Do You Know My Friend, Don Juan?

The last two mornings I’ve been spending some time resuscitating an old friend. His name happens to be Don Juan. Maybe you know something of him.

Some, like Mozart, have thought him a libertine; an aggressive, womanizing rogue with no conscience. Richard Strauss knew him somewhat differently, more as a social delinquent; an unrepentant misfit.

Today the Strauss Don Juan would probably be diagnosed with ADHD and drugged into submission. At Richard’s hands, however, he suffers a much more dire and permanent fate.

But the truth be told, I’ve just been renewing my acquaintance with part of Strauss’s Don Juan, the violin part. Course those of you that know it also know it is no small part. In fact it’s considered one of the most challenging pieces in the standard orchestral repertoire.

And there isn’t an audition list of any professional orchestra that doesn’t include it. Want to play in a good orchestra? Master ‘Don Juan.’

Now, don’t get me wrong, my audition days are finished, thank you very much. But the gal coming over for an ‘intensive’ on the morrow is of a different mind. And when she leaves here she’ll be on the Fast Track to mastery of it, guaranteed.

‘So, what does that mean,’ you ask.

It means up-loading every bit of information into your brain that your hands need to be flawless. And through a high-speed connection at that.

It means scoping out fingerings that propel your hand through virtuosic passages rather than drag them down.

It means breathing life and energy into each and every note and musical gesture; becoming an actor in a great musical drama.

It means seeing with eyes and ears that do not miss the smallest detail. I’m talking the power of resolution in an eagle’s eyes and an echo locating bat’s ears.

And it means knowing how to take passages apart, get at the guts of them, and put them back into context at full tempo more efficiently than a lion bringing down a wildebeest.

Let me tell you, this is a lot to digest in one session. That’s why coming to a master class is so beneficial. Yes, you’re in the ‘hot seat’ in front of others. But you’re also getting time to absorb and observe in between.

And there’s no better place to ‘soak it in’ than Sedona, Arizona. Come get aboard. There are only 10 seats left.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop