm" right or wrong". I'd like to start off saying I never claimed to be right or wrong. I never mentioned a "mysterious quality" (which, I might add, if you want to debate someone please spell your words correctly). I'll start with a generic come back and ask, can you play like this? That's doubtful. Also, I'm sure if you fancy yourself a classical guitar buff you would by default like Segovia. Well, if you were to watch and study both Segovia masterclasses and recordings of his playing you would hear a lot of both; the same phrasing and same articulation. People bash Eliot's tone, yet fail to realize every single voice has a specific tone. He goes from the most outlandish harsh tones to the most beautiful notes one could hope to produce. His technique is impeccable. You must realize this is performed in front of a huge audience, not some engineered take in a studio. He had one shot, and he did an amazing job. If you can't sense his passion, his emotions, his dynamic contrasts in the tones of every voicing, his versatility, and his ability to improvise so many of those ornamentations both cross string and trill/mordents at this speed then I feel sorry for you. My statement was simply "I truly feel sorry for those who cannot appreciate this.." verbatim. But you twisted my message and intent completely to satisfy your need to prove yourself right about something as insignificant as a simple opinion on youtube. And once more, I never claimed to be right or wrong, and I never said there was anything mysterious about this. There is no secret, he laid everything out on that stage right then and there. No secrets kept. I just think many give Eliot a bad rep because they don't like his tone in some moments. But I think it's something to be looked at in a big picture, where is he going in those moments. What is he portraying? If you listen and dream, you will hear voices, harpsichords, horns, but it takes listening with an open heart. Not a heart that would attack someone for their opinions. It's all interpretation, buddy. If you don't like his, there are a million more on many different instruments and with different players. I rest my case. There will be no debate past this. Say what you will, but I won't entertain you any longer. And this isn't meant in any sort of negative way or condescending tone or anything. I'm just merely explaining my opinion how I see it.
Seth Dempsey alright, you are resorting to the right to remain wrong fallacy, also known as the "I am entitled to my own opinion" move. And the even more common ad-hominem (you can't play that, spelling issues (in a second language!), etc). Sadly, if you knew about guitar playing, you would know that most of what you said is not subjective. Having an "impeccable" technique is an objective claim, since guitar technique is an established field of study. And no, Eliot does not have an impeccable technique. I would explain exactly why, but you chose to "rest your case" and preserve your ignorance. So be it.
Seth Dempsey all i can say, Seth, is that you must not be a musician. if you were your EAR would tell you how bad this is. wow. for a person of HIS STATURE this is unacceptable.... this is unacceptable even for students at Juilliard.
Seth Dempsey I have no idea whether or not Eliot's performance of the Chaconne is good or bad. But personally I did not like it compared to some of the other performances that are on UA-cam, for example those of Forbes Hendersen, Andres Segovia, Shin-Ichi Fukuda and John Feeley.
As someone who specializes in period instruments (theorbo, lute, etc...), loves this music, and is an educator, I'm very concerned about the fact that this bizarre and anachronistic way of playing Baroque music is being taught to classical guitarists. One can certainly play Baroque music well on classical guitar but this is just nonsense.
When Fisk plays at the Wigmore many other great guitarists like J Williams go to watch and listen to him. I wonder how many here who are so critical of Fisk could play at the Wigmore and if anyone would go listen to them. What many fail to see is that Fisk is an artist who dedicated his whole life to the guitar, what he communicates is beyond technique. Sure he can be very sloppy at times but that's not what art is about. At least he has something unique and is able to communicate it. So the real question is do you have something original to express and also are you able to communicate it to others through some medium? if you can then you too are an artist, in my opinion. If not ... at least don't criticize those who are doing it. At the end of the day all art is subjective . You either like a piece of art or you don't.
+bzeliotis But technique is the means in which you communicate. With good technique allows you to truly express your musical intent. I'm sure that he is a great musician, but don't make me guess at it. Don't play so sloppy that I have to think "Well, he got louder there, so that was a cool crescendo". The man has to play what he means, and if he can't be bothered to practice technique in the almost 40 years he's been active, then I don't know what the deal is.
I was told JSB wrote this work after the passing of his wife - is this right? I wish to believe so after having heard the interpretation of Ms. Hilary Hahn, a true masterpiece of hers. You please search for it if you wish.
