Carmen's top picks

My violin mentor, Carmen, is back in town. A Romanian Rrom who comes from a long lineage of violin virtuosos, Carmen changed my playing, my outlook on life and my approach to music. Eventually, I'll dedicate a post to him, his story and how we met but for now I leave you with Carmen's lesson of the day. Unlike in the beginning where we worked on actual violin technique and repertoire, now our lessons mostly consist of Carmen and I sitting down, having a coffee and watching youtube clips. Here are some clips of top violinists and virtuoso musicians...

Romanian Violinist Ovidiu Bartes...
Take the time to sit through the whole 6:45mins of his exquisit playing. Please listen to his perfectly executed mordentos (ornaments), and near the end (4:55mins) the pace picks up. Not only is his technique impeccable, but at times I think I see a playfulness and delicate touch of joie de vivre in his interpretation (0:46mins). Absolutely delightful!



A duel between Serbian accordeon virtuoso Dejan Kostic (aka Mozart), the legendary Romanian accordeonist Ionica Minune & Romanian accordeon virtuoso Marian Mexicanu



Chinese virtuoso Chuan Yun Li playing a unique version of Paganini's 24th Caprice in A minor. I love how he shakes his head at the end of the piece. I don't know which one I was more blown away by: the arrangement or his playing...



Serbian Romani artist (i think...) Miki Cortan's mind blowing solos on Yamaha keyboards. As of 0:24 mins he's eating up tips like there's no tomorrow...and the more tips there are, the more madness there is. I wish I could play the violin with such reckless abandon !! (I don't know why there's a 2-3 second delay in the sound synch....oh well, enjoy)



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Brigitte