Speed-dating a Strad: one week with Milstein's ex
The first time I picked up Nathan Milstein’s violin, three years ago, all I could think about was my shoulder rest. I had been toying for the past few days with the idea of giving it up for good, and suddenly there I was holding Milstein's flawless 1716 Stradivarius in my hands. I imagined his spirit taking solid form and striking me down should I try to attach a piece of plastic to his beloved.
Thus distracted, I managed a restless program of Bach and Paganini. Mostly, I was terrified of dropping the ex-Milstein onto Jerry Kohl's plush carpet. But by the time I handed Jerry back his violin, I had learned the following things:
- I could play in public without a shoulder rest
- Gut strings actually could sound fantastic
And that wasn't her only quirk. In fact The Milstein (I'll drop the "ex" for the remainder of the story), for that hour at least, played hard to get. My experience with other Strads (including the one I play at work) had taught me that not all of them dazzle “under the ear”: that is, from the player’s perspective. But great instruments, whether old or new, produce a series of overtones that please the listener from a distance.
But even with that knowledge, The Milstein puzzled me: the two middle strings had distinct personalities, but neither clamored for attention; the E string had the “wow” factor, to a degree I had never before experienced on any violin; and the G was frankly disappointing at first play! I had the feeling, trying to draw sound out of the low register, that I was rousing a sleeping animal, one that wasn't at all pleased at my intrusion.
Piecing together a puzzle
I felt as though I'd been handed a fragment of a treasure map, then had it snatched away after an hour. I was tantalized by what the complete picture might reveal. I wanted the rewards that would follow. So I started to research.
I was eight years old when Milstein gave his last recital, at the age of eighty-two, so in a parallel life I might have seen him in person. But I knew someone who actually had: my grandfather! As a flutist in the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1949-1962, he had seen most of the giants of the era.
"Milstein just looked like he was born to it," he told me. There was a caricature of Milstein floating around Philadelphia at the time that depicted him playing while casually observing the viewer: a caged lion who instead sees you as the spectacle. He was gracious enough to sign it for my grandfather in 1953, and he passed it down to me.
I had, of course, grown up listening to Milstein, among the other greats, but now I sought out the sound I had just heard under my ear. I attempted to separate the violin from the man. In his recording of Bach’s Chaconne, for example, where was Milstein, and where was The Milstein? Occasionally I would seize on a particular run of notes, usually on the G-string, and say to myself, there it is. That troubled, throaty quality was apparent even through my earbuds.
Jerry Kohl is on intimate terms with The Milstein. As its owner and caretaker, he had generously given me my first Milstein experience years before. And now that I was about to perform the Beethoven concerto for the first time, I asked if I might have a whole week with his instrument. Jerry graciously agreed, and the week began.
Sunday: getting to know you (again)
There was no time to lose: the performance was on Friday, and it was already Sunday! I was set to play a brief string quartet program with my wife Akiko and two other Philharmonic colleagues later that day. Why not use the Haydn and Schubert quartets to get reacquainted? I thought. Seven notes into the Haydn, I missed my first shift, a simple 1-1 from first to third position.
So, that’s how it’s going to be this week?
Monday: reverse engineering
Back in my studio the next day, I sat down to really get to know The Milstein. I fell in love all over again with that golden high register: how it shone, never giving over to that shrill, steely sound that sets a listener's teeth on edge. All I had to do was let the E string do its thing. In other words, a little vibrato and a little bow pressure went a long way!
The gut-core Pirastro Passione A and D behaved much as they did on the instrument I'm accustomed to, a Strad on loan from my orchestra. But on The Milstein, they took on more distinct characters rather than filling out a broad "middle range". I was reminded of an Aaron Rosand article I had read, in which he compares the four violin strings to four vocal types: baritone, alto, coloratura, and soprano.
Tuesday: the power of perspective
The more I played, the more inescapable it became: my baritone had laryngitis! Here was the same Passione G that I'd been playing on for years, but on The Milstein, it sounded under-powered, even muffled. Interesting to be sure, but not of a piece with the rest of the instrument. And just as I’d noticed years ago, with even a bit too much bow pressure, it shut down completely.
So at Disney Hall the next day, I asked my colleague Martin Chalifour to give The Milstein a play and a listen in his dressing room. He had spent quite a lot of time with the instrument over the years, and knew its potential. Perhaps all it needed was an adjustment?