I'm not in authority to comment but i only have little thing to share. "Not until a player learns not to be too cautious about where his fingers wander on the board instead of listening what sound his fingers would produce... the level of superiority would very difficult to achieve"
@@josephcambron7060 When you listen to him play in person, and I was less than five feet away when I saw him, he just energizes the music. It's amazing. Williams and Breem are excellent technicians but Fisk lives the music.
I am starting to agree with you. It is exciting. It's the Horowitz approach as opposed to, say, the Brendel approach in piano. The approach that the music is primarily a vehicle for displaying your athletic skill and awsome technique though is somewhat frowned upon by most people at this point and that is why people are so disturbed by Fisk. I love excentric. I love Glenn Gould. Fisk loses control of things sometimes sometimes and people no longer can accept mistakes. He is like the old school pianists who were not as concerned with note perfect excecution.
Im sorry, but that was just beyond horrible. Look, I don't care when one butchers the Paganini caprices, but destroying the Bach chaconne truly is something else. Disgusting...
EF: allways praised for his uncomparable craftman-musicianship and above all the fact that he takes risks. Besides the question why one would speak of risks, the main point is that a risk in this context means that it could go wrong ( missed notes for instance). In the case of EF I would like to speak of a prediction and not risks. Why? Because it is predictable that EF will play sloppy at movements that are beyond his technical abillities. From that point of view I feel secure knowing that (only in fast pasages) the mistakes are there, not one, but many. I find that rather boring and far away from the ádventouros' risks where EF is praised for.
Al verlo y escucharlo da la impresión que desea terminar cuanto antes la ejecución de la obra. Se aprecia que maneja bien las manos y que sí tiene mucha técnica. Pero su interpretación no tiene matices y pareciera que hace mucho esfuerzo y sufre al tocar.
Wow, that was something....this is probably what you would get if someone with Tourette syndrome used cocaine before a performance LOL. If not drawing comparison to any other accomplished player with cleaner technique, it would be impressive by itself .....so strange to have such an obviously developed skill and for some unknown reason.....not quite put it to proper musical use. Makes no sense, this man confuses me and by the contorted expression on his face, my guess is, he may be a little puzzled himself :)
Eliot Fisk, Lang Lang and company are the Deepak Chopras of classical music. There will always be an audience that will be amazed by their cheap tricks and that will not have enough understanding of what is going on to become aware of the fraud they are witnessing.
acbulgin2 I completely agree. By the way, in the past, whenever someone can't stop bragging about the many languages they know, I ask them in how many of them could they translate a random passage of Shakespeare. They count always comes down to one (their native language) and the conversation finally moves on to another topic.
Mmm...that's not fair IMHO: at least Lang Lang plays well within his technical capabilities, whereas Fisk just makes a great mess of the pieces he's playing...
Stallone ou Schwarzenegger ? Peut-être les deux à la fois... Avec plus de chance à sa naissance il aurait pu être musicien. Stallone or Schwarzenegger ? Perhaps both... With more luck at his birth he could have been musician.
People who have such inability or arrogance blocking their ability to interpret music or empathize with one's interpretation resort to complaining about a couple muted notes and/or negative criticism of interpretation, even when GOD gives us such divine and incredible possessions such as life and the ability to empathize and gain insight into one's life, emotions, and their connection with God through music (that they can often relate to or not relate to). These people still complain. Fisk's interpretation was hard for me to understand too, but it gave me an insight to how he loves people and how he mourns for people. I'm thankful for Fisk's interpretation.
"People can't play the Ciaconna before age of 50, but you can" said Segovia to Fisk a long time ago, and Segovia was a truly well known master then and still, so i don't know which side to choose, Segovia's or the peoples' whining in youtube (who probably can't play not even a part of this piece)
What a great Chaconne. This is the closest any guitarist has come to sound like the original violin version. Too many guitarist play this piece in a light romantic style. Bach wrote this violent piece after the death of his wife. Sure Eliot's interpretation is totally over the top and exaggerated with faster parts and crazy ornaments and rubato. There is a musical word for that. That word is baroque. Eliot's interpretation of Bach is very baroque. By the gallant and classical period calling something baroque was an insult. I suppose it is an insult today as well. You don't have to like Eliot. Eliot is over the top, and wants to shock, wants to go against the grain, wants to challenge preconceived conventions. He misses a few notes, but that is not the point of Eliot's music. Art for Eliot is more then just hitting all the notes like a typewriter. If you don't like that style, that is ok. I am sure it is probably not what you are use to hearing. But to criticize someone for playing Bach in a baroque style? really? Eliot is surely an imperfect pearl.
