Check out the Sharon Isbin Interview

I have been spending a lot of time on YOUTUBE checking out the great performances and lessons ang must let you know that the great Sharon Isbin has a very fine Interview in which she shares several topics that should be excellent food for thought for those who want to sharpen up your playing. I have known Sharon since 1975 and most recently sat next to her at the Barbosa Lima Concert.I met her in Toronto in 1975 when she came into the Leo Brouwer masterclass I attended all week and she carried the composition he wrote for her "El Decammeron Negro". Sharon was a little on the chubby side quite young but a blazing player-in fact winning the Toronto International Guitar Competition that year. I hope nothing is wrong with her physically at this time because over the last few years, she has been awefully thin and fragile looking.I, in the past, discounted her as not a "Concert" performer because on the stage, she didn't have the volume to reach out in a hall so I stopped attending her concerts. She sounded great on recordings but when it came to concerts, you could hardly hear her. She then developed an amplification system that made her concert worthy and I started to attend her in various genre concerts. She had done quite a bit to "beef up" the Classical Guitar Repertoire, i WAS AT HER GUITAR STREAM CONCERTS held at Carnegie Recital Hall and the Great Trio Concerts she had with my dear Friend and Mentor LAURINDO ALMEIDA and Larry Coryell ( Guitarjam ). Her recent "Guitar Passions" CD once again is a triumphant display of good Guitar Wits. Of course she has added to the Classical Guitar Concerto Repertoire by leaps and bounds and finally this year she will have a documentary released on her life with the Guitar. I,for one,will "eat that baby up" when it is released because this great artist deserves all the respect we can muster.She has "DONE THE GUITAR PROUD"! Now getting back to the excellent interview on YOUTUBE,Check it out NOW.She talks about several important topics including Vibrato,Baroque Interpretation and several useful topics so I hope after reading this little post you investigate her. When her documentary hits the market and I get a copy, I will post my reaction to it.I can't leave this post without stating again that the most glowing performance of the Concerto De Aranjuez was performed by Sharon at the 2004 1st Guitar Congress. I have heard every major Classical Guitarist of our times perform this most popular Concerto and Sharons' Performance in 2004, brought tears to my eyes and moved my heart deeply! Before that performance, my most beloved and moving Aranjuez was in the 70's performed by the great Mexican Virtuoso ALFONSO MORENO! I don't know if any of you know this "Blast from the past Virtuoso, but I do believe he has a few videos on YOUTUBE. His performance, in my opinion was far above any other performance up to then for a very raw energy and deep "DUENDE" feeling.Sharon's performance was imbued with exceptionally wonderful phrasing and nuances so poetic and arching! Her body gestures also transmitted the soul of this overplayed and most popular Guitar Concerto. I wish I had a video of that performance because it was AWE INSPIRING in every way. The tone,The Phrasing The fingerings did everything to give the Rodrigo Gem the most beautiful Performance I have ever heard. Somehow on her documented CD of the same Concerto, I was less impressed as I felt it was to "Cold" a performance. The CD sounded too "clinical" for my taste. I remember sitting and listening at the former "TOWER RECORDS" at Lincoln Center when it firts came out Several times. I also read the brilliant review by my dear Colleague JULIA CROWE in a Guitar Publication in which Julia went into intimate details of the Aranjuez Recording session from Mic choice to the position of the instruments. Anyway- that is not to diminish the greatness of Sharon's artistry in any way. That 2004 Guitar Congress concert was also subtly amplified perfectly.After the concert,when Sharon was signing her CDS, I gave her glowing praise in person and she was very keen on finding out where I sat in the concert hall and how the balance was between her and the Orchestra. At the time I wrote a few words about that wonderful performance,I was also having a tussle with one of our great scholars who asked me point blank what I thought about her performance ( He knew it was a Fantastic performance and knew if I said anything to the contrary I was full of crap!) I told him it was the finest performance I ever heard! That Scholar was Mantanya Ophee - perhaps our most important Classical Guitar Scholar. Also sitting behind me was my dear,dear Friend the owner of the most inclusive Classical Guitar Publication "Classical Guitar Magazine" - MAURICE SUMMEREFIELD - He also agreed that Sharon's performance was a gem! Well, I have gone on longer than I thought I would but remembering this special moment in my life is so precious. I'm glad I had the smarts to be there! I am such a lucky sucker to have been at so many "right places at the right time". I am still having a great time playing and learning about the Guitar! Hope you enjoy my little tidbits on my experiences. Speak to you soon about the great Concert my friend DAVID LEISNER gave in DUO with the BRILLIANT TENOR WILLIAM FERGUSON one week ago at the Rubin Museum here in New York. I was deeply moved and counted me and those in attendance, to have had one of the most poetic afternoons of great music making shared with us by these two fantastic greats! W O W !!!!!!!