Jason,
I’m glad that you’ve seen the Thompson videos. They were really helpful for me.
One other thing that I’d like to share is from the
ITG Article about Mr. Herseth (on page 12):
MT: As we talk about your philosophies of staying in shape and of playing, I have to comment on your ability to do so many things with colors of sound. Tell me how you achieve this.
AH: You know it’s amazing that you bring this up because I had a conversation with Danny Barenboim about this. We were performing the Mahler Five with him for the first time. He called me in after a couple of performances and was really flipping. He says, “It’s blankety-blank unbelievable what you are doing. You have one tone quality for this passage, and a different one for that passage. How do you do that?” I had to answer that I don’t have the faintest notion! It just happens!
He continues with some examples in the article but this really sums it up when he says, “There are unconscious changes going on in my head”.
After just attending the concert that Charlie Vernon gave in Arizona on Monday, I can certainly understand how powerful great sounds can impact a player. When I am near great players, I play better (Man, Charlie makes everything look so easy!) After years of hearing the finest sounds on the planet with the CSO, Mr. Herseth’s “unconscious” reserves were so deep, and so clear, that he simply imagined what he wanted to hear and it came out.
When he was able to “shock” a conductor like Barenboim with this ability, it clearly indicates that, as you mention, “very few can change both”.
Great topic!