As a lover of the old Bel Canto violinists like Kreisler, it's thrilling to hear such a distinguished teacher validating the way I have chosen to vibrate. Nowadays many teachers would simply reject this approach as "wrong" (as one commenter does in this thread) - but it's hard to ignore the beautiful, shimmering tone it produces.
I had the good fortune to watch a rehearsal of Silverstein playing Paganini 1 with the Boston Youth Symphiny many years ago. I remember his flawless bowarm...My dad saw him play when he was a child prodigy...many years before me. Great concertmaster and violinist.
The "WRIST" vibrato Maestro is showing is a completely wrong movement. Nobody who plays well uses it as it does not produce any 'wave'. Mr. Silverstein, apparently, misunderstood what most teachers/musicians mean by the "wrist" vibrato. His own excellent vibrato is THE Wrist vibrato we all strive to have! The "vibrate under the note" rule has been dismantled by the latest scientific experiments. As they have shown, the best players' vibrato goes UNDER and OVER the centered pitch. Only then the pitch truly does not change. It is sooo nice to see Mr. Silverstein... I miss him.
Oh dear, where to start. First, the idea that science has shown it's ok to vibrate above the pitch is an urban myth based on a misreading of one tiny, poorly designed study. You can prove this for yourself by vibrating the top note of an octave double stop. If you vibrate above the pitch it sounds horrendous. If you vibrate below the note it sounds in tune. Second, you are seriously suggesting that a distinguished teacher who studied with Zimbalist, Dounis, Primrose, Gingold, and Mischakoff is "completely wrong"? The vibrato he is advocating is the narrow, shimmering vibrato employed by Kreisler and other Bel Canto violinists of the Golden Age. It involves a pulsing into the string with a relatively inflexible first finger joint. As he says, the idea is to enhance the tone, not to change the pitch. This is a marked contrast to the wide romantic vibrato fashionable with the singers and violinists of today which involves an audible fluctuation of tone, with the finger bending and straightening to a marked degree. It seems I'm in a small minority, but I very much prefer the old approach and it's what I choose to use. As a professional you probably have to go with the current fashion if you want to be employable, but as an amateur I only have to please myself.
you know i'm just starting to learn violin so i'm watching a lot of these youtube videos and it seems the one phrase i'm hearing over and over again in these things is "listen to Mr. heifetz" everyone calls Mr.Heifetz, seems kinda odd how everyone does that, everyone tells you to listen to him and everyone calls him Mr.Heifetz
I looked up jussi bjorling and I cannot for the life of me find anything where he is not using vibrato. Can someone point me in the right direction? He says “aria” but which one??
As a lover of the old Bel Canto violinists like Kreisler, it's thrilling to hear such a distinguished teacher validating the way I have chosen to vibrate. Nowadays many teachers would simply reject this approach as "wrong" (as one commenter does in this thread) - but it's hard to ignore the beautiful, shimmering tone it produces.
Thanks again Joe. You've made my life wonderful in so many ways. For 7 years we've been missing you. RIP.
I had the good fortune to watch a rehearsal of Silverstein playing Paganini 1 with the Boston Youth Symphiny many years ago. I remember his flawless bowarm...My dad saw him play when he was a child prodigy...many years before me. Great concertmaster and violinist.
There are so many legendary things mentioned in this video...If only modern violinists would listen to what Mr. Silverstein is saying here...
Omg. What a legendary teacher and a priceless lesson.🙏🙏🙏
Thank you for this video
This video is priceless-a Gem! Thank you so much for uploading it!
Thank you so much for sharing this!
The "WRIST" vibrato Maestro is showing is a completely wrong movement. Nobody who plays well uses it as it does not produce any 'wave'. Mr. Silverstein, apparently, misunderstood what most teachers/musicians mean by the "wrist" vibrato. His own excellent vibrato is THE Wrist vibrato we all strive to have!
The "vibrate under the note" rule has been dismantled by the latest scientific experiments. As they have shown, the best players' vibrato goes UNDER and OVER the centered pitch. Only then the pitch truly does not change.
It is sooo nice to see Mr. Silverstein... I miss him.
Close friends call him Mr. H.
Closer friends call him "Jascha~"
His original name was Joseph.
Oh dear, where to start.
First, the idea that science has shown it's ok to vibrate above the pitch is an urban myth based on a misreading of one tiny, poorly designed study. You can prove this for yourself by vibrating the top note of an octave double stop. If you vibrate above the pitch it sounds horrendous. If you vibrate below the note it sounds in tune.
Second, you are seriously suggesting that a distinguished teacher who studied with Zimbalist, Dounis, Primrose, Gingold, and Mischakoff is "completely wrong"?
The vibrato he is advocating is the narrow, shimmering vibrato employed by Kreisler and other Bel Canto violinists of the Golden Age. It involves a pulsing into the string with a relatively inflexible first finger joint. As he says, the idea is to enhance the tone, not to change the pitch.
This is a marked contrast to the wide romantic vibrato fashionable with the singers and violinists of today which involves an audible fluctuation of tone, with the finger bending and straightening to a marked degree.
It seems I'm in a small minority, but I very much prefer the old approach and it's what I choose to use. As a professional you probably have to go with the current fashion if you want to be employable, but as an amateur I only have to please myself.
This comment... I don't even know what to say. It shows all the things, of what is wrong with the nowadays classical music.
This is great 👍
I wish he expanded on Caprice Viennois! Such an important piece in the violin's repertoire!
Where can one find the sliding exercises mentioned at 2:58?
you know i'm just starting to learn violin so i'm watching a lot of these youtube videos and it seems the one phrase i'm hearing over and over again in these things is "listen to Mr. heifetz"
everyone calls Mr.Heifetz, seems kinda odd how everyone does that,
everyone tells you to listen to him and everyone calls him Mr.Heifetz
Go listen to Mr. Heifetz.
Who is the singer mentioned at 5:13?
Couldn’t understand what he said
Abby Phillips Lockaby He was talking about Jussi Björling.
Thank you!
I looked up jussi bjorling and I cannot for the life of me find anything where he is not using vibrato. Can someone point me in the right direction? He says “aria” but which one??
Joseph Silverstein is a great violin maestro. Unfortunately this video is not instructive.