Classical Star - new BBC2 TV series 16 Oct 2007

[Stephany]

james said:

She gives the impression of one who has studied the violin very seriously and worked on technique but not quite got the natural feel to really sell the instrument or performance.

Exactly, James. You gave a very good description of Victoria - or at least what we can perceive of her. Jeanine needs to improve her technique and she will make a fabulous musician. One that I would definitely go to see on stage but also listen to on my CD player. I also really liked what Jeanine said to the judges when they asked her why she thinks they should keep her at the Academy.

james said:

I have to say I'm very impressed by the Irish pianist (Sophie I believe was her name).

Sophie was the student I appreciated the most during the first episode. She really shares what she has to offer - beautiful playing and emotions.

Stephany

[Richard]

Hello everybody!

Episode 2 is now available online HERE (UK only).

Richard

[roger]

Reminder:

Episode 3 is broadcast tonight on BBC2 at 9pm GMT.

Roger

[Mark]

Thanks Roger

I'll be watching for sure.

Mark

[Stephany]

Thanks for the reminder, Roger. I'll also be watching and I certainly keep my fingers crossed for Jeanine and Sophie.

Stephany

[Dave]

stephany said:

james said:

I have to say I'm very impressed by the Irish pianist (Sophie I believe was her name).

Sophie was the student I appreciated the most during the first episode. She really shares what she has to offer - beautiful playing and emotions.

Hi James and Stephany,

Well I have to say, after tonight's show and good as the two boys were on sax and guitar (very good!) my enduring memory of Episode 3 tonight was... Sophie (pianist).

There is one word for it in my book and the word is... magnificent! What a performance, no wonder Steve said he could sell it tomorrow, off the back of a lorry. For the first time in this series, I just had to rewind my recording and to listen to it again. Twice!

Cheers, Dave

[James]

dave said:

Well I have to say, after tonight's show and good as the two boys were on sax and guitar (very good!) my enduring memory of Episode 3 tonight was... Sophie (pianist).

Yep - Sophie continues to impress. As good as the guitarist is, she just seems to have that extra something in her playing.

James

[Dave]

If only they would play more of the actual music...

Anyway, here is what we saw and heard of Sophie playing Ballade no. 31 by Liszt: no - the BBC caption is wrong!!! It is in fact Ballade No 2 (S171) by Liszt - bad form BBC, it took me ages to find it!

There are a few complete performances of this on YouTube which, now you know the correct title, you can search for well OK, I have! uk.youtube.com/results?search_query=Liszt+Ballade+No+2 i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif To compare Sophie's longest clip with these professionals (OK some are quite old now):

Here's Claudia Arrau - part 2 - go 1m:22s in for Sophie's bit: uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nuqWapSeZKo

Here's the much younger Arcadi Volodos - part 2 - go 2m:5s in to hear some of what Sophie did. uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv9IlDVLgYk

I think she plays it better than Arrau (great pianist but - but he's 80 in this) and she is not far behind Volodos IMO which is great.

You can now watch the entire episode online here at the BBC. The recording studio performances start 34 minutes into the show.

Can this be viewed outside the UK, anyone?

Cheers, Dave

[grant]

Hello everyone

I have to admit, I haven't been following this series, but I've just watched your clip of Sophie, Dave and it seems that this is a young lady that will go a long way!

Although I'm no expert, it is easy to see that she is "feeling" what she is playing and, WOW! those hands.

Love Steve's comment at the end. Could this be the addition to Bedlam that we've been speculating about recently? I hope so!

Best wishes
Grant

[graemek]

dave said:

Can this be viewed outside the UK, anyone?
Cheers, Dave

No Dave,

The not available outside UK note came up next to the viewer screen.

Graeme

[Martin]

I thought last night's results were a complete turnaround with my initial favourites Jeanine and Victoria being ejected ( ) ) and with the emergence of Sophie as favourite now in my book.

I think Steve's body language suggested that he was also sorry to lose the two girls but that was offset by Sophie's superb performance. Next week looks interesting with second favourite, Tyler , appearing to fluff it!

Martin

[Stephany]

Seeing both Victoria and Jeanine out would have seem totally unexpected last week but after seeing their performance in the recording studio, I wasn't too much impressed.

Sophie was definitely the highlight of yesterday's show. Brillant performance. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to her and I truly look forward to seeing what's next for her.

Stephany

[roger]

Jeanine's disappearance was unfortunate. What we saw of her last night, admittedly, was not up to her previous standard but it was stated that she was unwell and had missed an important rehearsal.

Based on the latest episode, I was very impressed by Ian. Hopefully, that will not put his chances of future success in jeopardy as it seems to have done for Jeanine!

Roger

[Stephany]

Hi Roger,

Let's hope that Jeanine will pursue her passion with even more dedication. She may not become a recording artist but it will be interesting to see what's next for her. I believe she would be more successful as a stage performer!

I enjoyed a lot the part with Debbie Wiseman in this episode.

Stephany

[Caitlin]

I've just finished the second episode and can't wait for the third! I really enjoy this series and can honestly say I hope there's another. It's also great to see the judging process and to hear what goes through the minds of these professionals - to understand what one might need to "make it" in the music world.

<3 Caitlin