When the teen-aged violinist made his debut in Manhattan 25 years ago, one critic suggested that "David may turn into a musician of stature when he grows up." Only he never really grew up — physically, that is. Artistically, however, David Nadien developed into a giant. He demonstrated that last week at Manhattan's Philharmonic Hall when he strode on stage — all 5 ft. 4 in. and 116 lbs. of him — and played Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with elegance and grace, a tone pure and silken, and a technique that was a marvel of dizzy ing leaps and lightning runs. During the long ovation that followed, Conductor Leonard Bernstein embraced Nadien, and the violinist motioned for the orchestra to stand up and take a bow. Instead, they stayed seated and ap plauded and tapped their bows against their music stands.
It was, in effect, a welcome-to-the-fold gesture, for the performance was Nadien's solo debut as the new concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic. When his appointment was announced last February, some Philharmonic fans were aghast. Nadien had never played in a major symphony orchestra before, and had spent most of the past dozen years in recording studios playing for crooners, rock 'n' rollers, Muzak and TV jingles. Still, despite his commercial coloration, he has long been respected by fellow musicians as one of America's most outstanding fiddlers; he is legendary for his ability to sight-read anything and to play it impeccably in any style under any circumstances, whether it is a love song to Rinso White or a complex passage in a Paganini concerto. When the Philharmonic asked him to audition last winter, he breezed through every obscure score that Bernstein thrust upon him, won in a walkaway over 40 aspirants.
Music for Music. Nadien is son of Golden Boy. Raised in Manhattan, he is the offspring of an undefeated bantamweight boxer who fought the champion to a draw, then gave up the ring to appease his wife and train his son in his own first love, the violin. David soloed with the New York Philharmonic at 14, later combined his concert career with studio work, often recording from seven to nine hours at a crack. His new job means a cut of about $15,000 in his yearly income. "Before, it was music for money's sake," he says. "Now it's music for music's sake."
At 40, Nadien joins one of the world's most exclusive and most distinguished musical fraternities, the concertmasters of major U.S. orchestras.
Among them:
> Detroit's Mischa Mischakoff, 69, is the dean of U.S. concertmasters.
Born in Russia, he was concertmaster of the Moscow Philharmonic before coming to the U.S. in 1922, held down the first chair in Philadelphia and Chicago, won the label "Toscanini's third hand" during the 15 years he played under the great Italian at the NBC Symphony. He moved to Detroit in 1952, where he helped rebuild the orchestra from scratch. A patriarch in baggy pants and sports shirts, Mischakoff is a demanding but amicable leader, prides himself on his collection of shredded manuscripts and broken batons cast aside by the terrible-tempered Toscanini.