Musical artist
David Nadien (March 12, 1926 – May 28, 2014) was an American virtuoso violinist and violin teacher. He was the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic 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, who is considered by some to be the greatest violinist of all time.[1]
Life
David Nadien was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 12, 1926, the son of Russian-Jewish father George Nadien and Dutch-Jewish mother Bertha Zwart.[2] 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. He also studied at the Juilliard School. His teachers included Adolfo Betti, Demetrius Constantine Dounis, Adolf Busch and Ivan Galamian.[3] 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 principal bassoonist Sol Schoenbach, who recognized his talents.[4]
He made his first concert appearance with the New York Philharmonic at the age of 14,[5][6] and at the age of 20 won the Leventritt Award[7] judged by a panel that included Arturo Toscanini. Afterwards, he worked mainly as a freelance studio musician, until in 1966 he was invited to audition and was eventually selected by Leonard Bernstein to replace the retiring John Corigliano Sr., the father of the composer John Corigliano, as concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic.[5] Although Nadien had little experience of orchestral playing, Bernstein praised his unusually acute sight-reading skills and called him "an extraordinary violinist."[3] 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, Billy Joel, Chaka Khan, Don McLean, Nina Simone, Sinéad O'Connor and Tony Bennett.[8] As a violin teacher, he worked at the Mannes College of Music and taught privately.[3]
Nadien owned the "Prince of Orange, Wald, Hoffmann" violin, made by Guarneri del Gesù in about 1743, until he sold it in 1967.[9]
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.[3]