Insightful. I've always felt there are some bits in the Chaconne here and there that don't quite add up, yet they don't sound estranged in this "weird" performance.
Very well put. Fisk is an amazing artist and his aim is to be himself and play in his style...some people accept this as virtuosic and some do not understand his brilliance as a performer. I saw him play live 16 years ago in Los Amgeles with Paco Pena and the sound he was getting from his guitar was out of this world. The beauty he could derive from one note was amazing. I will always hold Fisk as one of the great guitarists of his era.
This performance is a disaster. He plays so fast unnecessarily and makes so many mistakes, so many wrong notes. His tone is terrible, with many buzzing, broken and dead notes. The guitar is a bit out of tune. The player looks so nervous, struggling violently and painfully through the piece. He totally destroys the spirit and the beauty of this magnificent piece.
totally agree. Here in youtube we can see a masterclass video by Andrés Segovia, here he said SPEED IS NOT ALL. I recomend the video. ( Fred Benedetti masterclass segovia)
Segovia is a God , you can't compare normal people to him , if anything i just like Segovia interpretation much better than this, Segovia stays true to the music period the piece was in.
Eliot Fisk are one of the most important guitarist today. He know a lot of history and arguments to play bach music like this. Yes, the technique are so important, but when you doesn't have musicality isn't works anything what you play. Segovia said too, the musicians every day most to find the own sound. And Fisk play's the Ciaccona (Chaconne) for Segovia, and he told to Fisk, the people can't play the ciaconna before the 50 years old, but you are a exception... And Segovia can do the awesome performance of the Ciaccona just 10 years after then he play for the first time It just a bit of things what i know, don't be mad. Greetings :)
@@sufianararah you can say a lot about Segovia but one thing you can’t say is he stayed true to the time period. Segovia was not a great Bach interpreter. Nor is Fisk.
I am not trying to be mean. I'm just being musically honest. He destroys the beauty of this piece.His playing is OUT OF CONTROL and it's UNMUSICAL. This masterpiece is NOT FLAMENCO. He's an academic, not a true musician. There are quite a few young players today that are infinitely better. There's no feeling in his playing. He makes up for the lack of feeling with fake facial expressions and jerky movements. His technique needs work, too tense. wow. I am more than underwhelmed.
Well, I wish he was academicly because academicly players (J.Williams, J.Bream, A. Vidovic, F. Larousse) are true musicians who play with feeling and are have great abilities, just as musicians who are not academicly but are great players and have had the same evolving/progression/training. Fisk would not be accepted at an academic.. yes I said it good: not (even) be accepted! The true art played with feeling and musicallity is something you need to have, and then further evolve and learning. They don't want to have someone like Fisk on an academic of art, and that is very sad for him. Fisk did not have anything, did not learn anything. No one should be allowed to play like this. Even 15, 16, 17, 18 years old play with more controle, passion, theoretically, skillfull, feeling.
His tone is uneven and sharp. He does not keep a steady tempo, which is so important when it comes to baroque music. Dead notes and mistakes everywhere. Sorry to say it...
If you could play with a fraction of his technique and feeling then I would say you are entitled to bash him!! give the guy a break. In my book he is still awesome!!
It's OK to give you point of views; that's what the YT is for. Childish to claim that you need to perform equally yourself. Sink all the critics in the pond eh? Think Fish will float still even if getting some fair critics.
Right hand classical technique and using a pick are two completely different things. Each has its advantages. You could say playing fast scales is easier with a pick but tell that to someone like Paco de Lucia or Sabicas. Fisk butchers his scales and everything else he does. He did not do good.
EF’s a great player with an over active brain. Can only imagine how long it takes him to fall asleep at night. He seeks an improvisatory feel- he ‘s like a race car driver speeding through, crashing into barriers, recovering, only to bash you again with his sonic ideas. Certainly not boring like so many of today’s straight wrist players. Love his Segovia right hand slicing strokes. Klezmer meets Baroque...
3:41My grandfather's combine harvester. Aaaah... What goods memories...
I really think its simple minded people who cant appreciate his brilliance. FORGET comparing him to bream or williams, whatever you say Fisk has the most original style out there. I respect his style, bravery challenging the doctrine way to play. I know Eliot a bit personally, and hes no doubt a genious
Lucas Patti He performs!! He pushes his technique to the absolute breaking point everytime!!! I Love this guy!!!!
A genius! How? Being technical doesn't make someone a genius!!
Maybe he is not the best performer. But he is a great teacher. Marco Tamato was his student in Mozarteum in Austria and a lots of other masters.
This may not be his "best" performance but if you listen to his recording of all six of the Sonatas and Partitas, understand he recorded them all in 6 days. Just 6. That's amazing
6 days is a long time to record. , not too amazing.
All the criticism here are all expectations of how the piece “should” be played. Where do these people get off thinking they know the “right” way the chaconne should played? Fisk is a force to be reckoned with. It has taken most of my guitar playing life to recognize this
There's no one right way to play this piece, or any piece for that matter. The criticism is mostly about the sloppy playing and poor phrasing...
sensational... thank you Eliot
I first saw Eliot play at his High School in late 70s. I was just blown away by his left hand - just huge, long fingers. Always thought he was a bit limited by right hand as he doesn't have great nails. And true, he can be a bit sloppy live. Still think he is one of greatest classical guitarists of all time. He can play things that nobody else can. Recorded all the Paganini Caprices??? No one has done that on guitar. And his transcriptions of D. Scarlatti sonatas are sublime; and like most of his transcriptions nearly impossible to play by most guitarists.
Agreed! But how exciting this must have been live: he gets some really incredible sounds! There was a trashy sci-fi movie "The Giant Claw" about a giant flying turkey buzzard whose pecking power and beak are clearly inspired in Eliot Fisk's right hand.
His early recordings are among the best to this day.
Aniello Desiderio has some powerful, butcher-like hands (like Segovia's sausage fingers), but Eliot's hand are absolute monsters that shred. It's understandable that the great Angel Romero (who also has blessed and exremely powerful fingers, albeit more for the flamenco technique) admired him. I think only Kazuito Yamashita surpasses Eliot (and all other 6-stringers) and by a large margin as he even made the back-then Eliot look like a kid with his transcriptions that no one has been able to play (sorry Jorge Caballero) like he did. But both were seekers of the impossible,
Maestro Fisk is always so thoughtful of the music, always thinking on the essence. We should be so happy to have such a brilliant musician in our time.
Your comment shows your stupidity.
I really want to know if he intended to play this piece the way he did? in other words, would he listen to this?
La hizo pedazos, las tres mejores versiones son las de López Ramos, Segovia y Parkening.
He is extremely dedicated to his instrument. I took lessons from his first teacher in Philly and he was a complete jerk and couldn't play worth a damn - his nails were horrible and he would raise his voice at me and blow smoke in my face every session. He taught me Carcassi then Sor studies then La Catedral.
He keeps getting better with age as did Segovia. The more string buzzes and natural human sounds send chills down my spine. Eliot rules!
Segovia did NOT get better with age! The 1978 white house concert was a total embarassment. Fisk is a butcher who is only concerned with showing his awsome technical skills which he doesn't possess. Sloppy, brutal, gross, harsh, nonmusical, disgusting are a few adjectives to describe this fraud. The music a only a vehicle for his giant ego.
Tim Pencak, you are a fool.
You are a jadrool!
I like that he puts that last A pedal note up an octave at the end.
I used to consider his Paganini performance to be Fisk's worst youtube video, but this makes me doubt.....
Da fuq was dat, dude..
I'm just here for the hilariously negative, scorched-earth commentary.
He wants to play like Yamashita but can't. Thats his issue
Crimes against humanity.
