Live Music Review: Izabela Jaworower @ Appassionato Resort

Second Life Music Review
Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Originally for Classical Music in Second Life
Izabela Jaworower
Appassioinato Resort

I heard Young Zeid a few weeks ago and heard Izabela at a duo concert with Young last week. But I wanted to do a review on just Izabela and so I just sat and enjoyed the last concert and didn't review that. For your information their duo concerts are not double stacked streams, they are actually in the same location performing.

She started off the concert with an "encore" piece, Schumann’s "Tramerei" which wasn't on the program. She forgot to put that back in and even forgot to announce it before she played. But it was definitely a delightful treat to hear such a beautiful piece played with such sensitivity.

Izabela's playing has a wonderful sensitivity to her that is both elegant but with vigor when necessary. Her techniques were near flawless and her tone has a wonderful singing quality. It's brilliant to hear her take the stage on her own from top to finish.

This was the second time...

...I heard her play Vivaldi's "Winter" from "The Four Season". She played it last week at the duo concert and she must have worked on it over the weekend cause it's even better then the last time I heard it. Her tone's even more solid throughout the work and there were even less flaws throughout the piece. Don't get me wrong, she was pretty darn good to begin with. But this performance was definitely on a different league then the last one. It's absolutely fantastic. She had such a wonderful feel for the entire piece today and just sounded like she was totally immersed in the sonic world of Vivaldi. She was able to create both the delicate moments with beautiful singing tones, and flew away with full on vigor virtuosity when appropriate.

She then performed Bach's famous "Air on G String" with just deep passion in a very soulful manner. I almost wouldn't mind if she totally played it without the backing tracks for these pieces. She has such a rich tone in her lower register that I can listen to and enjoy all on its own. I have a special affinity for the G-string on the violin. It really is my favorite string on the instrument and Izabela does not disappoint.

The Szymanowski is a haunting piece and Izabela delivers a chilling performance that is appropriate for the program for this winter season. My one problem is the balance between the piano and the violin. The piano sounds very distant while the violin sounds very close. I would prefer the piano to be more present. It's just a tad bit too far off in comparison that I lose some of the watery effects that it's trying to carry. I much prefer the balance on her performance on Franck then I did on this. But Izabela speaks just so well with her instrument on this piece where her understanding of the message is absolute. This is the kind of music we need to hear more of.

Izabela just speaks so well with her instrument no matter what she plays. Her sounds carry with it tremendous weight and power. And she does them with such passion that even when she's by herself with no accompaniment we wouldn’t have missed them. She moves from era to era, style to style with ease and grace. She delivers a fantastic performance of both classics and lesser-known works. She offers a wonderful contrast from Young's playing that is definitely worth listening to.

By the way, here's her entire program.

"Tramerei" from "Kinderscenen"........R. Schumann
"Winter" from "The Four Seasons"....................... Antonioa Vivaldi
"Air on G String".......J.S. Bach
"Arethusa Spring" for violin & piano.............. Karol Szymanowski
"Polish Capriccio" for solo violin,
"Oberek"................................................................ Grazyna Bacewicz
"Polonaise Brillante" in A Major ......................Henryk Wieniawski
"Sonata" for violin and piano .....................................Cesar Franck

Music Review: jaynine Scarborough @ Appassionato Concert Hall

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Enniv Zarf
Originally from Classical Music in Second Life
jaynine Scarborough
Appassionato Resort SLURL

I am a classically trained musician so any time there is a classical musician on and I'm free on Second Life, I try to pop over and support them.

I did pop over at the beginning of the concert to hear her, but left to another concert since it was having a late start. But now I'm back!

Jaynine performed a mix of classic and folk songs in the concert today, and her voice is gorgeous. To top it off she plays her own guitar to accompany her own singing of even some opera tunes. That's really a rare find. Fantastic.

Today she sings at the Appassionato Resort, which is ran by Young Zeid and Izabela Jaworower both real life violinists. I'm very happy to know that there are a few very fantastic classical venue here with wonderful classical musicians. In general classical concerts tends to be more reliable in quality, but there are the occasional fluke like an earlier review I did, but I won't go into that again.

Jaynine definitely has a wonderful classical voice, very powerful and very dramatic. I do wish that I could hear her live in real life one day, but I'll settle for even Second Life any day.

Along with her singing, Jaynine has a very beautiful tone in her guitar playing. It does compliment her singing today, especially many of her folk songs. They just carry through this really wonderful sweetness that really resonate and echoes the feel of tranquility of the great open outdoors. I absolutely love folk songs. The simplicity of these music are just divine.

Jaynine does have her own style to her singing and adds definitely her own touch to the music and song. The way she takes brings out the wonderful harmonies, especially the distant chords are just special and heavenly. Her sustain notes are solid and carries fluidly from one to another effortlessly. What more can I ask for on a beautiful Tuesday morning then a lovely voice carrying through solidly beautiful folk songs!

Later in concert, she performed a fun dance song that's just funny in a very good way. It's absolutely a treat to hear a well trained, well rehearsed classical musician doing a funny song and just having a fun time.

To top it off, she even sings Beatles, and her take on it is just so different and unique. It really is different to hear her do Eleanor Rigby, it's just nifty to hear some of the stuff she does with her voice. She really takes her liberty, mixing in her classical training with some pop elements and even some contemporary vocal techniques delivering just simply a fascinating yet still fantastic rendition of this classical Beatles song. Though someone at one point said Paul MacCarthy sucks compared to this in open chat, I would say it sure is a different experience, one that should be experienced by anyone who just loves music and wants to hear boundaries broken and lines crossed.

Don't think of jaynine as your typical Classical artist that your parents knew from the opera house. Jaynine will surprise you with just about anything and everything that comes out of her mouth is guaranteed to be awesome.

Whether you are a classical music lover or just a voice lover, I think you will love Jaynine's singing of folk, classical and even pop songs. Somehow I always envision scenes from Lord of the Ring whenever I hear these sorts of song sung in this beautiful manner. It's not heavy classical. She doesn't give me the let's vibrato the heck out of the voice type of singing. She understand the nature of folk songs and delivers them with elegance and grace.

So if you are looking for something sweet, something beautiful, something fun and fantastic, delivered by a wonderful musician and a brilliant performer, I highly recommend Jaynine to anyone who loves a great voice in Second Life.