First I played a few notes, and then I handed the violin over to Martin. As he played, I was astonished by the difference just a few feet made! Of course, any instrument changes once you give it a bit of breathing room, but rarely to that degree. That animal quality in the low register remained, but intensified and seemingly amplified.
“Yes, this is how it sounds,” Martin chuckled, turning the violin over and admiring it from all sides.
“Do you hear a buzz, or some weird grit in there, like I do?” I asked.
“Well, yes, there’s always been some noise in there,” he admitted. “Milstein’s spirit, maybe? I think he’s trying to tell you how to play it!”
I’ll take all the help I can get.
Wednesday: watching videos
Once again in my studio, I turned to YouTube to hear Milstein perform his own cadenza for the Beethoven. A virtuoso-composer in the mold of Paganini, he had written original pieces, as well as cadenzas for most of the major concerti. Once I knew that I'd be playing his violin, I planned on playing his Beethoven cadenza as well.
As I listened to his live recordings of the Beethoven cadenza, making notes in my copy all the while, I realized that each performance differed from the published version I had in front of me: sometimes it was simply a different figuration for a chord, but other times, he would add, subtract, or alter several measures!
The video accompanying the audio was no video at all, just a still image of Milstein. It resembled, in fact, the signed caricature my grandfather had given me. I could almost see Milstein turn toward me, never interrupting his performance: You didn’t think I would hand you what I actually played, did you?
Thursday: making videos
Milstein made his Beethoven recordings after performing the piece countless times. But I wanted to use the recording process to help me with my first performance. I decided that making videos would serve me best. There’s something about setting up a shot, turning on the hot lights, plugging in the mic, and hitting “record” that raises the stakes. And I wanted to get Milstein's violin on video playing not only his cadenza for the first movement, but Kreisler’s legendary one for the third movement.
A quick note about these garage videos: I use a DPA lapel microphone to capture both playing and speaking. Therefore the mic is only a few inches from my voice or violin. Why not set up the mic further away? Because I'm not in a proper studio! The further away I put the mic, the more I have to turn the levels up, and the more outside sounds creep in to ruin my efforts. Invariably, the gardeners next door pick my best take to fire up the leaf blower. Or the Pasadena police chase down a suspect with their fleet of helicopters!
So in the following video, you get the sound of The Milstein roughly as it is "under the ear". For a talk-free performance video like this, I like to add some studio reverb as I find the raw sound rather unappealing for most listeners. But I’ll including a sample of the sound as it went straight into the recorder for those of you who are interested. First the finished video:
And 30 seconds of the raw audio: opening of Milstein cadenza (MP4, 135K)
Friday afternoon: wardrobe malfunction
My Friday schedule was more hectic than I would have liked: first, a Philharmonic matinee; then a lesson; then the dress rehearsal; then showtime. By the time my lesson was over and I fought the Friday afternoon traffic, I was fifteen minutes late for my own dress! I had to rush onstage, considerably agitated, and join the concerto already in progress.
So it wasn't the start I had hoped for. But with marvelous support from Maestro Christopher Russell and the Azusa Pacific University orchestra, I settled in. In fact, walking off stage from the dress, I mostly felt relief. If I could handle the dress rehearsal with my fingers still tight from gripping the steering wheel, I could certainly make it through the performance.
In fact, I felt that I had comported myself with a great deal of dignity. Then I happened to look down and see a glint of metal. I had played the entire concerto with my zipper wide open.
Friday evening: maiden voyage
Lounging in my dressing room an hour before the time of trial, I ruefully recalled my own article about the hardest violin concerto openings. I had ranked the Beethoven extremely high on the scale, giving it a 9.0 out of a possible 10.0 in degree of difficulty. Here was my commentary:
“A tutti that seems to last forever. An opening arpeggio in octaves. Then an entire page of sixteenth notes, some slurred, some separate, but all designed to make you look like a fool. It’s fun to imagine what outfit springs most readily to mind for each concerto opening. Glazunov might be a beautifully tailored three-piece suit. Bruch would be your favorite broken-in denim jeans. Beethoven is definitely swimwear. You feel like you should be wearing armor, but all you’ve got is your Speedo.”
I actually spoke to The Milstein, hoping to reach the man himself. If Martin was to be believed, it was as good a way as any to get through to him. Just get me through those first two bars, I implored. You’ve done it so many times.
Just then, Akiko popped her head in. I knew she would be at the concert, but it was still a surprise to see her. She always gives me an extra dose of confidence, and her presence at that moment was a reminder that whether or not I offended Beethoven or Milstein, we’d still look forward to a martini afterward.
I wish that I could recall more of the details from my first Beethoven concerto. I do remember offering up thanks to the “other Nathan” after the first two bars, and again after an extended passage in the first movement that had vexed my powers of memorization. And I looked forward to the first-movement cadenza, wondering during the preceding tutti when The Milstein had last gotten to play it in public!
Here is audio of the performance:
Sound through space
I was prepared to hand back The Milstein the very next day, but Jerry surprised me by asking, “Aren’t you playing the Mozart clarinet quintet in Disney Hall on Tuesday? Want to keep it until then?” Why, yes!
I had big plans for those next few days. I wanted to play The Milstein in Disney Hall, but even more importantly, I wanted to hear it there. It might have been hard to find a player at short notice who could get the most out of that instrument, except that I’m married to one. So I asked Akiko to take the violin on a test drive in that wonderful space.
Ben Ullery, our violist for the Mozart, and Bob DeMaine, our cellist, joined me out in the hall as Akiko put The Milstein through its paces with some of her favorites: Brahms concerto; Bartok 2nd concerto; solo Bach.
The four of us had played quartets together quite a bit, and knew each other’s playing well. We'd also been lucky enough to try some amazing instruments in our time. Nonetheless, we marveled at the transformation of The Milstein's sound through space. “That’s its afterburner effect,” quipped Bob as we closed our eyes and enjoyed Akiko's performance.
The sound in my ear
Throughout my week with The Milstein, I'd felt like Cinderella at the ball, and now the clock was finally about to strike midnight. As long as I held onto that violin, I could call forth its incredible tone. And even after I handed it back, I might be able to retain just enough of its essence that I could recreate its essential elements no matter what violin I was playing. But for how long would the essence remain? How many hours or days would pass before the thread snapped?
When I was young, my teachers encouraged me to listen constantly to the great recordings. Daniel Mason, who had studied with Heifetz, recommended his recordings above all. “Do you know why he kept sounding great all those years?” he would ask me with a smile. “He always had the Heifetz sound in his ear!”
He was only half in jest. Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate the self-reinforcing nature of sound. What we play, we hear. And what we hear, we are bound to play again. This endless circle can trap players who never experience great sound up close. But for those who seek that sound, and keep their ears open, it's a golden circle. Sound builds on sound, and strength begets strength.
A new instrument is therefore a catalyst for change. Suddenly we have a new voice, and almost immediately, new expectations for what we want to hear. As the new voice becomes our voice, our circle gains power until it begins to affect others. Just as an orbiting planet attracts a comet and sends it on a new course, our sound attracts and influences our listeners.
Sound through time
This is the true power of a violin like The Milstein: it transmits its sound not only through space but through time. More than 70 years ago, Milstein chose a particular 1716 Stradivarius because inside it, he believed he heard his voice. That voice found its way to me, imperfectly, through his recordings. The recordings inspired me to develop my own voice. And for a brief time, with the help of his violin, I was able to complete the circle.
Many violinists have compared old violins to fine wines. The analogy's appeal is obvious: both violins and wines will change over time, and great examples can improve with age. Both sound and flavor resist exact description. There's an element of mystery to both that delights and frustrates connoisseurs.
But a better comparison for a fine violin is to a vineyard, not a wine. After all, a bottled wine is mostly a finished product. It will change over time, of course, but no human hand is necessary for its transformation. And when it comes time to enjoy it, anyone can open the bottle, pour, and taste.
A violin, however, is silent without a violinist. That would be the winemaker, tending carefully to the vineyard, developing the soil, pruning the vines, and finally taking those raw materials and creating something beautiful for others to enjoy. Two different winemakers may make very different wines from the same vineyard. But in Burgundy, for example, the best vineyards are marked "Grand Cru", and for hundreds of years, they have delighted and challenged both winemakers and wine drinkers.
Where is the wine? In the vineyard or in the bottle?
Postscript: Vertigo
There was a somewhat comic postscript to my time with The Milstein. The Strad that I usually play had been in need of some routine maintenance for a while, so in the let-down period after my magical week, I took care of my violin.
Mario and Brenda Miralles have taken care of both instruments (and a great many more) for years now, so we had a debriefing session. They had heard the Mozart performance in Disney, and they had questions: Are there any issues you notice? How is the response? How are the strings?
I recapped the literal highs and lows: the other-worldly E string, the perplexing G, and the dumbfounding fact that it all balanced out in the hall.
“It’s been that way ever since Milstein played it,” said Mario with a smile. "Nobody could ever figure out how to get it to sound like other instruments, under the ear. But it only matters how it sounds to them,” he said, gesturing to an imaginary crowd.
I had a brief chuckle, imagining a curmudgeonly Milstein banging on the door of his luthier, demanding yet another adjustment: “It’s this lousy G string again! I’m playing Tzigane tonight! What am I paying you for?”
Mario suggested that we get my instrument in the same room as The Milstein, so that we could play around with adjustment. “The Milstein will give us a goal to shoot for.”
A few days later, we made it happen. As I held the Milstein once more, it struck me that I was recreating a scene straight out of Hitchcock! In his classic Vertigo, Scotty (James Stewart) is haunted by the memory of a woman he believes he’ll never see again. When he meets Judy, a woman who bears an eerie resemblance to his lost love, he takes her to a department store, secretly hoping to remake her into the other woman. She picks up on his intentions and recoils in horror:
Sure enough, my violin pushed back. After a few minutes of playing the instruments against each other, with Mario and Brenda adjusting, I struggled to put my finger on what was missing. With me clutching the Milstein, and Mario holding my violin, he smiled. “You’re never going to turn this into that…”
I knew he was right. If any violin could become The Milstein, we'd have no need for The Milstein.
Mario continued, “But sitting here, listening to them, I’m saying to myself, ‘they don’t sound all that different’. One has one quality, the other another. But they’re related.”
Related to Milstein: not by blood, but by sound? It’s certainly a goal worth shooting for. He and I share a name, after all!
As I let go of his violin for good, I wondered when I would get to play the Beethoven again. I decided that when I did, I’d write my own cadenza. I decided that I wouldn’t play exactly what I wrote.
If you want to know how to evaluate the sound of any violin you play, take a look at the free guide I just wrote along with my wife Akiko. We're actually starting a podcast, called Stand Partners for Life, and it's all about stories like these! You can pick up the guide by clicking here:
The Stand Partners guide to upgrading your violin
You might also like:
- Happy 300th Birthday to the 'Milstein' Stradivarius!
- The Milstein Strad moves to Pasadena (2006)
- Strad Fest LA: The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Celebrates the World's Finest Violins
Replies
Lucky man !
I never held a goddess in my arms, but I guess it is the same, no ?
H.S.
Thank you for a very interesting account of you experience with The Milstein. Amongst many of my ‘favourite’ violinist Milstein is ever present. I would share two things. In the notes to his recording of the Goldmark Concerto with Harry Blech and the Philharmonia Orchestra, the leader of the orchestra, Hugh Bean talks about Milstein and says something that I think is rather beautiful. He says ... if an alien landed on earth and wanted to know what the violin sounded like he would introduce them to Milstein’s playing as it so naturally gives one the sound of the Violin. The other is Milstein’s comment to Zukerman when he is shown having dinner with him in a film about his life. Milstein says, “I love music, but I love the violin even more”
Nathan, that is a beautiful story. You can write as well as you play :) Thank you.
Bob
I really enjoyed the performance, Nate!
Thank you for sharing this journey you have taken with the Milstein Strad! Not only is it a rare opportunity, but it's a rare musician who can get so deep into the details of the sound and convey that as you have!
Any chance you could also write the tale of
How you can to the Stradivari violin that you play normally? Is it on loan through the Phil? Was it love at first play? How has it been adjusting your playing style to it? What is it's history?
Great story, great read!
A wonderful article! Thank you for sharing with all of us! What a delight!
Thank you for reading, I know this was a long story! And the alien quote about Milstein is perfect, I couldn't agree more.
As to writing about the Strad I play, it is on loan from the Philharmonic. It was owned and played by the comedian (and violinist!) Jack Benny, and it's from 1729, so very late. I'll try to write more tomorrow, but there was definitely an adjustment period there too.
Thanks for that Nathan, a great story. Well done.
Neil
Awesome read! Thanks for sharing your insight!
For your podcast, Stand Partners for Life, will this be available in your site, or in Apple podcast? How often will you plan to air new episodes? It sounds really exciting...
I look forward to it!
Nathan, thank you for bringing your experience to us. I could feel as if I were there. Being a musician is not always about performance, it is a choice of life. To share this life style is very rare in the modern world. I salute your openness and strength. Please bring more, not all is about technique.
Beautiful Beethoven. Loved the cadenza at 20:45.
Wonderful writing and even better playing from Nathan Cole, whose fan club I already belong to.
I'm a little skeptical when violinists talk of a violin that plays only OK to the player but somehow produces sound waves that grow stronger and stronger so that the sound is great by the time it reaches the 50th row. This magical power is often ascribed to multimillion-dollar Strads but it doesn't really square with the laws of physics.
This violin is historically important because it was Milstein's. Other than that, it's a box of wood with four strings, no more, no less.
If this were, say, a $20,000 lesser-name Italian fiddle being played by a conservatory student, we might be talking a little more bluntly about the lack of balance and the muddy, temperamental quality of the lower strings. Luthiers might be talking about the many adjustments that can be made.
A violin's setup (or for that matter a different type of string) can do so much more than a lot of people realize. A powerful E can be achieved sometimes with bridge, soundpost and possibly bass bar alterations. The cost of this could well be less projection and clarity from the lower strings.
Is it possible that Milstein WANTED the violin to play this way? So he either had the violin set up to give him a thunderous E, or it happened to be that way when he acquired it?
Anyway I think what makes that Strad sound great is that it's being played by Nathan Cole, and before him that other Nathan.
Hi Carl, the podcast will launch in about two weeks, and will certainly be available on Apple's podcast app/itunes, however they're calling it these days. And it will always be available at standpartnersforlife.com as well. We'll put out an episode each week.
To Thomas, I'm more skeptical than most violinists about all of that actually! I don't think anyone can seriously say that all of the excitement of playing these violins is due just to the sound. There's the history, especially with this one. That's why I wanted to be sure to include that part of the story: how the history, the recognition of the sound of a great player, can influence me today.
I don't know about "louder" by the 50th row, but more even and satisfying? For sure. But there's a limit: I wouldn't want to play a violin I hated, no matter how good it sounded to the audience. With The Milstein, it was more a trust factor: I had to just accept the strangeness and make the most of it, trusting that it came out as special to the listeners. And it's possible I was exaggerating the strangeness, as the player. That's why I wanted to include the "raw" audio from just a couple inches away.
Thanks for your response Nathan, it made the piece more interesting that the fiddle was such a challenge to play and you detailed this. It will be something to listen to when I listen to Milstein recordings in the future.
On a related note, I have always loved the famous Francescatti Beethoven (1961 w Bruno Walter). The sound is so pure and forceful. Francescatti's Strad is said to be a phenomenal instrument -- but was it really the violinist? By contrast, I have heard that Oistrakh's violin was considered second rate (at least among Strads), but if the violin had limits, it certainly isn't apparent in the recordings.
Fantastically interesting account, and congrats on the beautiful Beethoven!
I loved everything! Your playing is magnificent, your writing is fascinating, natural and friendly. Your story is unique, what a thrill for you and for your listeners. Thank you so much for sharing this great and scary experience. We, your vans, are so proud of you.
Mary Gerard
Thanks, Nathan! Your posts are so helpful and humorous! Thank you for including us all in your concerto performance--listening to your Beethoven performance was like hearing a close friend play! We're all very proud of you and your accomplishments! Bravo!! Don Hurd, in Cincinnati
Lovely performance - some particularly effective soft playing. Fascinating article too. Congratulations. I'm sure your first Beethoven will not be your last!
Wonderful account of your experience with the Ex Milstein Strad. I wonder if "your" Strad is the former "Jack Benny" Strad owned by the LA PHIL?
Wow, that E string is simply amazing! And this isn't meant to be a knock of any kind, but the combination of your playing/phrasing and the Milstein violin really has a by-gone era sound. I'm transported to another time
Absolutely wonderful!
Thank you so much for not only sharing your experiences with the Milstein, but also your performance with it as well!