In my modest opinion, I think this version is a little too fast for my personal enjoyment. One of the reasons I love listening to Segovia, Raphaella Smitts, Breams, and Williams playing this piece (For the guitar at least) is that they really take the time to let all the right notes sing at the right time. Does it take talent to perform all those fingerings at that speed? Sure, but music isn't a talent show to see who can play the fastest. Not to mention there were a lot of sloppy notes. Again, I'm not claiming I can do this better. I can only play half of the Chaconne...but if I've learned anything from playing instruments, it's that slowing down will do two things for you: 1. Make many pieces sound much more beautiful and allow you to apply more emotion to certain parts. 2. Allow you to play cleaner and make less mistakes. Isn't that great? You can kill two birds and one stone without any comprimise. :)
What is he trying to prove here?
I have no idea, but he proves it very well.
Fisk no necesita proba nada a nadie. Tiene una historia como guitarrista, un prestigio y un lugar ganado a pulso.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Remake) Excellent...
I truly feel sorry for those who cannot appreciate this..
Can you actually put in words what is that misterious quality that we can't understand? if you can't then it is something YOU can't understand yourself and therefore can't you have a clue wether you are right or wrong.
I'm sorry, I refuse to debate you on youtube. But, seeing as you have no clue who I am/ my experiences or perceptions it is rather arrogant to say I don't have a clue if I'm" right or wrong".
I'd like to start off saying I never claimed to be right or wrong. I never mentioned a "mysterious quality" (which, I might add, if you want to debate someone please spell your words correctly).
I'll start with a generic come back and ask, can you play like this? That's doubtful. Also, I'm sure if you fancy yourself a classical guitar buff you would by default like Segovia. Well, if you were to watch and study both Segovia masterclasses and recordings of his playing you would hear a lot of both; the same phrasing and same articulation. People bash Eliot's tone, yet fail to realize every single voice has a specific tone. He goes from the most outlandish harsh tones to the most beautiful notes one could hope to produce. His technique is impeccable. You must realize this is performed in front of a huge audience, not some engineered take in a studio. He had one shot, and he did an amazing job. If you can't sense his passion, his emotions, his dynamic contrasts in the tones of every voicing, his versatility, and his ability to improvise so many of those ornamentations both cross string and trill/mordents at this speed then I feel sorry for you. My statement was simply "I truly feel sorry for those who cannot appreciate this.." verbatim. But you twisted my message and intent completely to satisfy your need to prove yourself right about something as insignificant as a simple opinion on youtube. And once more, I never claimed to be right or wrong, and I never said there was anything mysterious about this. There is no secret, he laid everything out on that stage right then and there. No secrets kept. I just think many give Eliot a bad rep because they don't like his tone in some moments. But I think it's something to be looked at in a big picture, where is he going in those moments. What is he portraying? If you listen and dream, you will hear voices, harpsichords, horns, but it takes listening with an open heart. Not a heart that would attack someone for their opinions. It's all interpretation, buddy. If you don't like his, there are a million more on many different instruments and with different players. I rest my case. There will be no debate past this. Say what you will, but I won't entertain you any longer. And this isn't meant in any sort of negative way or condescending tone or anything. I'm just merely explaining my opinion how I see it.
Seth Dempsey alright, you are resorting to the right to remain wrong fallacy, also known as the "I am entitled to my own opinion" move. And the even more common ad-hominem (you can't play that, spelling issues (in a second language!), etc). Sadly, if you knew about guitar playing, you would know that most of what you said is not subjective. Having an "impeccable" technique is an objective claim, since guitar technique is an established field of study. And no, Eliot does not have an impeccable technique. I would explain exactly why, but you chose to "rest your case" and preserve your ignorance. So be it.
Seth Dempsey all i can say, Seth, is that you must not be a musician. if you were your EAR would tell you how bad this is. wow. for a person of HIS STATURE this is unacceptable.... this is unacceptable even for students at Juilliard.
Seth Dempsey I have no idea whether or not Eliot's performance of the Chaconne is good or bad. But personally I did not like it compared to some of the other performances that are on UA-cam, for example those of Forbes Hendersen, Andres Segovia, Shin-Ichi Fukuda and John Feeley.
Why does he turn every piece of music into a speed exercise!
Because he is an ahole!
As someone who specializes in period instruments (theorbo, lute, etc...), loves this music, and is an educator, I'm very concerned about the fact that this bizarre and anachronistic way of playing Baroque music is being taught to classical guitarists. One can certainly play Baroque music well on classical guitar but this is just nonsense.
