Midori Goto Essentials

Japanese-born American violinist Midori Goto—long known as simply Midori—established the model for the classical prodigy in the U.S. By the time she moved to New York in 1982, at age 11, she was already studying at a collegiate level. She used Bach's notoriously difficult “Chaconne” as an audition piece, and rocketed to stardom at 14 playing Leonard Bernstein's Serenade under the composer's baton at Tanglewood. As she matured, her technique and sensitivity only grew. The nuance and depth of feeling on her reading of Bach's Violin Sonata No. 2 comes with time; likewise the romantic yearning she pours into Elgar's “Salut D'amour.”