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Itzhak Perlman played Violin w broken string, true or false?



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Did Maestro Perlman continue playing w a broken string?
Yes, he continued the piece despite the broken string and played brilliantly.  
 66%  [ 8 ]
No, this was never reported in any reviews. It didnt happen.  
 33%  [ 4 ]
Total Votes : 12



amother


 

Post Sat, Nov 09 2013, 10:19 pm
Houston Chronicle says this famous story, written about in many inspirational books, happened (in 1995). Snopes says it didnt.

http://www.snopes.com/music/ar.....n.asp

Which do you believe?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Perlman makes his music the hard way
On November 18, 1995 , Itzhak Perlman, the violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City.
If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no small achievement for him. He was stricken with polio as a child, and so he has braces on both legs and walks with the aid of two crutches. To see him walk across the stage one step at a time, painfully and slowly, is an awesome sight. He walks painfully, yet majestically, until he reaches his chair. Then he sits down, slowly, puts his crutches on the floor, undoes the clasps on his legs, tucks one foot back and extends the other foot forward. Then he bends down and picks up the violin, puts it under his chin, nods to the conductor and proceeds to play.
By now, the audience is used to this ritual. They sit quietly while he makes his way across the stage to his chair. They remain reverently silent while he undoes the clasps on his legs. They wait until he is ready to play.
But this time, something went wrong. Just as he finished the first few bars, one of the strings on his violin broke. You could hear it snap -- it went off like gunfire across the room. There was no mistaking what that sound meant. There was no mistaking what he had to do.
People who were there that night thought to themselves: "We figured that he would have to get up, put on the clasps again, pick up the crutches and limp his way off stage -- to either find another violin or else find another string for this one."
But he didn't. Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again. The orchestra began, and he played from where he had left off. And he played with such passion and such power and such purity as they had never heard before.
Of course, anyone knows that it is impossible to play a symphonic work with just three strings. I know that, and you know that, but that night, Itzhak Perlman refused to know that. You could see him modulating, changing, recomposing the piece in his head . At one point, it sounded like he was de-tuning the strings to get new sounds from them that they had never made before.
When he finished, there was an awesome silence in the room. And then people rose and cheered. There was an extraordinary outburst of applause from every corner of the auditorium. We were all on our feet, screaming and cheering, doing everything we could to show how much we appreciated what he had done.
He smiled, wiped the sweat from his brow, raised his bow to quiet us, and then he said -- not boastfully, but in a quiet, pensive, reverent tone -- "You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left."
What a powerful line that is. It has stayed in my mind ever since I heard it.
And who knows? Perhaps that is the definition of life -- not just for artists but for all of us. Here is a man who has prepared all his life to make music on a violin of four strings, who, all of a sudden, in the middle of a concert, finds himself with only three strings; so he makes music with three strings, and the music he made that night with just three strings was more beautiful, more sacred, more memorable, than any that he had ever made before, when he had four strings.
So, perhaps our task in this shaky, fast-changing, bewildering world in which we live is to make music, at first with all that we have, and then, when that is no longer possible, to make music with what we have left.

http://www.chron.com/life/hous.....9.php
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bigsis144




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, Nov 09 2013, 10:35 pm
While inspiring, I tend to respond with skepticism without more proof.

It is possible to do that, though -- violin virtuoso Niccolo Paganini used to intentionally saw partially through some of his strings before a performance so that they'd snap and he could show off by finishing on just one or two strings. He was a total rockstar of the 1800s, complete with swooning fangirls and rumors of Satanic activity.
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LisaS




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Nov 10 2013, 2:14 am
Either way, a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing.
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imasoftov




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Nov 10 2013, 3:28 am
I would go with what snopes.com says.
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amother


 

Post Sun, Nov 10 2013, 8:30 am
OP here.

Rabbi Yitz Greenfield, the marital therapist, who has a radio/online show on Jrootradio, told the story on the radio. I absolutely love Itzhak Perlman music so I googled it, and now Im wondering. I dont think Itzhak Perlaman, who is known as the world finest violinist, needs to make up stories for publicity. I was wondering if anyone here is in the music world or somehow related to Perlman and they would know whether its true, false, or a little exaggerated.

Anyone connected to him in any way? Friend/neighbor/professional relationship (accountant or lawyer)?
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Nov 10 2013, 5:40 pm
It may be true, but it's probably humbug. Given Perlman's stature and professionalism, he could certainly have managed beautifully. But given Perlman's stature and professionalism, it WOULDN'T have happened, because you can bet your last dime the man doesn't bring just one violin to a performance. Rule #1 for ANY professional is ALWAYS BRING BACKUP.

OTOH Perlman might have enjoyed the challenge and done this just for the fun of it. He's a musical genius, after all.
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greenfire




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Nov 10 2013, 6:05 pm
I've heard it was true - yet I too would imagine a back-up violin to be had ...

but so far my search has found a rather nice interview [having nothing to do with said violin string]

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nyer1




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Nov 10 2013, 11:26 pm
uhhhhh he probably would only bring one violin to a performance but would most likely have extra strings on hand which could be changed in a flinch!
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finallyamommy




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Dec 21 2014, 11:20 am
I know I'm late to this post, but I just found it when I was looking for something else! I doubt he had his violin case on stage with him - that would just look awkward - and while you COULD replace a string onstage, it's not a 2-second procedure, and the audience would have had to listen to him tune it while he got it exactly right and then tune all the other strings. I'm inclined to think this happened - it is certainly possible to play without one string, unless it's G (the lowest one).
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