I have watched this video a dozen times and every time I’m moved to the depth of my soul. By Elgar’s unbelievably powerful forthright nobility, and his elegy for an era and a society he longed to represent and which the slaughter of the First World War proved to be hollow. Second by Zander’s ability to elicit such an equally powerful and deeply felt performance by such a young musician, a performance that shall follow me to my grave (at 88 that time approaches for me but this video has enriched my life, as have many other moments of transcendent beauty throughout the worlds of music, poetry, art and literature.

I can't believe this is free

Elgar had struggled to rise from his lower middle class background (and a Catholic in Protestant England)to become the voice of empire. His music embodies the majesty and nobility of that great image, to be heard time and again in his great “nobilamente” themes. But the carnage of World War I showed that nobility to have feet of clay. So the cello concerto, his last major work though he lived another 14 years, is a farewell elegy to a world that not only had gone, but that perhaps had had a hollow heart. All that sorrow, with great reserve, us expressed in this masterpiece.

The way Marza Wilks plays and how Benjamin Zander brought out the very best in her playing and interpretation here, literally had me tears at times - she is a cello force to be reckoned with : ) And Maestro Zander is beyond description in the way he inspires not only the musicians but the audience too. He is not only an incomparable musician but a truly lovely and classy human being as well as a fantastic teacher and "architect" in helping people build their dreams. BRAVO ! ! !

I've watched this twice over and will again. Words can't describe how deeply touched I am by this. I'm new to classical music and hope to start learning my first instrument, my dream, the cello. I'm 46 and have no illusions I'll be anything more than a grateful novice, but I look forward to a lifetime of being inspired by this beautiful musician and this brilliant, insightful teacher. Thank you for producing this series, I honestly can't get enough.

This is the first time i've ever heard a teacher say "use as much bow as you need, not as much as you have"

Just want to take a moment to appreciate how beautiful that cello is.

When Marza plays Elgar she inserts such beauty and feeling into it, I can hear the cello crying. Her vibrato matches it perfectly.

Big bravo to young Marza Wilks !!!!! A real life changing experience with Mr. Benjamin Zander ..... big bravo !!!

I knew from his commentary discs to his recordings that Mr. Zander is a remarkable person. Watching him do this all I can say: He is not only remarkable, he is outstanding.

Such a beautiful 53 minutes. Thanks to Ms Wills , Dina and Dr Zander

She is so receptive !

Simply off the scale in its beauty, inspiration, sheer pedagogic power and .............thank you to all 3 of you.

Thank to you all, musicians, audience and technical team who allow me at Paris to be able to feel at least a bit of the atmosphere, the mood, the music on the other side of the screen :) Cellist myself, I was able to understand, feel, part of what Mr Zander was trying to share. Great moment. And great musical moment. Thanks for the evocation of Paris events Nicolas

Ive listened to Elgar in several of these videos and I am impressed with how beautiful all his pieces have been. This one was moving and she really communicated with the audience. Wonderful !

Absolutely amazing, fantastic *insert more beautiful adjectives here*. The level of reached is astonishing. And you can see it in the eyes of the Master. He does not stop her. He enjoyed the performance. Thanks you so much for this video.

Blown away. Just beautiful. Who needs an orchestra! Thank you.

One of the most magnificient cellist with a superb sound. I love when she dropped her bow, Ben reassures her with some real or invented story about his cello master.

Fourth Movement 28:20

I love Zander so much, damn! 😭😭😭😭

His so kind and so thoughtful

thank you mr. benjamin zander,really thank you

Marza achieves a very high level of playing. This takes a lot of thought, concentration and energy. I find the most difficult part of playing an instrument is interpretation.

Exquisite...Marza Wilks!

Beautiful Marza!!! Congratulation!!!

Such a shame that there are very few subscribers, viewers, and likes !!

What a great way to learn at home. Thank you so much for this beautiful gift. I will make sure I share it with my children and many others.

Genius at work.

Use only as much bow as you need...not as much as you have.

Ben z..OMG you are so funny in your gestures...LOL....so gifted you are in so many facets....thank you my online guruji !

Wow just amazing

Zander, I'm big fan. ♥️

She is so beautiful!

I love Nadia's smile!

Quite apart from this particular soloist, I love Dina's playing.

I am in love with Dina.

7:16 that one dude looks like he has entered a different universe lol

this is the blues

Very inspirational! I am a great fan of Elgar's Concerto. But I am a bit bothered about them leaving out those about 10 bars at 30:19 and again at 36:22 ...

At 53:07, 53:08 (and smaller around 53:00) you see the three on the right-hand side in the audience who play Mendelssohn's trio in d minor with Zander. Look at the girls' faces...

what were the cuts at 10:48 and 10:54??

Endorsements! Good night🙏

28:30

"... You can't paint that..." Me: Oh, but I have dear boy. Oh, but I have.

the fourth part of the concert’s debt belongs to the Russian theme; the theme of 1917 is revealed there; revolution the fall of the tsarist regime Lenin Soldiers no longer want to fight the Germans and so on

Beautiful to see the development of playing and noble characteristics come through on Zander's instruction. Only one thing was off for me, the Israeli bombs comment struck me as very one-sided & simplistic. Especially given the massively destructive bombs being dropped on Palestinians right now & elides the 75 plus years of occupation and apartheid that is the context.

music has to be in 3s cause the pattern is 3 fold pattern of all things chords are the same way in 3s pattern comes from a word that means father your heart has a beat and you have vocal chords and beucanator muscles trumpets ever har dont blow your own trumpet lol see the pattern represents the god head so it must be in 3s

I look at this masterclass with mixed feelings. Is it ok that Mr. Zander kneels and dances before the student, even touches her arm? That he tries to impose his will on the cellist? That he uses (and amuses) the audience in a manipulative way? Well that's the old school Mr Zander represents where the teacher is a master whose will has to be executed. I also watched a masterclass in youtube with YoYo Ma. Ma is only asking questions, so the cellist has to reflect her way of playing. In this case Ma is more of a partner, perhaps less of a master - and he freely admits that he might learn something from the student. The emotional impact of Mr Zanders lessons seems bigger - but Mr Ma gets the student to find her own interpretation. What do you think of those different approaches to cello teaching?

Her intonation is off at times :/

Sad to hear that Zander is dishing out these racist tropes about "English" music and highlighting the player's ethnicity. DuPre, who is considered the definitive player of this piece, played it with such a frenzied passion, probably what he would call "Latin" flavor, and she was English! It's all so silly and unproductive.

the fourth part of the concert’s debt belongs to the Russian theme; the theme of 1917 is revealed there; revolution the fall of the tsarist regime Lenin Soldiers no longer want to fight the Germans and so on