When Fisk plays at the Wigmore many other great guitarists like J Williams go to watch and listen to him. I wonder how many here who are so critical of Fisk could play at the Wigmore and if anyone would go listen to them. What many fail to see is that Fisk is an artist who dedicated his whole life to the guitar, what he communicates is beyond technique. Sure he can be very sloppy at times but that's not what art is about. At least he has something unique and is able to communicate it. So the real question is do you have something original to express and also are you able to communicate it to others through some medium? if you can then you too are an artist, in my opinion. If not ... at least don't criticize those who are doing it. At the end of the day all art is subjective . You either like a piece of art or you don't.
+bzeliotis But technique is the means in which you communicate. With good technique allows you to truly express your musical intent. I'm sure that he is a great musician, but don't make me guess at it. Don't play so sloppy that I have to think "Well, he got louder there, so that was a cool crescendo". The man has to play what he means, and if he can't be bothered to practice technique in the almost 40 years he's been active, then I don't know what the deal is.
After listening to Bream and Williams it sounds like something has come loose: perhaps in his brain. Less haste, more accuracy and colour, please!
I was told JSB wrote this work after the passing of his wife - is this right? I wish to believe so after having heard the interpretation of Ms. Hilary Hahn, a true masterpiece of hers. You please search for it if you wish.
Hilary Hahn- greatest chaconne ever. Fisk is complete garbage!!!!! His technique is a joke!!!!!!! Disgusting!!!!!
I'm not in authority to comment but i only have little thing to share. "Not until a player learns not to be too cautious about where his fingers wander on the board instead of listening what sound his fingers would produce... the level of superiority would very difficult to achieve"
Que se estrelle contra todas esas guitarras en el fondo! Que mierda!
Wow, some Eliot haters. I saw him play three decades ago. He was great then, and he's great now.
You need a hearing aid.
@@josephcambron7060 You need a brain.
He is a butcher but it is not boring I must say.
@@josephcambron7060 When you listen to him play in person, and I was less than five feet away when I saw him, he just energizes the music. It's amazing. Williams and Breem are excellent technicians but Fisk lives the music.
I am starting to agree with you. It is exciting. It's the Horowitz approach as opposed to, say, the Brendel approach in piano. The approach that the music is primarily a vehicle for displaying your athletic skill and awsome technique though is somewhat frowned upon by most people at this point and that is why people are so disturbed by Fisk. I love excentric. I love Glenn Gould. Fisk loses control of things sometimes sometimes and people no longer can accept mistakes. He is like the old school pianists who were not as concerned with note perfect excecution.
True artistry.
This is so bad. Yet somehow, still not his worst video.
Im sorry, but that was just beyond horrible. Look, I don't care when one butchers the Paganini caprices, but destroying the Bach chaconne truly is something else. Disgusting...
100 percent agree!
EF: allways praised for his uncomparable craftman-musicianship and above all the fact that he takes risks. Besides the question why one would speak of risks, the main point is that a risk in this context means that it could go wrong ( missed notes for instance). In the case of EF I would like to speak of a prediction and not risks. Why? Because it is predictable that EF will play sloppy at movements that are beyond his technical abillities. From that point of view I feel secure knowing that (only in fast pasages) the mistakes are there, not one, but many. I find that rather boring and far away from the ádventouros' risks where EF is praised for.
誰が、こんな凄い演奏の時にコマーシャルなんか見るか👀‼️ あほんだら‼️ 舐めとんか！
His Tone is awesome and different too. Great guitar.
Un peu de compassion, frères humains...
Al verlo y escucharlo da la impresión que desea terminar cuanto antes la ejecución de la obra. Se aprecia que maneja bien las manos y que sí tiene mucha técnica. Pero su interpretación no tiene matices y pareciera que hace mucho esfuerzo y sufre al tocar.
An absolute master!
Wow, that was something....this is probably what you would get if someone with Tourette syndrome used cocaine before a performance LOL. If not drawing comparison to any other accomplished player with cleaner technique, it would be impressive by itself .....so strange to have such an obviously developed skill and for some unknown reason.....not quite put it to proper musical use. Makes no sense, this man confuses me and by the contorted expression on his face, my guess is, he may be a little puzzled himself :)
Que horror
An intelligent man, a fine teacher. What would he say to a student who played like this?
