View from the Green Room: Duelling Fiddles
Vladimir Jablokov
Vladimir Jablokov has a big following in Waterford. The stalls are packed and there’s a sense of ‘one-of-our-own’ about the evening. There’s instant recognition for the Slovakian fiddler and the audience quickly engage with him. When he introduces his brother Anton, it feels like one of the family has returned. Their easy brotherly banter makes for a very entertaining evening.
Vladimir was discovered busking in Grafton Street and was given a slot by Ryan Tubriddy on the Late Late Show. His personality as a virtuoso is infectious and his cavalier Bohemian flamboyant style is enormously entertaining. It’s a personality his brother Anton shares and they both have that flamboyant rhetorical style that concerts need.
Bowings are large, gestures are dramatic and all pieces finish with a grand flourish. When they engage with the audience, the brothers compete and interrupt with gags, asides and typical family fun.
Born in Slovakia, they are curiously drawn to and repelled by the mother ship of Russia. Classical musicians from the old Soviet empire owe much to their former communists who were generous in training and employing them. However, time has radically moved on and Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine has altered European opinion radically. Vladimir acknowledges that a live CD recorded by Vladimir in 2016 is about as popular as a traffic warden’s memoirs.
Vladimir’s family now enjoy a different life here in the Irish Republic. Their concerts are very popular and they have a number of recordings, which they sign and sell after the shows. And they always find time to chat with their Irish fans.
Tonight’s programme is a feast of classical and popular favourites. A lot of the classical pieces belong to that “I-know-that-tune” category. Prokofiev’s “Dances of the Knights” from his ballet Romeo & Juliet reminds me that Stalin’s government once banned the ballet because the composer had changed the death of the lovers to a happy ending!
A Shostakovich waltz has the house swaying, Pachelbel's “Canon” brings that ahhhh of recognition, although I did miss the cello in Bach’s “Air on the G String”.
Ever-popular hits like “The Godfather… Danny Boy… Rich Man… Sunrise Sunset… Those Were the Days…” and more has the audience singing along, and a final selection of reels dazzles as Anton plucks, picks and prods his fiddle in a manner that just doesn’t seem possible.
A superb night on the Mall that was well worth the ticket.
