Classical Music/Concert violinist

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Expert: - 9/2/2009


Question
I need a musician, preferably a violinist, who can be a resource on the day-to-day life of a concert violinist for a novel I'm writing, and when I saw your profile I figured the gods were on my side.  My background is in music (20+ years in New York as a professional singer), but my heroine is a violinist, and I need help.  First question:  What differentiates a soloist from the highly trained and talented members of the world's great orchestras?  Many thanx.

Sharon Goldstein

Answer
well, that's quite a question....I'll try my best to be succinct...the most obvious difference i suppose is technique....an orchestral musician although highly skilled is almost never flawless unless it is the concertmaster of a great orchestra...i.e. Joe silverstein,                   glenn dicterow,etc,etc....
a member of the section can get away with flaws as he/she is covered by at least a dozen others...
then there is the question of ego...the soloists feels that they have something to say which others will recognise and appreciate..also a thick skin helps..i've known some extraordinarily insensitive (people wise) soloists...
but one also has to realise that the violinists in any of the world's great chamber music groups have all these abilities too...from the Beaux Arts Trio right through to the melos ensemble of london...and especially the great quartets...for instance Shmuel Ashkenase gave up his solo career to form the Vermeer Qt...look at Arnold Steinhart of the guarneri qt..so it is also a question of the path you choose...my own personal opinion, and it is personal, is that when the ego is more important than the music, the soloist appears but let me also say that the soloist has to have the most wonderful and extraordinary capabilities...heifetz,stern zukerman etc..in fact, in my own knowledge and research, the only great soloist in the last 100 or so years with real modesty was Kreisler...but again that is personal..
i hope all this ranting is of some help..please feel free to contact me again any time you think i can help
best wishes
Steve levine

Classical Music

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Stephen Levine

Expertise

I can answer most questions about any kind of classical music but with special emphasis on the violin, it's, repertoire and technique. I can also help with orchestral and chamber music.

Experience

I was a professional violinist in one of the London orchestras for 25 years I also coached chamber music and played in film and tv studios. My career encompassed 17th music to 20th century music, from symphonic through chamber music to opera,

Education/Credentials
L.R.A.M.(Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music) A.R.A.M.(Associate of ther Royal Academy of Music) A.R.C.M.(Associate of the Royal College of Music)

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