He would say “Paul Hammer, why do you come to me for lessons when you clearly know as much as I do?”.
Eliot Fisk, Lang Lang and company are the Deepak Chopras of classical music. There will always be an audience that will be amazed by their cheap tricks and that will not have enough understanding of what is going on to become aware of the fraud they are witnessing.
acbulgin2 I completely agree. By the way, in the past, whenever someone can't stop bragging about the many languages they know, I ask them in how many of them could they translate a random passage of Shakespeare. They count always comes down to one (their native language) and the conversation finally moves on to another topic.
Joel Salazar Well listen than to Frank Bungartens version of this piece. I am sure , you will be more satisfied.
+Joel Salazar I like Depak Chopra, why did you have to drag his name into the muck?
Mmm...that's not fair IMHO: at least Lang Lang plays well within his technical capabilities, whereas Fisk just makes a great mess of the pieces he's playing...
Joel you nailed it
Stallone ou Schwarzenegger ? Peut-être les deux à la fois... Avec plus de chance à sa naissance il aurait pu être musicien.
Stallone or Schwarzenegger ? Perhaps both... With more luck at his birth he could have been musician.
People who have such inability or arrogance blocking their ability to interpret music or empathize with one's interpretation resort to complaining about a couple muted notes and/or negative criticism of interpretation, even when GOD gives us such divine and incredible possessions such as life and the ability to empathize and gain insight into one's life, emotions, and their connection with God through music (that they can often relate to or not relate to). These people still complain. Fisk's interpretation was hard for me to understand too, but it gave me an insight to how he loves people and how he mourns for people.
I'm thankful for Fisk's interpretation.
What an IGNORANT comment!
FANTASTIC!!! QUE PERSONALIDAD MAS INTERESANTE.
Because is is an ahole with zero taste!!!!!!!!
"People can't play the Ciaconna before age of 50, but you can" said Segovia to Fisk a long time ago, and Segovia was a truly well known master then and still, so i don't know which side to choose, Segovia's or the peoples' whining in youtube (who probably can't play not even a part of this piece)
This is my favorite interpretation. Sounds Baroque!
Простите но это не Бах......играйте лучше фламенко....
He should cut trees for guitars with this strength playing but not play bach
What a great Chaconne. This is the closest any guitarist has come to sound like the original violin version. Too many guitarist play this piece in a light romantic style. Bach wrote this violent piece after the death of his wife. Sure Eliot's interpretation is totally over the top and exaggerated with faster parts and crazy ornaments and rubato. There is a musical word for that. That word is baroque. Eliot's interpretation of Bach is very baroque. By the gallant and classical period calling something baroque was an insult. I suppose it is an insult today as well. You don't have to like Eliot. Eliot is over the top, and wants to shock, wants to go against the grain, wants to challenge preconceived conventions. He misses a few notes, but that is not the point of Eliot's music. Art for Eliot is more then just hitting all the notes like a typewriter. If you don't like that style, that is ok. I am sure it is probably not what you are use to hearing. But to criticize someone for playing Bach in a baroque style? really? Eliot is surely an imperfect pearl.
Insightful. I've always felt there are some bits in the Chaconne here and there that don't quite add up, yet they don't sound estranged in this "weird" performance.
Very well put. Fisk is an amazing artist and his aim is to be himself and play in his style...some people accept this as virtuosic and some do not understand his brilliance as a performer. I saw him play live 16 years ago in Los Amgeles with Paco Pena and the sound he was getting from his guitar was out of this world. The beauty he could derive from one note was amazing. I will always hold Fisk as one of the great guitarists of his era.
You have no idea what you are talking about!
Para mi gusto una ejecución un poco atolondrada y basta
si se tratara de un estudiante del conservatorio lo harían pedazos y lo reprobarían
i became tired the first minute i was listening to this...
one of great way of making bach chaconne!.
Ok Fisk I'm not trying to be mean i like most of your work but I am sorry this isn't flamenco
not too bad.i dont like it.just julian bream!
Su manera de tocar no va con los tiempos de hoy, muy duro, poco legato y sucio para tocar.
A disaster. Not Bach's Chaconne at all.
it looks like you did knew bach in person
I liked his Paganini album quite a lot but do not like this at all.
