Good advice

How to make a career as a violonist

A recent articel by German newspaper "Rheinischer Merkur" focusses on a serious problem of the (Classical) Music Industry: The burn-out of young talents. Or rather, the way many violinists don't seem to be able to keep up with the pace of their record company's relase schedule. The article offers three points of advice to anyone just starting their way up the ladder:

Go for the unusual repertoire: Daniel Hope's "East meets West" was a daring take at Indian music for example and in general the trend seems to go away from the standard repertoire. The combination between beauty and bizarre repertoire seems to do the trick.
Stay away from pathos: The new trend is a transparent, lean and "tasteful" style, such as the one practised by Baiba Skride. Romantic playing is considered "old-fashioned".
Take your career into your own hands: Neither labels nor promoters are the cause of a career's downturn. Wrong choices are.

As always, there's a few things to be said about this. No need to argue about the last point, one sorely neglected by so many. But the repertoire observation is simply incorrect. "Unusual" repertoire is not the trend at all. Rather, it's a blend between less well known pieces by great masters and masterpieces by relative unknowns. And that is simply the reaction of an industry plagued by uncertainty and plummeting sales figures. And the pathos-question is not even worth debating: A violinist, like any other musician, should search for his own distinct voice, not that of an industry-trend. There are surely some ideas that might help in a career, but we don't belive these are the ones.

And now, decide for yourself.

Source: Rheinischer Merkur