We tried to get to know and show the uniqueness of violins in the film 'Violin - peculiarities of a perfect creation', which we made in the context of the XII International Violin Making Competition named after H. Wieniawski, which took place in May, also this year, in Poznań. In making the film, we wanted to understand violins - the Perfect Creation - because once they were created, because for hundreds of years luthiers have only been copying those instruments created 300 years ago. Musicians, on the other hand, do not want to play on instruments that sound very good but look different from the 'Italian classic'. In the film, directed by Janusz Sidor, we asked about the spirit of violins by looking at the work of the jury - luthiers and violinists - selecting the best from 120 specimens. We watched a luthier creating his masterpiece - and he knew everything - how, but changed something along the way, not always knowing why. This is how art happens. In violins - apart from appearance - there is also the 'Tone'. This wonderful something that is the 'breath' of violins and sometimes you hear it, sometimes you feel it, and it causes shivers of emotion; although not everything around is filled with music, and it is already there, happening, enchanting and attracting...
Violins, in the end, are a perfect creation, because they combine two venerable fields of art - plastic arts and music. They are inseparable in violins, because they are admired by listening and looking.
Now, in October 2011 in Poland, violins and Wieniawski reign.
This year's Competition, organized, as it has been for several decades, by the Musical Society named after H. Wieniawski in Poznań, also has a new face of the jury chairman Maxim Vengerov. Maestro, already in the preselections, selected from around the world those who can do the most. The selected ones came to Poznań to test themselves in all aspects of philharmonic art. For the first time, they also play solo, with a piano, with a chamber and symphony orchestra. A great challenge for their talent, versatility, taste, intelligence and ... for their instruments, because only a few can handle equally well in all these performing circumstances. Contemporary luthiers often complain that since violinists and their instruments are presented at competitions, everyone wants to play on Stradivarius, Guarneri, Guadagnini or on very old copies of these masters ... and yet contemporary works of luthier art are certainly better than those from 100 years ago, and almost as good as those old Italian ones - perfect.
Recognizing the priority of exemplary specimens, we cheer for contemporary violinists and encourage the 'sober ear' of the jury members to discover masters of violin music and not be seduced by the noble tones emanating from the instruments, which already have the genius of their creator inscribed in them, which in the hands of many a master have already sounded known works - most beautifully, so they have the power to make up for, sometimes, the stylistic clumsiness of young, present-day performers.
But what is a competition?
The esteemed jury selects the best violinist, while we listen and cheer them on, each in our own way. The multitude of elements, nuances, conditions, individual experiences of the listeners, which are components of a fair assessment, make it impossible to find appropriate criteria used by the jury from the sidelines. They are masters for themselves. The final of the competition is the result of their knowledge, experiences, their emotions and all those present at the competition. The violin competition is therefore an experience in itself, and the winner is not just an artist or virtuoso, he is immediately a 'star' ... and if he withstands the pressure, wins himself, he will not fade away. He has a chance to 'shine with an ever greater, nobler light'.
A musician, a solo violinist, is a very specific type of artist. The violinist must be able to play, that is, be a perfect reproducer. Violins require the musician to have the greatest technical perfection. In addition, and at the same time, they require the ability to be 'pure' - unreflective, in other words - to spontaneously react to all momentary emotions. Therefore, their tone is also a consequence of the performer's experiences at a given moment.
The violinist must be Someone, that is, he must have a clearly defined personality. But he must also have the ability to penetrate his personality with another - the composer's personality. He must also be a creator, expressing himself through his playing, in individual - here and now - artistic situations, and in stylistically different works. He must, therefore, have the sensitivity to empathize, or rather, to interact with the emotions of other people. He must understand the piece, and during the performance, already without reasoning, convey his understanding of the specific piece with sound, and convey it to the listeners, through his own emotional states in music, as a performer. Those who understand the complexity are those who know the played pieces from a musicological, historical, and performance perspective. You have to know the piece, the performer's sensitivity, and 'feel' the piece under your fingers to evaluate the performance - we can admire it or not.
The violinist must also know his instrument very well - the violin. He must understand it, sometimes overcome its specific, as it were, inherent resistances, so that they resonate in his hands, so that they resonate with his emotions. He must extract a Tone from them, suitable for himself, for the character of the piece and the quality of the music and the instrument itself. The resonance of the violinist's and his violin's sensitivities is a condition for a good performance. Then, through the technique of hand and finger movement and the entire body of the violinist and the unique tone of the violin, which does not interfere with the reception, music happens ...
If the technique is flawless, the violinist understands the instrument, knows what he is playing and why, and sincerely experiences what he is playing ... then, good violins resonate immediately. Then, music happens.
Therefore, the heroes of the competition are, besides the musicians, the Violins. How many procedures usually cost a young performer, who qualifies or has already qualified for the competition, to acquire, to possess a magnificent specimen. Sometimes it is a guide for the violinist, sometimes a nuisance, but its power is significant. Good violins are part of success, because their 'breath' carries the music. Often, it also shapes the individual perception of the juror. Just as the ovation of the audience, the musical value of the instrument influences the evaluator. This year, however, the experts, critics, youth, and the public are judging.
Violins are an instrument on which perhaps the easiest and most expressively human emotions, moods, and even momentary experiences can be conveyed or imitated. Violins - they have no equals in this, because they have almost no sound limitations, because in the scale that is closest to human sensitivity to sounds, they not only sound in a way similar to the human voice, but their tone is - as if - not so much human as human-like. In the film 'Violin - peculiarities of a perfect creation', currently released on DVD and available during the Competition in the Aula of the Poznań Philharmonic, we tried to show how violins are created, what secrets and difficulties of creation they carry, and what emotions luthiers and musicians share in them.
Information about the Wieniawski Competitions - their history and current events - can be found on the website of the Wieniawski Musical Society - www.wieniawski.pl, and about the availability of the film 'Violin - peculiarities of a perfect creation' in two language versions through contact on the website www.sidma.pl.
PWM Boismortier J.B. SONATA E-Moll na flet, viol da Gamba and B.C.
Sonor Perfect Balance Pedal by Jojo Mayer stopa perkusyjna
Grover Perfect Guitar Extension Nut siodeko
PWM Violin play-along: Great Themes (muzyka filmowa na skrzypce + CD)
