Playing violin music on flute

May 3, 2013 · 2 minute read · Comments
musicfluteviolinFritz KreislerLiebesleid

Abby and I enjoyed another party at Henry’s. I have been very tired leading up to the Pittsburgh Marathon to run on Sunday. I took the day off from work as planned in order to get more reset, and picked up my race packet at the Expo.

I didn’t play all that much music at the party, but the highlight for me was playing Fritz Kreisler’s “Liebesleid” on flute with Henry accompanying on piano. I totally love this little piece that Kreisler wrote for violin, and I enjoy making it work on flute. We were just having fun at the party, but eventually I want to make a real performance out of it, and record it myself, because I have very strong ideas on how to play it to express what I feel in the music.

Some existing performances on violin

Fritz Kreisler himself

Here is Kreisler performing his own piece:

It’s a fine performance, but ironically, not actually my favorite!

David Oistrakh

This is an interesting interpretation. It is still not as free as I like, but it is elegant and subtle in its expression.

Itzhak Perlman

A romantic rendition with great elements, but too fast and tight, not meditative enough, so overall it leaves me disappointed.

Joshua Bell

Here is a modern performance by Joshua Bell. This is an example of a performance that I don’t like at all, being very square and without a lilt and freedom.

Ryu Goto

A fine performance I would put into the category of elegant and subtle.

Katica Illenyi

Now this, I really love: a performance of extreme detail and personal expression. One of the most beautiful performances I have encountered!

Gidon Kremer with Martha Argerich

My favorite performance is actually this unusual one of very extreme emotional expression. Note how Kremer stretches out time and also accelerates with many tempo changes (finely covered by Argerich, of course). He takes the dynamics down to an extreme, and varies his vibrato. He plays this piece as a deep story of love rather than just a lighthearted one.

Performances on flute

Most of the performances I found on YouTube with flute were really, really bad. Here are some of the exceptions:

Unji Chung

Very emotional reading. A good performance, but maybe too extroverted for my taste, too driving and with an over-powerful vibrato.

Oksana Sinkova

Expressive phrasing, coloring, tone, and deeply felt. She appears to be playing a wooden flute. Enchanting!