This performance is a disaster. He plays so fast unnecessarily and makes so many mistakes, so many wrong notes. His tone is terrible, with many buzzing, broken and dead notes. The guitar is a bit out of tune. The player looks so nervous, struggling violently and painfully through the piece. He totally destroys the spirit and the beauty of this magnificent piece.
totally agree. Here in youtube we can see a masterclass video by Andrés Segovia, here he said SPEED IS NOT ALL. I recomend the video. ( Fred Benedetti masterclass segovia)
Segovia is a God , you can't compare normal people to him , if anything i just like Segovia interpretation much better than this, Segovia stays true to the music period the piece was in.
what was that at 1:34? lol
Eliot Fisk are one of the most important guitarist today.
He know a lot of history and arguments to play bach music like this. Yes, the technique are so important, but when you doesn't have musicality isn't works anything what you play.
Segovia said too, the musicians every day most to find the own sound.
And Fisk play's the Ciaccona (Chaconne) for Segovia, and he told to Fisk, the people can't play the ciaconna before the 50 years old, but you are a exception...
And Segovia can do the awesome performance of the Ciaccona just 10 years after then he play for the first time
It just a bit of things what i know, don't be mad.
Greetings :)
@@sufianararah you can say a lot about Segovia but one thing you can’t say is he stayed true to the time period. Segovia was not a great Bach interpreter. Nor is Fisk.
Too fast tempo and not musical....in some parts due to wrong tempo. or speed./ too rushing speed..rhythm was ok.
Leider zuviel Fehler! Die gewöhnlichen Technischen Präsizion fehlt hier einfach! Schade für den großen Name Eliot Fisk.
I am not trying to be mean. I'm just being musically honest. He destroys the beauty of this piece.His playing is OUT OF CONTROL and it's UNMUSICAL. This masterpiece is NOT FLAMENCO. He's an academic, not a true musician. There are quite a few young players today that are infinitely better. There's no feeling in his playing. He makes up for the lack of feeling with fake facial expressions and jerky movements. His technique needs work, too tense. wow. I am more than underwhelmed.
Well, I wish he was academicly because academicly players (J.Williams, J.Bream, A. Vidovic, F. Larousse) are true musicians who play with feeling and are have great abilities, just as musicians who are not academicly but are great players and have had the same evolving/progression/training. Fisk would not be accepted at an academic.. yes I said it good: not (even) be accepted! The true art played with feeling and musicallity is something you need to have, and then further evolve and learning. They don't want to have someone like Fisk on an academic of art, and that is very sad for him. Fisk did not have anything, did not learn anything. No one should be allowed to play like this. Even 15, 16, 17, 18 years old play with more controle, passion, theoretically, skillfull, feeling.
One of the biggest mysteries in the universe: why is Fisk so acclaimed? Tons of guitarists are much better than him...
Come on you guys don't be so harsh on your comments, i mean, you are talking about someone who has transcribed and played the Paganini caprices
Stop the hammering!!!! (Lawrence O'Donnell)
lmfao, what a random reference xD
I use that reference all the time. Haha.
His tone is uneven and sharp. He does not keep a steady tempo, which is so important when it comes to baroque music. Dead notes and mistakes everywhere. Sorry to say it...
very bad
If you could play with a fraction of his technique and feeling then I would say you are entitled to bash him!! give the guy a break. In my book he is still awesome!!
It's OK to give you point of views; that's what the YT is for. Childish to claim that you need to perform equally yourself. Sink all the critics in the pond eh? Think Fish will float still even if getting some fair critics.
Dovrebbe andare a suonare in un circo.
Just wasted 11 minutes of my life.
Finger picking is harder than playing with a pick so he did good I think
Stupid, stupid comment!
@@josephcambron7060 but you can go much faster with a pick.
Right hand classical technique and using a pick are two completely different things. Each has its advantages. You could say playing fast scales is easier with a pick but tell that to someone like Paco de Lucia or Sabicas. Fisk butchers his scales and everything else he does. He did not do good.
@@josephcambron7060 and jango who was fast
He is the world's fastest guitar player, he plays fast and that's why the chaconne sounds all butchered up.
che schifo...
John Williams played it better!