U2’s First TV Appearance
Michael C. Hall on Long-Term TV Roles
In particular, Hall points at how playing a dark character like Dexter long-term can affect one’s mentality and the importance of an actor to separate oneself from a role like that. He explains, “I think that if you spend that much time preoccupied with whatever you were simulating, that a part of you is affected, and a part of you is recording the simulated experience in a way that is more than just fluff, you know? A part of you is absorbing it and marinating in it. It takes some time to get it out of your system and to unlearn whatever increasingly ingrained reflexive behavior results from doing something for that long. It’s hard to sort of point to specific things. But I certainly know now that I feel a lot farther from the character than I did two months after it ended.”
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Watch Paul McCartney Sing Through the Streets of Liverpool
Interview: Ieva Dubova, Pianist
What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?
I think the most important is to not stop yourself. Not to tear down but build bridges where there is a problem. There seems to be a notion that music now is only for the young, and that after a certain age we should just give up or not even try. Also that music is for certain types of people or even nationality. I would never want to see anyone be affected by these foolish stereotypes.
The second is to find one’s own identity within music, but to start this journey by gathering knowledge. To also remember that it isn’t just about playing the instrument, that one should care for the history, the lives of the composers and their circumstances, the musical language and journey. Music is so exciting in so many different ways. And, importantly, not let setbacks or a bad competition or exam put you off. Everyone goes through ups and downs – they can also be a blessing to learn from and to encourage one to raise one’s standards even higher.
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Greatness
Chasing The Passion
Interview: Jean-Paul Gasparian, Pianist
What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians ?
First of all, passion, because if you’re not really passionate about what you are doing, it will never work: you need to have a very strong inner desire for music, for producing music yourself, discovering the repertoire, playing on stage and with others, and it is this passion that will also help to find the permanent motivation in the everyday work. And this passion, I think, comes a lot from listening, from the early age, and then listening not only to the works that you are currently practicing, but also to the great masterpieces from the chamber music repertoire, symphonies, operas and so on.
Then I would say inspiration and freedom. Because at the end of the day, when you have learned the score, when you have a precise knowledge of the style and the composer’s indications, it is the singularity of your own interpretation that matters, and that will make the difference on stage – your capacity to re-create the piece, to invest it with your own musical feelings, ideas, decisions and spirit. And for that you need a certain amount of thinking, sensibility, and audacity.
Then of course, a young musician who is starting out should know that apart from the live performances, there is also the everyday work of practicing, which is after all the fundamental process of a musician, and that requires a lot of discipline in order to achieve the best quality of playing. Possessing that instrumental mastery will permit you to realize the interpretation you are looking for, to search the sound you aspire to.
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