Remembering David Nadien

I first heard of David Nadien (March 12, 1926 - May 28, 2014) from Julius Baker, who held him as his living musical ideal. Due to the miracle of video recording, we can hear them both in this 1967 set of Rosenkavalier Waltzes, and remember how beautifully it is possible to play:



My father likes to tell the story of Leonard Bernstein asking David Nadien how it is he has such a gorgeous vibrato, to which Nadien responded, "fear."

Here's a great collection of David Nadien's recordings (with sample sound clips).