Casimir von Blumenthal

Casimir von Blumenthal was a German violinist, conductor, composer, and teacher born (in Brussels, Belgium) on August 8, 1787.  His father was Baron Joseph von Blumenthal.  Unfortunately, some political turmoil which began in 1787 resulted in his losing most of his fortune.  His sons, including Casimir, instead of becoming titled nobles, became musicians.  In 1789, the family moved to Prague to avoid the short-lived revolution and subsequent violence.  Blumenthal began to study violin and composition with Georg Joseph Vogler.  Two sources state that Blumenthal studied with Vogler (aka Abbe Vogler) in Vienna.  Vogler is mainly known as an organist and teacher who traveled far and wide and did not stay put too long in one place so Blumenthal’s lessons could have taken place sporadically.  I am not certain of that but I’m not taking the trouble to precisely ascertain it one way or the other.  Be that as it may, Casimir and his two (older) brothers were all admitted into the Orchestra of the Theatre on the Banks of the Wien River (Theater an der Wien, in Vienna.)  This venue was brand new and became very famous in its day and still (for the most part) stands today.  It was the site selected for some of Beethoven’s most important premieres.  Casimir was 17 years old then.  Prior to 1811, the violinist Franz Clement was Director at the theatre but sometime after 1811, Blumenthal took his place.  Blumenthal later worked as a teacher and conductor in Czechoslovakia (Prague, Brno, and Bratislava.)  In 1821, he was appointed conductor of the Allgemeine Musik-Gesellschaft (aka the AMG - General Music Society or Universal Music Company) and settled in Zurich, Switzerland, where he married, founded a choral society, and joined a Masonic Lodge.  He was 34 years old and he never looked back.  Until the Tonhalle Orchestra came along in 1868, the AMG had the best orchestra in Switzerland, although it was composed of both amateur and professional musicians who would often not attend all rehearsals required for performances.  He was there for 25 years.  Blumenthal conducted the Swiss Music Society Festivals in Zurich in 1828 and 1838.  For the inaugural performance in the Aktientheater, on November 10, 1834, he composed an overture based on Swiss folk songs.  I’m guessing the piece is not nowadays available through a publisher.  The AMG library might have it.  With the reluctant blessing of the authorities, Blumenthal began to also conduct opera performances at that theatre.  Blumenthal retired from his post in 1846.  He died on July 22, 1849 (in Lausanne, Switzerland) at age 61.  Today, he is completely forgotten.  

Paganini's Competition

In Paganini’s day, there may have been eight or nine other concert violinists who might have (theoretically) competed with him – Heinrich Ernst, Louis Spohr, Pierre Rode, Giovanni Viotti, Franz Clement, Charles DeBeriot, Pierre Baillot, Rodolphe Kreutzer, and, of course, Karol Lipinski.  That’s it.  All of these potential competitors spent a great deal of their time either teaching or conducting (or playing in) orchestras.  That circumstance left the field wide open for Paganini to exploit.  Even if Paganini was not the astonishing wizard everyone says he was, according to contemporary accounts, he was still the best.  (We do not now know exactly how Paganini sounded nor how well he played but we give him the benefit of the doubt.  If you’ve ever heard the recordings left by Joachim, Ysaye, Sarasate, Flesch, Enesco and other nineteenth century violinists said to be great in their day, you know how deficient they were in some ways, especially in their sound and intonation.)  In this day of sophisticated electronic gadgetry which can reproduce every note of any music score perfectly, we no longer readily forgive technical deficiencies in any violinist.  Nowadays, it is not easy for concert violinists to get established and generate steady concert dates - much more difficult than in Paganini’s time.  There are brilliant violinists all over the place, but, at the same time, only a limited number of open dates.  Of course, if there were no other artists around, it would be so much easier, but violinists have to contend with solo pianists, singers, cellists, horn players, oboe players, clarinet players, trumpet players, percussionists, trombone players, and even viola players, all of them wanting a bigger piece of the concert artist’s pie.  (I have only accompanied three solo violists since I was 16 – Roberto Diaz, Miles Hoffman, and Carolyn Kenneson.)  If it weren’t for teaching spots at music schools and universities, things would be tough indeed.  What does it take to stand out?  Charlie Rose, the interviewer, once asked Zubin Mehta what it was that made a great conductor and Mehta very wisely answered: “it’s not one thing, but a combination of things.”  Perhaps the same can be said of solo violinists.  Leaving the technical brilliance aside, however, I’m sure Paganini would have been very successful in our age.  After all, he was an expert, intuitive showman.  We simply would not be able to ignore him.  In his own day, he scandalized polite society by his lifestyle – as did also Vivaldi, Wagner, Chopin, Liszt, Eugene Goossens, Bronislaw Huberman, Olga Rudge, and a few others.  And, it has been said by people who know about these things, that there is no such thing as bad publicity - we can put two and two together. While there may be many obscure (but great) violinists in our own time – some more obscure than others - nevertheless, let us not forget that Eugene Ysaye, Vasa Prihoda, Albert Sammons, Alfredo Campoli, Jacques Thibaud, and Zino Francescatti were also quite unknown at some point, even after they had proved their exceptional playing abilities.  Then, out of nowhere it seems, they got lucky. (Photo courtesy of violinist Allegra Artis)

