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Since Paganini has been blanketing the board of late, I've been thinking (again) about virtuosity in performance. A few years ago I had the pleasure to substitute in a orchestra on a performance of one of the Paganini concertos. Pretty amazing technical stuff, but not so hot otherwise.
Apparently Wagner said, "The real dignity of the virtuoso rests solely on the dignity he is able to preserve for creative art; if he trifles and toys with this, he casts his honour away. He is the intermediary of the artistic idea." That's from Grove--somebody quoted it on Wikipedia too.
Who are some of your favorite virtuosos? What role should the virtuoso play?
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