David Nadien (March 12, 1926 – May 28, 2014) was an American virtuoso violinist and violin teacher. He was the

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

of the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

from 1966 to 1970. His playing style, characterized by fast vibrato, audible shifting noises, and superb bow control, has been compared to that of

Jascha Heifetz Jascha Heifetz (; December 10, 1987) was a Russian-American violinist, widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time. Born in Vilnius, he was soon recognized as a child prodigy and was trained in the Russian classical violin styl ...

.Gary Lemco (November 18, 2008)
''David Nadien: The Legendary Violinist''
, review. ''Audiophile Audition''. Accessed June 2014.

Life

David Nadien was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York, on March 12, 1926, the son of Russian-Jewish father George Nadien and Dutch-Jewish mother Bertha Zwart. His father was a local boxer who went by the last name "Vanderbilt." He started learning violin with his father, then entered the

Mannes School of Music The Mannes School of Music (), originally called the David Mannes Music School and later the Mannes Music School, Mannes College of Music, the Chatham Square Music School, and Mannes College: The New School for Music, is a music conservatory in T ...

. He also studied at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

. His teachers included Adolfo Betti, Demetrius Constantine Dounis,

Adolf Busch Adolf Georg Wilhelm Busch (8 August 1891 – 9 June 1952) was a German-Swiss violinist, conductor, and composer. Life and career Busch was born in Siegen in Westphalia. He studied at the Cologne Conservatory with Willy Hess and Bram Eldering. ...

and

Ivan Galamian Ivan Alexander Galamian (; April 14, 1981) was an Armenian-American violin teacher of the twentieth century who was the violin teacher of many seminal violin players including Itzhak Perlman and Kyung Wha Chung. Biography Galamian was born in ...

. When he was 18, he was drafted into the US Army, and played with the Army Service Forces Orchestra on the recommendation of

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...

principal bassoonist Sol Schoenbach, who recognized his talents. He made his first concert appearance with the New York Philharmonic at the age of 14, had his first solo recital at

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

a month before his 15th birthday and at the age of 20 won the Leventritt Award judged by a panel that included

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...

. Afterwards, he worked mainly as a freelance

studio musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a record ...

, until in 1966 he was invited to audition and was eventually selected by

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

to replace the retiring John Corigliano Sr., the father of the composer

John Corigliano John Paul Corigliano (born February 16, 1938) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. With over 100 compositions, he has won accolades including a Pulitzer Prize, five Grammy Awards, Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, and a ...

, as

of the New York Philharmonic. Although Nadien had little experience of orchestral playing, Bernstein praised his unusually acute sight-reading skills and called him "an extraordinary violinist." He left the orchestra in 1970 and resumed more lucrative studio work in New York, where he recorded strings for artists such as

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

Don McLean Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Known as the "American Troubadour" or "King of the Trail", he is best known for his 1971 hit "American Pie (song), American Pie", an eight-and-a-half-minut ...

Nina Simone Nina Simone ( ; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and po ...

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

and

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

. As a violin teacher, he worked at the

Mannes College of Music The Mannes School of Music (), originally called the David Mannes Music School and later the Mannes Music School, Mannes College of Music, the Chatham Square Music School, and Mannes College: The New School for Music, is a Music school, music con ...

and taught privately. In 1986, he was a soloist with the

Naumburg Orchestral Concerts Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018. ...

, in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, in the summer series. Nadien owned the "Prince of Orange, Wald, Hoffmann" violin, made by

Guarneri del Gesù Bartolomeo Giuseppe "del Gesù" Guarneri (, , ; 21 August 1698 – 17 October 1744) was an Italian luthier from the Guarneri family of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737) with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his inst ...

in about 1743, until he sold it in 1967. He is well-known for his recordings of Parts 1 to 4 of the Suzuki violin method. He died of pneumonia in New York City aged 88 on May 28, 2014.

Selected discography

* Vivaldi, The Four Seasons - (David Nadien, violin; strings of the Kapp Sinfonietta; Igor Kipnis, harpsichord; Emanuel Vardi, conductor / Sleevenotes by

Igor Kipnis Igor Kipnis (September 27, 1930January 23, 2002) was a German-born American harpsichordist, pianist and conductor. Biography The son of Metropolitan Opera bass Alexander Kipnis, he was born in Berlin, where his father was singing with the Berl ...

- LP 33rpm, Kapp KCL-9056 - 1960)Billboard Music Week, pg.40 "Reviews and Ratings of New Albums"
(February 6, 1961) * The Virtuoso Violinist - recital: Wieniawski, Scherzo Tarantelle Op.16 / Sarasate, Habanera Op.21 No.2 / Sarasate, Zapateado Op.23 No.2 / Paganini (arr. Kreisler), Caprice No.20 / F.M.Veracini, Largo / Kreisler, Praeludium and Allegro 'in the style of Pugnani' / Paganini, Moto perpetuo Op.11 / Sarasate, Caprice basque Op.24 / Kreisler, Recitative and Scherzo Caprice Op.6 -violin solo- / Vieuxtemps, Regrets Op.40 No.2 / Kreisler, Variations on a Theme by Corelli - (David Nadien, violin; Boris Barere, piano - LP 33rpm, Kapp KCL-9060 - 1961) * Humoresque - recital: Dvořák (arr. Kreisler), Humoresque Op.101 No.7 / Massenet (arr. M.P.Marsick), Méditation de Thaïs / Mendelssohn (arr. Heifetz), On Wings of Song Op.34 No.2 / Elgar, Salut d'amour Op.12 / Beethoven (arr. Maud Powell), Minuet in G WoO.10 No.2 / Drdla, Souvenir / Brahms, Waltz Op.39 No.15 / Schubert (arr. Wilhelmj), Ave Maria D.839 / Rubinstein (arr. Auer), Melodie in F Op.3 No.1 / Raff, Cavatina Op.85 No.3 / Schubert (arr. Sitt), Serenade (Ständchen, No.4 from 'Schwanengesang' D.957) - (David Nadien, violin; Boris Barere, piano - LP 33rpm, Kapp KS-3342 (Kapp KL-1342, mono release) - 1963) * Franck, Violin Sonata in A / Debussy, Violin Sonata in G / Ravel, Pièce en forme de habanera / Fauré , Berceuse Op.16 - (David Nadien, violin; David Hancock, piano - LP 33rpm, Monitor MCS2017 - 1958) * Prokofiev, Sonata for 2 violins Op.56 - (

Ruggiero Ricci Ruggiero Ricci (24 July 1918 – 5 August 2012) was an American violinist known for performances and recordings of the works of Paganini. Biography He was born in San Bruno, California, the son of Italian immigrants who first named him Woodr ...

, violin I; David Nadien, violin II - LP 33rpm, Decca DL710177 - 1970)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nadien, David 1926 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American classical violinists 21st-century American Jews Concertmasters of the New York Philharmonic Deaths from pneumonia in New York City Leventritt Award winners American male classical violinists Musicians from Brooklyn United States Army soldiers