David Nadien

David Nadien is an American violinist and teacher born (in Brooklyn, New York) on March 12, 1926 (Heifetz was 25 years old.)  He is best known (perhaps somewhat unjustly) for his recordings for the Suzuki Violin School.  He began his violin studies as a child and his father (a bantamweight champion boxer) was his first teacher.  He also studied with Adolfo Betti (Mannes School of Music) while very young and moved on to Ivan Galamian (Juilliard) and Adolph Busch later on.  In 1938-1939 he studied in Italy with Betti.  He returned to the U.S. after war broke out in Europe and made his debut with the New York Philharmonic in 1940, at age 14.  Four years later, having been drafted, he was playing in the Armed Services Orchestra.  Two years after that he won the Leventritt Award (1946 – for this, some give credit to Arturo Toscanini and others to George Szell.)  He concertized for a while after that but soon settled into a career which involved lots of studio work (and, in fact, he even became a contractor, hiring studio musicians of very high caliber to play for recording sessions.)  Nadien is said to be one of the best sight readers in the world, a skill which is invaluable for studio work.  (Franz Clement was also phenomenally gifted when it came to sight reading.)  A persistent rumor has it that Isaac Stern was able to shut down Nadien’s concertizing career, though the rumor might be baseless.  In February of 1966, Nadien auditioned (having received an invitation to audition) for the concertmaster’s position in the New York Philharmonic, of which Leonard Bernstein was then chief conductor.  It has been said that he easily beat Joseph Silverstein (of the Boston Symphony) and 40 other candidates.  He had never played in a major symphony orchestra before.  Upon accepting the job of concertmaster, his annual income actually decreased.  Very soon into his first season with the orchestra, on October 8, 1966, Nadien played the Tchaikovsky concerto as the orchestra's guest artist to great (and memorable) acclaim and subsequently soloed with the philharmonic on several occasions.  The New York Times said: “Mr. Nadien’s style, tone, and technique are perfect.”  Many have said that his vibrato and sound (“pure, silken, suave, razor-sharp and rhythmically-driven”) are unique and that at least some of his vibrato actually emanates from his fingertips, very much like Mischa Elman’s.  (Coincidentally, as was Mischa Elman, Nadien is also of very short stature.)  It is highly interesting that Oistrakh and Menuhin are among those who sought Nadien out for advice on technique at that time.  He left the Philharmonic job in 1970 and returned to studio work, solo appearances, and teaching.  One of his outstanding performances after that took place at New York’s Town Hall on January 17, 1973.  His discography (outside of the anonymous world of the recording studio) is small but includes the Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, and Glazunov concertos, apart from several miscellaneous violin works (Zigeunerweisen, Havanaise, Tzigane, etc.), all of them available on the internet.  There are a few videos of his playing on YouTube.  A reviewer has stated that Nadien “has by now gleaned a cult-like status among cognoscenti who savor marvelous fiddlers.”  An interview of him on DVD is also available.  He was on the faculty of the Mannes College of Music for many years but is no longer there even though he might be teaching privately.  Nadien’s violin was a Guarneri del Gesu but I don’t know if he still owns it.

