9 opinions on performance and career by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, via The Strad. I thought the last point on performance was particularly good.
Here’s a little excerpt:
On performance
‘Leon Fleischer put it well when he suggested that a performing musician should divide himself into three persons. Person A looks at the score and tries to understand what it’s all about. Person B tries to express this content with the instrument. Person C is out in the audience, listening and reporting back as to whether Person A’s concepts are actually coming across. Person C is the hardest to develop. Experience counts; you have to work in many different physical conditions, receive comments from friends and colleagues, and listen to your recordings. The best moments come when you feel everything is going well, the message is being conveyed the way you imagine it, you’re at one with the audience, and the audience is concentrated and participating. That’s the goal: the wonderful sense of sharing.’…READ THE FULL ARTICLE: thestrad.com
