Segovia criticism - secrets people don't want you to know

[Neptune]

hahaha! Well, I suppose that would be only secrets those two share together. What's the deal with those two anyway? I know Bream was married for a short while to some lady he talked about in "my life in music", but is john a married man? it's kinda funny thinking about these guys and what sort of leisurely life they have lived. perhaps up at 4 am discussing right hand finger patterns or left hand fingerings....hahaa! it amuses me greatly just pondering these things. Bream is a party guy.

[60moo]

...but is john a married man?

Hasn't he been married twice - first to a newsreader, and then to a....umm, newsreader?

If that's true, then John Williams was way ahead of the rest in selecting his perfect match from sitting in front of a screen . Doubly so!

[carlos]

If Segovia was the king, and Williams was the Prince, then what was Bream? Falstaff?

Before or after Shakespeare changed his name?

Maybe he was (or is) the prime minister.

[Mog]

+That John William (whom people told me plays like Segovia and is his prodige), actually thinks Segovia is a limited musician.
+That Segovia's rubato, that people often swoon about, is often used by Segovia simply to cover up technical difficulties (and slow down "graciously").

How is this new?
It's obvious that his technique is terrible. His performance of Asturias is in my opinion one of the worst things in the whole musical world, it makes me rage every single time how he is just unable to play it like it's supposed to be played and instead adds tasteless rubato everywhere to hide his inability.
But the worst thing is that everybody seems to love it. "Oh Segovia is so great because he can change the meaning of a phrase completely just by accenting different notes or adding pauses!". Yeah everybody can do this, the only difference is that people who have any taste choose to play it naturaly without any fake rubato.
How does it still blow peoples minds that a sentence -both linguistical and musical- can have several different meanings if you emphasize different words?
He has no understanding about musical form at all and all form gets lost in his rediculously detail-fixated interpretations.
People often say that he can play such beautiful and touching single notes. But I don't want to listen to single notes, I'm not that terribly obsessed of the sound of the guitar as he was. I want to listen to music. Coherent pieces. Not a mess of beautiful single notes that don't make any sense in the bigger picture.

I don't even get why so many composers wanted to write for him if he never pays any respect to the composition.

I wouldn't even be that mad if he weren't such an ***. He takes all libererations in the world when interpretating a piece but cries when someone changes his fingering.

[gitgeezer]

Don't sugar-coat it, Mog. Tell us how you really feel.

[Denian Arcoleo]

[Martin]

[60moo]

I hear what you're saying, Mog. Even the most ardent fan of Segovia's playing would agree that there's a huge variability in the musical quality of his recorded output across his entire career.

If it's any consolation, I myself remained an agnostic on Segovia for longer than you've been alive! But that's only because I had no access to his earlier recordings, when he was both at his technical and musical peak. Thanks to re-issues in the form of compilation albums, all the secrets that people don't want you to know, were revealed. It really was an enlightenment.

[Non Tabius]

It's obvious that his technique is terrible. His performance of Asturias is in my opinion one of the worst things in the whole musical world, it makes me rage every single time how he is just unable to play it like it's supposed to be played and instead adds tasteless rubato everywhere to hide his inability.
But the worst thing is that everybody seems to love it. "Oh Segovia is so great because he can change the meaning of a phrase completely just by accenting different notes or adding pauses!". Yeah everybody can do this, the only difference is that people who have any taste choose to play it naturaly without any fake rubato.

I beg to differ his triplets and feel/tempo seem pretty clean to my taste according to this presentation.Its a very wide comment to make regarding rubato as an excuse to cover in effeciency as far as the Maestro is concernerned in my opinion ,espesially regarding a non-defined expression such as rubato ,which is normally left to the taste and expression of the musician.Maybe we should listen to this recital so that the members can decide whether the people who enjoy Segovia are being led astray as your opinion suggests.
There are more examples but this one for now to illustrate regardless of the fact that he chooses to play a different inversion of the Caug 6th in bar 42 as is usually notated.How long is a piece of string you ether enjoy an artist or you dont !Again in my humble opinionhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9efHwnFAkuA

[gitgeezer]

It seems unfair to Segovia to have this performance in circulation. It’s too slow and unenthusiastic, and the pronounced pause after the strum is annoying. The best that can be said is that it’s a good performance considering his age. His 1952 recording, included in “The Art of Segovia,” is far better. It’s faster, more spirited, beautifully played, and altogether the performance of a true master of the guitar.

[robin loops]

Pretty absurd to get worked up over someone's ability to perform at 80+ years old.

It makes me sick to my stomach when people pick apart this video because I reminds me of the people I see that tailgate older folks for driving a little slower or the guy in line at the super market behind an elderly lady getting irritated at her for taking too long to dig in her purse and pay the cashier. I watch this video and am just amazed that the man could still play at all. Also about it being slow: I think it was intentionally slowed down to exaggerate his not playing so well. Either that or Segovia was tuned down a half step or so (which I doubt was the case). I think that video says a lot more about the people that pick it apart than anything else.

[tuk]

3.12 Million views
10,102 likes, 238 dislikes

not too shabby for an old man playing guitar in a derelict building ..a million views more than justin bierber's Boyfriend

[gitgeezer]

But not as many as the 7.5 million views garnered so far by those five excruciating, guitar-playing Chinese kids. Or are they Korean? If you think they’re cute, just ask yourself whether you could listen to an entire CD of that without going nuts.

[Kent]

Boy this post has run the gamut of emotion from the greatest joy of celebration to deepest despair. I find it kind of funny that everyone that has ripped Segovia has probably a fraction of textured technique and skill that Segovia introduced and shared with the world. Everything we have at our disposal was non existent in his time. This would include a multitude of experienced teachers and credited institutions. And how about all the early recordings with good old gut strings.

It is great that we can discuss this topic with civility and conviction. It is just wrong to try and think of reasons why Segovia should be taken down a few steps. You simply can not accurately compare him by today's standards. Anything short of celebrating his life is ludicrous. Of course this is my opinion.

[carlos]

The thread itself... It went 6 days without any new posts, and then rose from the dead.

And still going. Maybe one day Segovia will also rubato (rise) from where he is resting and scare the of his faultfinders.