Paul, your remark about your fellow musicians really brought back memories! I guess some things never change....
My first husband (also late) was an extraordinary classical guitarist. Not only were his technique and his knowledge of the reportoire extraordinary, but he was unique among classical guitarists in that he could really, really read music. Back in those days (boy, I'm really showing my age), classical guitar was not taught in conservatories in this country, or in much of Europe. It wasn't considered a "serious" instrument, unlike the lute, which WAS considered "serious." So most guitarists, following in the footsteps of that old fraud Segovia (whose proudest boast was that he read music only with the greatest difficulty), tried to turn their handicap into a virtue.
My husband, on the other hand, was from the USSR, where the classical guitar was not discriminated against. He was a graduate of the Kharkov conservatory, and so could read scores just as well as any violinist, pianist, bassoonist, or whatever. But at guitar society meetings in this country, people would just gape to see him open up an unfamiliar piece of music and play it off by sight. They were flummoxed. They didn't know what to do! So, he was dubbed by the envious "the cold Russian." The "cold Russian" indeed! A contradiction in terms, if I may say so!
Why is it that true competence makes people uneasy? I repeat, some things never change....
jbe |
