Take a master of their art, and let them be coached, for an hour, by a grandmaster. In public, with everybody there to listen, learn and be amazed. That is a masterclass in a nutshell.<\/p>\n
Wikipedia claims<\/a> that masterclasses exist in “painting, drama, any of the arts, or on any other occasion where skills are being developed.” But I have never seen them being effective except in classical music. There, they can be absolutely amazing.<\/p>\n Case in point. A month ago I did not even know of the existence of Benjamin Zander<\/a>, who turns out to be a very accomplished cellist and conductor with a long career. By accident, I came across a series of masterclass recordings on Youtube<\/a> that he had tought with various, mostly chamber, music groups. And I’ve been glued to them ever since.<\/p>\n Some of the music produced during his masterclasses is better than anything available on professional recordings, regardless of their fame. Take this particular part of a session on Elgar’s Cello Concerto. Fast forward to 9min 45sec:<\/p>\n