Stars when they were young: A soloist bats off predatory maestros

Nick says:

Wonderful artist, great interview.

DAVID says:

She’s completely authentic, both musically and personally — and that, paradoxically, is one of the reasons why we don’t hear more of her. She plays the way I suspect she is in real life — without reservation, feeling every single note with complete intensity, and she probably couldn’t care less whether or not some critic might be rubbed the wrong way, because doing otherwise would mean compromising artistic and personal integrity. And that can be a dangerous path to take — even though it very much is a worthwhile path — because most people simply can’t take such a level of authenticity. Most will feel much safer and reassured within the bounds of conformity — and our era, despite what it claims and thinks of itself, is incredibly conformist, almost dictatorial in its fearful allergy to difference. Talents like Salerno-Sonnenberg are extremely rare; they happen perhaps a couple of times a century — the only violinist I can think of today that has a comparable personality (although they are very different) is of course PatKop, but otherwise we remain for the most part within the safe bounds of what is acceptable, though there are extremely talented musicians out there. I also believe that Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg has always had her priorities right and values perhaps keeping a personal balance more than abiding by the requirements of a major solo career, many of which can be destructive to the soul and which ultimately are nothing but exercises in b.s. if not an outright form of slavery, in that one has to relinquish many values and make countless concessions in order to satisfy the requirements involved in the marketing of a major solo career. But she is indeed a consummate artist as well as a fantastic person, and I hope she knows that. That 60 minutes interview was both touching and incredibly refreshing, and I must say I hadn’t had goosebumps from a violinist in perhaps the last 20-30 years. She’s compelling — both as a violinist as well as a human being.

violin accordion says:

I have always been as passionate about NSS as she is about everything she approaches. She never courts fame or celebrity at the expense of art, with integrity and heartfelt extroversion, always appropriate that spreads like wildfire to her audiences and everyone in her orbit.

Two YT videos I always return to are the performances of Bruch concerto with SNO and Paul Daniel, and as concertmaster/director with her New Century Chamber Orchestra in Tchaikovsky Serenade.

Inspirational performances that have inspired generations to become equally passionate about music.

David K. Nelson says:

Some of the things being written about the late and lamented Ivry Gitlis by Steven Isserlis in other postings on S.D. could also be said about Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, in the sense that there are those who “get” her and her manner of playing and those who do not, and those who do not seem to take that to an extreme of dislike and dismissal. Another similarity is that while both Gitlis and Salerno-Sonnenberg have/had certain stage mannerisms that were uniquely theirs, even heard on radio or in recordings there is a distinctive element to react to. And again, both the stage manner and the pure auditory experience seem to generate those extremes of reaction.

As I have written somewhere in the past on this blog, I once won a very nice prize when the local Milwaukee classical radio station’s morning quiz played the first 15 seconds of two recordings of the Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and the first caller who could name both violinists was the winner. It was Jascha Heifetz and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, and my prize was two tickets to a Vladimir Feltsman recital. I am not sure who else’s recording of the Saint-Saëns I could have identified so quickly and based on so little. Francescatti for sure, Ricci very likely, perhaps Rabin because I knew his so well, Gitlis if I had known he recorded it.