Speaking In Strings - A Musical Companion To The Film 1999 Documentary Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg

The picture on this album cover is horrible... gotta say this up front.Now, if I could only give a one sentence appraisal of both this CD and the documentary, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg is the one person, the one superior artist who is also a "real" person (well, who let us see that), who could possibly reach out and grab the non-classical music enthusiast and make them thirst for classical music, because they will want more of her music.And, if there were no other reason, I love the album, but then it and the film it stems from are so rich on so many other facets. The music itself is perfect beyond reproach.For those of us who were never completely classically inclined, like myself, we are presented with a whole person here. Nadja is not stiff and unreachable, but rather, someone who is so very much an "average joe" who loves her family and treasures her friends, perhaps with an extremely heightened awareness that we would all kill for but might kill us if we ever got there without a likewise outlet as she has with her music, but also with a "who you lookin' at" New York accent.I'd like to see Paola Di Florio's documentary of Nadja, "Speaking in Strings" as required viewing, world-wide. I think then that classical music would have a whole new audience. Not a doubt in my mind.Until I saw "Speaking in Strings", I thought all classical soloists were people with sticks up their behinds who talked down their noses at everyone else. Shows you what I know.Her music reduces me to tears, in a way I never thought possible (there's an old phrase that goes -- "This guy not only knows nothing, he don't even suspect nothing").. and that was really honestly me and classical music.I can't even watch TV now without hearing the violin in the music of shows or commercials and then instantly switching to the stereo to this or another of her albums to hear Nadja, to hear the really good stuff. I want to feel it now, and no longer being fed junk or be a passive observer.Just my opinion, but we've shortchanged ourselves in what "feeds" us. I never knew it was missing, until I saw this documentary, which led me to buy the album, which now, happily takes me from smiles to tears throughout. So that now I am listening to it all. A whole new world has been opened up to me.So, I give this album as many stars as there are in the heavens. I've gotten a great gift, and if I go any farther, I'll ruin it with words.Thank you Paola and Nadja for taking the time, the caring, and to Nadja especially for letting us so deeply into her life to make sure we "got it."Nadja, I "got it", and I now totally believe that line in the film where you say that great moments we all have are fleeting and they are only good if you "share it." You sure have shared it. Thanks.

I saw the documentary and had to have this. Wonderfully done

The EMI release of <Speaking in Strings> (72435 56908-2) is subtitled "A Musical Companion to the Film." So I assume the music herein is not from the film but a sampling that represents, as the soloist is quoted as saying, "the variety and growth of my musical life so far." The writer is Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and the film is to be about her life as an artist. But none of that need concern us here. As a rule I object to movements being played out of the context of the work from which they come--e.g., the Adagio movement of the Sibelius Violin Concerto--but in this case the opening selection, Saint-Saens "The Swan," was so winningly played that I found myself liking this program very much indeed. Other composers represented here are listed above in this website. The artist is given more than adequate assistance from several pianists, chamber players, and the London Symphony Orchestra, making me suspect the selections are drawn from earlier recordings. Nevertheless, for those who like violin music in general and do not care if you hear an entire composition or just part of one, or for those who simply admire this artist, I can recommend this CD.

This is a look into the very soul of a most passionate and superb violinist. Here is her profoundly moving Humoresque, the final minutes of her stunning Tchaikovsky concerto at her Carnegie Hall debut, her intense joy in making music with her friends.Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg was lucky to have gone to Dorothy Delay, she was lucky to have someone to put a violin her hands when she was a kid, and we are lucky that she is here to play for us, our lives are enriched. This documentary is that story.

I have not yet been in the right place at the right time to see this film but I have followed Nadja's career since she won the Naumberg competition. This is a beautiful and lovingly compiled profile of her life in music, as selected from her recording history to date (not included is the astonishing recent album of gypsy music with the Assad Brothers). I knew that the creators of this soundtrack had a spiritual affinity with their subject when I saw the Souvenir de Florence second movement selection, the Sibelius second movement, the Shostakovich Burlesque and the Rachmaninov vocalise - pieces that capture the Nadja that has always captured me. Indeed, for us long-time fans, and for anyone, this is a wonderful souvenir album of one of the most soul-possessing fiddlers of our time.