You write well, you play well, you teach well, and I always stop to read when I see a new post from you. Truly enjoyable.
Thank you for this fascinating piece of writing and your beautiful, colorful performance.
I remember, noticing on the lower bout on the right hand side, how Milstein's thumb had removed the varnish. He always used to pick up the instrument with his right hand to place it in on his shoulder.
This spot was invisible in the video and must have been touched up in the meantime.
I once saw and heard the violin years ago in Cologne when it was for sale after Milstein's death.
To ~ Nathan Cole
Having been Nathan Milstein's first artist pupil whom he nicknamed, 'my guinea pig' "on whom I can experiment as you play well enough", in London at his opulent Chester Square home in Belgravia, my more than blessed private 'tutorial's' of at least 3 to 4 hours each, oftentimes twice a week (when he was beginning to tour a bit less) bore untold & never expected fruits on numerous levels.
Being introduced by his revered St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music Leopold Auer class-mate, Sascha Lasserson (the towering violin pedagogue in London, who deferred coming to NYC to teach at the invitation of his Auer Class class-mate's, Jascha Heifetz, Efrem Zimbalist & Mischa Elman), Mr. & Mrs. Lasserson invited me to join them at the Royal Festival Hall to 'hear our friend, Milstein', in Beethoven's Violin Concerto with the Philharmonia, conducted by Raphael Fruhbeck de Burgos, which was deeply inspiring and awe producing! Mr. Lasserson then insisted I come w/ him backstage to 'meet Milstein - I've told him about you & your playing, especially of the Chaconne of Bach..." Very hesitatingly, I was more or less hand-dragged by Mr. Lasserson to Mr. Milstein's overflowing with admirer's green room! Viewing warm Russian bear hugs exchanged by Milstein & Lasserson, I was overwhelmed at actually being in NM's presence ~ Suddenly, 'The Moment' came when Nathan Milstein reached out his fabled right hand to shake mine which seemed surreal! Mr. Milstein was incredibly kind & welcoming, speaking perfect slightly Russian tinted English, saying, '... and Lasserson tells me you play Bach well! You must come 'round to play for me ...' Truly, I was astonished this great Master was within 2 feet of a born in LA young making-her-way Violinist in London, who never expected to meet Milstein - nor be invited by him to come to Chester Square, to play the Chaconne of Bach! He must have sensed I wouldn't ring him out of awed respect, & after European kissing my gloved hand, walking away, yelled from far across the room, his London telephone prefix + number!! I Never forgot it!
After numerous weeks with prodding from wonderful Sascha Lasserson, & my husband, I finally summoned the courage to dial his number ~ very nervously! A polite person answered, asked my name and said to wait. A very warm & welcoming voice spoke on the phone, 'Well! I wondered when I would hear from you, Heifetz's pupil!' Never mentioning this the night of our initial meeting, Mr. Lasserson must have done so as Mr. Heifetz had told me, upon my receipt of a Fulbright to London, "Liz ~ Lasserson, London!" Once on British soil, it took months to locate Sascha Lasserson, through the kind help of Hugh Bean, (the marvelous former pupil of Sascha Lasserson, then Leader of one of the Big Five London major orchestras.)
