Christian Tetzlaff

Sunday I went to see the German violinist, Christian Tetzlaff, perform the Bach Sonatas and Partitas for unaccompanied violin. I was childishly pleased when something happened I'd never experienced before: I got a free seat upgrade! With the help of two charming elderly ushers, I moved from my usual seat in the gallery (i.e. the nosebleed seats) to the first balcony. I landed in a small nest of music nerds: men excitedly discussing arcane topics such as what orchestra fired their entire piccolo section, and whether the BBC Classic boxed Rachmaninoff set was superior to the Hyperion records version. One man riffed on the subject of a friend who didn't appreciate the meaning of the trills at the beginning of some Schubert sonata. I mean this shit was esoteric! Oddly, I have eavesdropped on similar discussions about baseball: who was the best American League left fielder of the post-war era, and also martial arts movies: whether Yuen Wah or Yuen Biao was a better stunt double for Bruce Lee (who even knew that Bruce Lee had a stunt double?). I never hear women debating this kind of thing.

But I digress. I think the bravest people in classical music are string players who perform unaccompanied. No one has your back, there's no big piano to hide behind, and you can't use your own voice, only your instrument. Violinists can't even sit down! Also, I love Bach, so I was excited to go to this concert. Since these pieces include what is said to be some of the most difficult music ever written for violin, I can understand why Mr. Tetzlaff took rather lengthy breaks between each piece (there are six in all); but he also took an hour long intermission! This was another first for me, and judging by the perplexed belly-aching by other members of the audience, I wasn't the only one. I had brought a rather thick book, so it was no hardship, but I couldn't help but speculate about what he might be doing during the intermission; deep tissue massage, steak dinner, refreshing sexual activities...

Now that I'm done being a wiseass, I have to say that I have never heard these pieces played so exquisitely before. It was a wonderful experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqOAJpPNqNY