Do you know this woman?
Granted, she is a bit over the top, but I have a soft spot for the Great Kat, a former Juilliard-trained violinist who now dons dominatrix outfits and performs thrash-metal versions of classical music's masterpieces. (Will you ever think of me the same way now that I have admitted this?)
But really, it's all a bit of an act, and I think she doesn't mean to be taking 100 percent seriously. She has technique galore -- various guitar trade mags give her cred for playing incredibly fast (shredding), but she is bit of a goof with all the theatrics. But I suspect, as is the case with many metal bands, her tongue is planted firmly in cheek in all of this.
Everything except the music, that is. This I believe she takes very seriously, which is the way it should be even if she is taking it into a different realm. Bottom line, to me, her speed-demon take on classical music is fun to listen to -- and I continue to preach that not everything needs to be so serious in the art-music world. The Great Kat certainly isn't harming anything with this approach. It is not as if she is denying the traditional way to play Beethoven, Bach and Wagner. She is just serving it up in a crazy way, and, sure enough, the masterworks can sustain it. In fact, the driving rhythms at these speeds and amplification can be spectacular, even if the head banging is a bit much..
Her Web site has info on the history of music and composers -- she might actually turn some young rockers onto this music, so I say play on!
Oh, the reason I am inspired to blog about her is that she just announced a new DVD release of her shredding Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and more. You can order through her Web site.
Posted
Jul 29 2008, 01:58 AM
by
Andrew Druckenbrod