{"id":35250,"date":"2016-03-15T19:03:17","date_gmt":"2016-03-15T23:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=35250"},"modified":"2016-03-16T09:59:13","modified_gmt":"2016-03-16T13:59:13","slug":"david-jalbert-demonstrates-the-art-of-the-masterclass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2016\/03\/15\/david-jalbert-demonstrates-the-art-of-the-masterclass\/","title":{"rendered":"David Jalbert Demonstrates The Art Of The Masterclass"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Jalbert explores Mozart, Liszt and Brahms for masterclass held at University of Toronto Faculty of Music.<\/h3>\n
\"David
David Jalbert, pianist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Monday David Jalbert taught three students for 45 minutes each and gave his own recital at Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto. It was a fascinating chance to watch him explain his approach to Mozart,\u00a0 Liszt and Brahms while teaching the students\u00a0 and to compare it to the repertoire he selected, which was predominantly Poulenc.<\/p>\n

While coaching the student on a Mozart sonata, Jalbert worked on bringing out\u00a0 the charm and elegance in the first movement,\u00a0 suggesting that the end of a certain phrase should by \u201clike a little curtsey\u201d. The second movements of all of Mozart\u2019s sonatas, he explained, are inspired by \u00a0soprano arias, falling in a range between C and F sharp, and like the Countess in the Marriage of Figaro, are \u201cheartbreaking every time.\u201d<\/p>\n

A short while later, when it was Jalbert\u2019s turn to sit at the keyboard, the pieces by Poulenc, including Les Soirees de Nazelles, two Nocturnes and the Improvisation No XV, Hommage A Edith Piaf, were a bit like the anti-Mozart, much more about mood and colour than charm or elegance.\u00a0 Comparing Poulenc to Gershwin, Jalbert explained that the composer had always loved French popular music and tried to integrate it into his compositions with a modicum of angst, as he felt that these works lacked some of the gravitas of the composers he admired.\u00a0 Listening to the aching throb of the improvisation,\u00a0 the very essence of Edith Piaf\u2019s ceaseless yearning for love and indomitable will in the face of extreme physical pain seemed to be immortalized by Jalbert\u2019s performance.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s ironic that Poulenc regretted some of his compositions while valorizing a singer whose anthem was \u201cJe Ne Regrette Rien\u201d.<\/p>\n

For the student who is being critiqued in a Masterclass, it feels as if he or she is giving a performance because the class begins with the student playing a piece from start to finish, after which the \u201cMaster\u201d works on the performance in sections.\u00a0 On the spot, in front of an audience, the student is expected to adapt, and apply new techniques, as well as to explain his or her understanding of the music or reasons for approaching it one way or another.\u00a0 It can be nerve-racking, but what the student should keep in mind, it is the Master who is really performing.\u00a0 Jalbert was quite virtuosic in this capacity,\u00a0 drawing on metaphors, anecdotes, demonstrating at the keyboard,\u00a0 executing a few dance steps to embody the rhythm of a phrase, and reproducing the sounds of a variety of orchestral instruments.\u00a0 There\u2019s no room for inhibition in this role,\u00a0 as the Master must also enact the physical postures required for effective playing, which can be surprisingly intimate.\u00a0 Unlocking the hips and locating the \u201cinner conductor\u201d who is two inches below the belly button,\u00a0 were both demonstrated by Jalbert.<\/p>\n

Anyone interested in music will be greatly enriched by observing a masterclass, and there are many open to the public at the Faculty of Music<\/a> and at the Glenn Gould School.<\/p>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Follow\u00a0Musical Toronto on Facebook<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for the latest classical and opera news, pretty pics, funny stuff, and an insider POV.<\/span><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Jalbert explores Mozart, Liszt and Brahms for masterclass held at University of Toronto Faculty of Music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":35251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5723,47],"tags":[969,2136],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/dj06c.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-9ay","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35250"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35250"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46437,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35250\/revisions\/46437"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35250"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=35250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}