WAXMAN, Franz

Carmen fantasie for violin and orchestra (version for violin and piano)

Christoph Poppen, guest professor

Elina Sitnikava, student

Vadim Gladkov, accompanying pianist

The masterclass starts with a reference to Bizet’s opera Carmen and an explanation about the character that the performance of this work should have –not feisty, but more like singing in an elegant way.
Professor Poppen gives several indications on bow quantity, dynamics and phrasing in different moments of the piece. The ornamentation must be softer and, in certain passages, it is necessary to do a freer rubato, at the same time as tenuto, and keeping the tension, the speed and the bow distribution in order to get a better quality of sound. He insists on the student being more charming and showing more beauty instead of power or strength.
Professor Poppen also suggests him to play with more contact in the bow and sometimes to pay attention to the sound and the tuning, with a clear phrasing and spiccato.

Language: English