Artur Rodzinski quote

"Every violinist is a Misha or Sasha who has been built up by his parents to be a Heifetz and sweep the world.  In the second fiddle section he has to play tremolo—ta-ta-ta. A soloist never plays tremolo. How do I make them like the ta-ta-ta?  By building their self-respect, by calling them to my room, by endless talks…  [Hearing a great soloist] brings back their childhood memories of how they planned to be soloists.  Orchestral work is maybe 75 percent psychology."  Said to an interviewer by Artur Rodzinski, conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Chicago Symphony. 

This quote pretty much sums up the view held by conductors and players alike. The Misha and the Sasha he mentions probably refers to Misha Elman and Sasha Jacobsen, just spelled a little differently. I'm guessing about that, of course. 

Messiah Stradivarius

This is the famous Messiah Stradivarius. It is a beauty, no? It is currently housed in a British museum - the Ashmolean - almost in pristine condition. It is the closest thing to a virgin violin imaginable - it has never been played. According to most experts, it's priceless. For various reasons, I think it's a fake. If you care to research the history of this intriguing violin (I don't know why you would - you don't have the time), you might want to start with Stewart Pollens, one of the world's foremost authorities on this instrument. No one is allowed to get close to this magical violin - not since questions about its authenticity surfaced. It is rather sad that the truth about it cannot be conclusively determined, but only because commercial interests have decided not to rock the boat. Don't make too many inquiries or you might discover that Stradivari never existed.

List of violinists

This is another test - please do not read this. The real list of violinists will be posted here later today. There must be at least a dozen violinists out there.