It took 6 months from the time of meeting Mr. Milstein to go 'round to his Chester Square home! (Thank Heavens I'd been on an over 45 violin/piano recital Concert Tour of the U.S. with my marvellous London pianist, Peter Croser, & whilst on tour, had been in touch with Mr. Heifetz, who invited me to visit and bring my British pianist to Gilcrest Drive! Mr. Heifetz was truly
encouraging upon listening to our Prokofiev Sonata for Violin & Piano No. 2 in D Major in his private Frank Lloyd Wright built & designed Studio! Perhaps it was Peter's 'posh' London accent, but Mr. Heifetz was happy, saying, 'Liz, give my compliments to Lasserson!' "Sascha", as he was known by virtually every major professional violinist in London & throughout the U.K. was a wonderful violinist & (cross my heart) the truly authentic assistant to Leopold Auer at the St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music during Auer's 'reign' as the Greatest Teacher of ~ "Jascha, Mischa, Toscha, & Sascha" plus Milstein, Zimbalist, Kubelik, Kathleen Parlow, Cecelia Hansen, & little credited Paul Stassteivitch, plus! Upon the Bolshevik Revolution, many 'Star's' of Auer had left 'Mother Russia' w/ Heifetz on the crest of his first performance on American soil, in NYC's Carnegie Hall, in his astounding age 16 Violin Recital Debut, on October 27, 1917, to a Sold Out House including some of Musical 'Royalty', Fritz Kreisler& Mischa Elman, to name but a few ... (for another Entry)
The reason for including this is to verify your Grandfather's description of the young Nathan Milstein, in his American Orchestral Soloist Debut in Goldmark's Violin Concerto with the great Philadelphia Orchestra! Yes! Nathan Cole, Milstein 'was born to play the violin', & during my 4 years private study with him, I witnessed an uncanny, almost bodily outgrowth of the violin from Milstein's physique ~ His remarkable musical - technical gifts which were apart from the termed, 'Russian School,' were just that. Mr. Milstein's Franco-Belgium qualities in his unique approach to Sound, expression of beauty, French palette & taste in colour, plus that Bow Arm were authentically *'Milsteiniananna' ~
Upon playing the Bach Chaconne in its entirety, he began his truly instinctive magical 'teaching' which is not 'teaching' in any ordinary sense. His love of the instrument did seem to exceed his love of adored Music! Yet, Milstein's obsessive attraction to the Violin was key to his unique Sound. I know his 1716 Strad well!! Often times during lengthy musical 'session's', Milstein would ask, "Elisabeth dear, please play my violin so I can hear it away from my own ear!" Having the use of my del Gesu, he would happily swap with me, playing my fiddle (and sounding just like himself yet on my fiddle which offered a bit more
reasonance on the Sul G string, but had the Milstein 'stamp' of unique sound!) An example of this occurred when my husband - a Welsh born amateur musician w/ fine musicality) came to fetch me & being downstairs in the Milstein home, heard the sounds coming from above in our 'Torture Chamber' nickname for NM's teaching space in his lovely 1st floor Lounge which he (my husband) recognised as my del Gesu, saying upon being led up to the Lounge, 'Lizzie! You sure sound Great today!!' to which Milstein replied, 'she makes my Strad sound great, too!' Treasuring his generously kind words, one was in Heaven!
So moved you've had the opportunity to perform Beethoven's Violin Concerto upon its Owner's Strad, which responded to Milstein's unique bowing technique (much passed on to me), I
was as a sponge absorbing All he shared about bowing in each Unaccompanied Bach work - which was the glue/thread bonding all bowing/s of Nathan Milstein, he 'transplanted' and liberated my then-only Franco Belgium bowing approach at such a providential time in my life as a Violinist, Musician finally set free without 'border's', and Person. If I may, please know the Sound of Milstein was the essence of the person ~ Nathan Milstein. He was of the Soil, Nathan! He was a very dignified man & throughout his life, always followed the wise counsel of his adored Mother, who cautioned her son, young Nathan, 'Don't seek publicity nor fame. Be dignified Always!"
Having the rare privilege of knowing Nathan Milstein and his gorgeous wife, Therese, for 24 years, I can truly say he never
sought fame ~ even running from it or situations which he felt & sensed would seem inappropriate to his core being -
A clue was Milstein pronouncing once talked into giving Violin Master Classes in Zurich, "I'm No Professor ~ I'm a Violinist!"
Writing too much, some of which is already included in an in- process Memoir, I feel the 'Marie - Therese Strad' (Milstein's chosen name for his beloved 1716 Strad at its baptism in Milstein's custodian-ship until his last note played by Milstein's God given Hands in late 1987 or early 1988) will not ring true until its mourned Owner releases his violin's inner voice to a true violinistic heir ~
The Secrets of unlocking Mr. Milstein's Strad in all glory have not yet come ~
Thank you, dear Nathan Cole, for writing so extensively about your acquaintance & refreshed journey on the 'runway' of my
Legendary Mentor, Milstein, and his Stradivarius, circa 1716 ~ Long may Nathan Milstein reign as the true peer of Heifetz!
Yours colleaguially and musically ~
Elisabeth Matesky
*(c)Copyright E. Matesky,11/11/17. All rights reserved.
Thank you for these treasured memories, Elisabeth!
thanks, Nathans, and everyone for wonderful post and discussion!!
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November 8, 2017 at 11:33 AM · Truly wonderful writing!