Franz Clement

Franz Clement (Franz Joseph Clement) was an Austrian violinist, pianist, composer, and conductor born on November 17, 1780 (Beethoven was 10 years old.) He is famous for having commissioned (and premiered) Beethoven's popular violin concerto (December 23, 1806.) A gifted violinist from a very young age, he was known for his ability to play music from memory after only briefly viewing it. Sometimes, he would alternate his virtuoso performances with circus-like displays, such as playing a piece on one string while holding the violin upside down. It was said that his playing was neat, elegant, delicate, and tender. It was also effortless. He appeared to handle the most extreme difficulties with ease. Though he was a very successful touring virtuoso and conductor for a time, he seems to have gone into a premature decline and was soon earning an average living not in keeping with his potential. He composed six violin concertos, among many other works. Were it not for Beethoven's monumental concerto, he would almost certainly be forgotten. However, because of this lucky break, everywhere the concerto goes, he goes too, never to be forgotten. It is said that he sight read Beethoven's concerto at the first performance. Some musicologists think that is debatable since Clement and Beethoven were close friends. It can easily be imagined that Beethoven let Clement try out a page or two every time he paid a visit. Nevertheless, it is quite possible that Clement played the concerto without once rehearsing with the orchestra since Beethoven was working on it up until the time of the performance. Clement died on November 3, 1842, at (almost) age 62.

Rachel Barton

Rachel Barton (Rachel Barton Pine) is an American concert violinist and nationally-recognized advocate for music education born on October 11, 1974 (Perlman was 28 years old.) She began violin lessons as a very young child - before she was four. In addition to her extensive concertizing (as a classical violinist), she is known for devoting herself to teaching through master classes and her concerts and collaborations with hard rock bands. After studying with Roland Vamos (in Chicago) for a number of years, she made her debut at age 10 with the Chicago Symphony, with Leinsdorf conducting. However, before then, she had already performed in other venues (since age 7) and with other orchestras. She has been playing professionally since she turned 14. Beginning at age 16, Barton has won major prizes at various prestigious international competitions, including the Paganini, the Josef Szigeti, and the Queen Elizabeth. In 1992, she won the gold medal (first prize) in the J.S. Bach competition in Leipzig (the first American to do so.) Her discography is fairly extensive and is noteworthy for containing the long-neglected concertos of Joseph Joachim (the second in d minor) and Franz Clement (the one in D major.) In fact, her 2007 recording of the Clement concerto is a world premiere recording. It has been said that it compares favorably with the Beethoven concerto, which Clement commissioned and premiered at age 26 (and which was composed a year later.) Barton’s recording of the Beethoven concerto is on the same CD as the Clement so a comparison of both works is quite easy to make. Unlike other contemporary concert violinists, Barton does not hesitate to write her own cadenzas whenever necessary. She has yet to record the concertos of Mozart, Paganini, Mendelssohn, Wieniawski, Bruch, Lalo, Vieuxtemps, Saint Saenz, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Prokofiev, and others. Nevertheless, Barton has recently been championing the works of black composers for future recording projects and for live performances. Her work to establish the String Students’ Library of Music by Black Composers with the University of Michigan – a curricular series - is currently ongoing as well.

Teresa Milanollo

Teresa Milanollo was an Italian violinist and composer born on August 28, 1827 (Beethoven died that year.) However, she gave up her career after marrying French General Theodore Parmentier in 1857. She was thirty years old. She is one of those people who, were it not for someone else's fame, would be almost completely unknown - Rodolphe Kreutzer and Franz Clement come to mind. Though Teresa studied with De Beriot, famed violinist and pedagogue, and later went on to concertize, her fame now rests almost solely on the fact that she at one time owned the Stradivari violin (1728) which now bears her name - the Milanollo Strad. That violin, currently owned by Corey Cerovsek, was at one time played by Nicolo Paganini, and was bequeathed to her in Domenico Dragonetti's will. It was also played by Christian Ferras from 1964 onward.  Milanollo was known to be a very generous person.  It has been said that she paid for Henry Schradieck's studies at the Brussels Conservatory.  She died on October 25, 1904, at age 77.