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Post by Don on Mar 30, 2009 4:55:12 GMT -6
Now that I have had a day to reflect upon Emily's performance Saturday night I have a couple thoughts I'd like to share. First, the orchestra played four pieces before Emily came out, I was close enough to the stage to watch each musician play, and with a couple exceptions they were all there just playing the notes, don't get me wrong they sounded very good but nearly all lacked the passion you see in great musicians. When they rolled out the piano and Emily came out and began playing, you could just see the passion for the music in Emily's face something you didn't see in the other musicians on the stage. I believe you need this passion to create great and beautiful music. Emily did this Saturday night and it was a joy to witness and listen to. I believe that Emily will retain this passion and the love of music and the piano all her life, she will give the world some wonderful music.
My second thought... while Emily was playing I got to wondering how much different this would sound if Mozart himself was up there playing his own piece. The composer can translate his music to paper in the form of sheet music. but I do believe the composer can put something into the music that can't be put into paper his own special touch. So I was wondering, if Mozart was in the audience that night what would he think of Emily's performance. Would he approve or would he criticize or would have he just sat back and enjoyed the music. Amadeus was a great man who created great music that many have listen to over the years, but some day people will be going to the orchestra to here the "Bear concerto #23" and it will be beautiful.
don
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Post by Arnold on Mar 30, 2009 6:53:38 GMT -6
I think you're right about the passion. Even the clips at YouTube show Emily just becomes the music. She endows it with something far beyond just the notes. It's magic, I tell you.
I had to smile about the "Bear Concerto 23" because you know it's true. The names may be different but I bet Emily could turn a bad cold into beautiful music.
As for Mozart, it depends on what you read about him. Some claim he considered the concertos "pop" music from which he could earn money giving concerts (in which Mozart also played the piano although he could play several instruments extremely well). He did not feel challenged by them, or so he wrote in a letter to his father. He composed some of them in a week which by itself is incredible. But I tend to think some of the snobbish claims by Mozart may have been prompted by his attempts to please his father, Leopold.
Mozart's concertos sort of fell out of favor for a long time and weren't resurrected to something approaching popular glory until this past century. I find that strange since I consider his concertos some of his best work.
You can look at Emily playing and you can tell without a doubt she enjoys what she does. I hope she always has that love for the music and I truly believe she will. We are going to hear some incredible music from this pretty young lady.
Emily has a busy concert schedule for the next few months.
Arnold
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zz
Emily Fan
Posts: 18
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Post by zz on Mar 30, 2009 21:51:11 GMT -6
Does any one know what she will be playing at the Living Expo on April 24th in Rosemont?
zz
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faye
New Member
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Post by faye on Mar 31, 2009 0:01:32 GMT -6
Don,
You are right about a true musician putting their whole soul in what ever they are playing whether it be a piano or what ever instrument they are playing or if they are a singer it is going to come out from within side them.
I know I speak of my husband a lot, but this is what I have learned by watching him play guitar, piano, organ, keyboard he plays so many different instrument, but the point is you can see it on the face and their whole body, because they become a part of the instrument and become as one with it. I see this in my husband face the passion of music like you talked about seeing it in Emily.
Just listening to Emily talking about playing I am like you she will keep this passion all her life, and the older she gets the greater the passion will grow even deeper inside her. Then she takes that passion to the point that you can actually feel what she feels while she plays.
I think Mozart would have been as mesmerized as everyone in the audience was, and probably be very proud that someone like Emily could play with that much passion.
