Here's a big question for all you classical aficionadas.?

Hrm, well the only ones I can answer expertly on are cellists and string players. In a superb string player, their tone becomes something almost solid, like you can touch it. It's full and gorgeous no matter what the dymanic or bow marking is. They can wrap themselves in the music. There are no individual notes. They really make the most of our temporal art. It all becomes one despite the time factor. The amount and speed of vibrato on every note, the careful choice of whether or not to gliss (on string instruments you hear too often that siren sound WooooOOoooOOoo...ACK!) And, if they miss a few notes...you don't care. The whole experience just captures you.

For all artists, they submit themselves to the music. They don't try to dominate the music. And, like Edik, I agree that James Gallway totally dominates the music. All I hear is him and his crazy vibrato! Listen to Piatagorsky play cello. Glenn Gould on Piano. They honor every note. They enjoy practicing so much and are so productive during their practice that they could play their pieces in their sleep...but they don't. They know it to the point where they can mix themselves with the composers work. I don't know how to explain it! When I hear it I just know. I get goosebumps and my heart races.

Hope that helped a bit.

~Lisa

I believe it is lots of factors: Passion being first, personality that can be translated into the voice or instrument (not in the personality of how well you would get along in a bar conversation).

The experience they bring forth and if they feel something in their playing and their ability to make you feel it and resonates within you.

Timbre that the musician accomplishes due to dexterity and/or strength.

Knowing the instrument so well that you can push the envelope of how the instrument is expected to be heard promotes the originality factor.

Interpretation of music heard over and over is refreshed and made new by some talented musicians.

Lang Lang is the most recent Hot Shot in the piano scene. Very talented and a very nice person cause I actually have met a few times. I get to watch a lot of the students paly from The Curtis Institute of Music in Philly, and some of the talent is staggering.

I think each of us judges this in our own way and probably do so quite instinctively. A musician's judgement will be different than that of a music lover if only because the musician's judgement is more informed; he/she can understand the mechanics and appreciate the technical skill of the performer. But, musician or not, it is how performers of this or that piece expresses thier own view which must ultimately impress ... or not.

You mention Leonard Bernstein. I think Bernstein, as a conductor, was an absolute genius. Why? Because he could have me on the edge of my seat utterly spellbound. He was absolutely thrilling. Usually. But sometimes he could disappoint me. His recording of Elgar's Enigma Variations is, to my mind, utterly awful. Bernstein knew exactly what he wanted from an orchestra and he always got exactly what he wanted. Whether you liked the result or not depended upon whether you agreed with what he wanted. And I think that is true of all performers. Performers bring their own insights and impressions to the music they play; we listeners either agree or disagree. But it is the myriad different views and interpretations of performers that keep this wonderful world of classical music alive! God preserve their differences, their eccentricities and whatever else it takes to make them great!

I guess being able to tell who's great and who's mediocre comes down to education (not necessarily *formal* education).

I mean, when you first hear an instrument, you don't know whether it's being played well or not. Then, when you've heard lots and lots of people play it, you start to be more discerning. For a striking example, would you be able to tell a good bagpipe player? I couldn't until when I lived in Scotland for a bit. Now I can.

It's always going to be a matter of taste, of course, but generally the best judges are people who play the instrument themselves, because they empathize with the instrument as its being played.

As a singer, I can't stand to listen to someone sing badly, because I imagine my own voice being put through the uncomfortable positions they're forcing theirs into. Obviously, singing's an extreme example because of the intense physical relationship between you and the instrument. But there's still an element of it in instrumental playing. You want to hear someone play in a way that makes you say "Wow, I wish I could do that", and not "Yuck, I'd never play like that!"

As long as the performer doesn't get in the way of the music, I'm fine. (possible exception -- Glenn Gould...) For example, when I listen to James Galway play, all I hear is James Galway, not Mozart (or whatever music he's playing). To me, he gets in the way of the music.

Practice, practice, practice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!