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From: mf@cornell.UUCP (Michael Fingerhut)
Newsgroups: net.music
Subject: Pan Flute, Zamfir and Classical Music
Message-ID: <7634@cornell.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 19-Apr-84 15:50:35 EST
Article-I.D.: cornell.7634
Posted: Thu Apr 19 15:50:35 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 21-Apr-84 03:14:22 EST
Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept.
Lines: 23

I heard Zamfir (Georgiu?) in the Eglise de la Madeleine in Paris, last
year.  He played on various Pan Flutes, some having as many as 24 pipes,
I believe, and the programme mainly included classical music, accompanied
by organ (sic, or rather: sick). He is Rumanian and is considered a vir-
tuoso of the instrument(s).  His ego is certainly as high as his (deserved???)
reputation -- you really had to be there:  he stood close to the console
of the organ, which is high up above the portals, illuminated by a single light
spot in an otherwise dark church, and used the setting to his advantage,
with a lot of histrionics, rather ridiculously, I'm afraid.

    The classical part of the programme, which consisted of various
pieces from Bach on adapted for this rather baroque pairing was very
poor:  bad rhythms, bad intonations (read: lots of wrong notes.  How noticeable
this is in Bach's music!).  The second half consisted of Rumanian folk music, in
which he was considerably better -- this is perhaps the area in which
he got his reputation -- the musical requirements being altogether different
from those needed for classical music.  This latter part, on the other hand,
seemed to us rather monotonous -- same tunes, same rhythms.

    By the way, he does use his first name -- at least it appeared both in
the posters advertising the concert and in the programme notes.  I'm not
sure that I remember it correctly.