Faye
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Post by Don on Mar 31, 2009 3:08:04 GMT -6
Does any one know what she will be playing at the Living Expo on April 24th in Rosemont? zz According to her web site she won't be there but there are a couple appearances between now and Ravinia which is the next one I'll be able to attend. don
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zz
Emily Fan
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Post by zz on Mar 31, 2009 7:02:57 GMT -6
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zz
Emily Fan
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Post by zz on Mar 31, 2009 7:14:10 GMT -6
By the way, I am a recording engineer (in times past) and the test for greatness is, because the visual cues are so great, to close your eyes and listen intently to the performance. With eyes closed it puts the sound of the performance 100% to the ears. Then you can focus on the nuances of the technical, aural and dynamics, along with the emotional outpouring of the music. Especially, with The Love in Us her very strong, sweeping emoting style comes into full measure. The millisecond delay in the striking of the keys at just the right time conveys the feelings she has within her. Compare it with others who have put their rendition on youtube for example. Emily has away of putting her inner feelings into the music that belies her training. And the most powerful aspect of it is that when she plays the same composition at another time or place she knows how to get the same effect across even though the instruments and the acoustics are quite different. Have you noticed that? ZZ
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Post by petee on Mar 31, 2009 11:58:07 GMT -6
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Post by Arnold on Mar 31, 2009 13:31:15 GMT -6
By the way, I am a recording engineer (in times past) and the test for greatness is, because the visual cues are so great, to close your eyes and listen intently to the performance. With eyes closed it puts the sound of the performance 100% to the ears. Then you can focus on the nuances of the technical, aural and dynamics, along with the emotional outpouring of the music. Especially, with The Love in Us her very strong, sweeping emoting style comes into full measure. The millisecond delay in the striking of the keys at just the right time conveys the feelings she has within her. Compare it with others who have put their rendition on youtube for example. Emily has away of putting her inner feelings into the music that belies her training. And the most powerful aspect of it is that when she plays the same composition at another time or place she knows how to get the same effect across even though the instruments and the acoustics are quite different. Have you noticed that? ZZ That's fascinating, zz. I am not a musician but I sure hear the beauty in Emily's music. She makes it look so easy but I know it is not, at least not for your more normal folk. "Have you noticed that?"I have only heard Emily via CD or YouTube video so I can't say about the change in acoustics but I'm sure you are right. YouTube audio is not all that great yet Emily comes through very well even on YouTube. When she plays, she seems to almost bury herself in the performance although she is always in control. That is very mesmerizing to me. Her motions are so easy and liquid -- the rise and fall of her arms so smooth -- that the performance enhances the music that comes with it. Which is why you suggest "closing eyes" -- to get a feel for the music alone. ZZ, when one as young as Emily has such incredible technique it can only get better with time, no? She is already a master yet she continues to grow. This is going to be something to behold. Arnold
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Post by Dieter on Mar 31, 2009 13:48:42 GMT -6
Arnold & zz,
You pointed it so well. Actually I wrote almost the same as zz said in a (German) review I wrote about Emily's CDs. I like to listen to good music as zz describes, because as you say, only then you hear all the subtility the artist puts in. And Emily, though being only 5-7 years on these records just plays with such a incredible and mature subtility, feeling and passion, I couldn't almost believe I heard such a little kid playing. I listened times after times, and those pieces revealed a bit more each time I listened to them. I wrote in my review that this is music composed and played perfectly by a beautiful heart and you can hear this in every note she playes, and even those remarkle subtitle pauses and tiny delays she uses.
And Don, not tired after 6 hours training, this tells everything about Emily. We can be sure this little girl will play a big role in the musical scene of the coming decades, and I am very, very happy to see how she blossoms in that fascinating way and she obviously has the best parents and a great grandma, and the best trainers you could wish. I am very happy to witness this miraculous story.
Dieter
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zz
Emily Fan
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Post by zz on Mar 31, 2009 13:54:26 GMT -6
Emily is definitely in charge of her music. She has a confidence that is immediately up front. As soon as her mind is set to the keyboard she is in control. It is as if she has within her a mandate to see that it is done right and with excellence - and in the way she has fashioned it.
YouTube renditions are convenient but not good quality - even at their best. However, it is pleasant to realize that the feeling or emotion of the music comes through anyway. One of the greatest recordings of Beethovens 5th is an lp that I found at a flea market in NYC for $1.00. It is a lousy recording with lots of surface noise and bad microphoning at the source recording or mixing, I know not, but the sweeping "feeling" was the best I have heard.
When I first heard Emily it was an Ellen youtube. It took only 30 seconds into her rendition of Ellen to know that she was something special. The cord harmony and the timing of the melody parts was very advanced for such a youngster.
Her speed in writing a composition, if true, and I suppose it is - no body would want to be caught lying about such a thing - would put anyone in a tizzy. I don't think even Mozart himself wrote so quickly.
I am projecting that we will hear from Emily Bear for a very long time. I hope so. She is pure magic in everything she does. If she stays grounded in the art and in her personal life we will see history in the making. Don't you agree?
zz
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Post by Don on Mar 31, 2009 16:20:27 GMT -6
I'm sorry I was probibly looking right at it too, and I knew this too when I first read the venue, the convention center, I thought I have been in that building for a coin convention a few years ago It is a real treat to hear her play in person, she just keeps getting better and better all the time. don
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Post by Don on Mar 31, 2009 16:38:14 GMT -6
Where I circled is where I was, was just to dark to see me. don
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zz
Emily Fan
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Post by zz on Apr 2, 2009 18:15:31 GMT -6
Don, Are there any youtubes or video snippets of the RSO performance of 3/28 that you know of?
ZZ
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Post by Don on Apr 3, 2009 5:53:37 GMT -6
I found another video, was filmed the day before Saturdays concert. click picture don
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