Maxim Vengerov Masterclass DVD Review

Maxim Vengerov Masterclass DVD arrived from England the other day. I purchased Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor Op. 64 DVD from the Masterclass Media Foundation, a non-profit organization which offers several masterclass DVDs for purchase. The DVD is approximately 50 minutes long and taped at the Royal Academy of Music in London. The student who plays in the video is Aya Sanada from Japan. She plays from the beginning to just the end of G major section. (it is a bit disappointing he didn't get to instruct till the end of the piece.) As Vengerov pointed out in the video, her posture seemed to be tensed (at least to my eyes). Her bow arm, especially shoulder went up time to time. He emphasized relaxation number of times, but seems very hard to change instantaneously for her. He also talked about the phrasing. First E minor part and the second G major part have to have different color which he pointed out that she played in the same color pallet, so he encouraged to come up with the different approach to each section. He demonstrated himself here and there. It is obvious why he is where he is! It is just simply beautiful even just the 30 seconds of playing although there were times he was not perfectly in tune. (He explained that he hadn't practiced for 10 days since it was during his vacation at the time of filiming this.) I hope they will produce the Part 2 of Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in the future to make it complete. They also have his masterclass of Beethoven Sonata, Mozart Violin Concerto No. 3, Bach Adagio and Fugue from Sonata No. 1. I am planning to order one of them in the future.