Kobrin

[MattL]

In about a month Alexander Kobrin will be coming to La Jolla Califronia (near where I live) and the program that they give you is *winner of the 12th Cliburn competition* making no reference to any worls he will be playing. Do you think that Kobrin is worth spending 40-70 bucks to go and see, even if the repetiore is unlisted. I did watch parts of the webcast of the cliburn but i missed all of his parts so i don't know how talented he is or not.

Thanks,

Matt

[pita bread]

Where is La Jolla in California? North? South?

Kobrin is painfully middle-road. Pretty boring in my opinion.

[pita bread]

Not to mention that his Scarbo is very messy. Now that's just a sin, to be middle-road AND messy.

[kevinatcausa]

I'm not sure if "Middle-of-the-road" is the best adjective for Kobrin.  Look at the entries and responses on the Cliburn blog (archived at www.cliburn.org/blog ) to see how much he polarized those who listened to him at the competition.  Also linked from the cliburn site is a series of streaming videos from the Cliburn competition, which would include all three of his recitals.  I'd suggest looking at those if you want to get an idea of his playing beforehand.  Another option (which you may or may not be eligible for) is rush tickets.  I know the La Jolla Music Society's done them for past performances, but I'm not sure if they'd be available for this one or not.

I enjoyed his playing a great deal while watching the Cliburn webcast, enough at least to buy a  ticket for when he comes to La Jolla .
 

[vladhorwz]

Good question.  He is coming here in March, I already have tickets.  I noticed he doesn't have the program listed for that either.  Make sure if you go that you post your review please!  w/ program listed.
My guess is stuff he played at the Van Cliburn, the VC winners usually start their tours with what got them there.

[MattL]

Thanks for all of the comments.
I think Ill go just for the experiance

btw la jolla is just north of San Diego, sou its in the very south of California

[kevinatcausa]

They've now posted program notes for the La Jolla concert at https://www.la-jolla-music-society.com/content/view/451/ .  Looks like he's going to be playing Brahms (Two Rhapsodies and Opus 116 Fantasies) and Rachmaninoff (Op. 39 Etudes-Tableaux).