21st Century Virtuoso
by sibelodabasyigit
A virtuoso before the 19th century was simply “a highly accomplished musician.” In a time where the opera gained more and more popularity from the end of the 16th century through its golden age in the mid to late 1800’s, the virtuoso was often viewed as an extremely talented vocalist, with many astounding instrumentalists being overlooked. Niccolò Paganini’s international fame changed this definition of the virtuoso. The 19th century virtuoso became known to be a vocal or instrumental performer, with talents and skills well above average that would dazzle the public. Paganini’s talent as a violinist was recognized when he was just a child, and by the age of 18, Paganini was already playing in concerts. His title as a travelling virtuoso came when he toured to La Scala in Milan in 1813 and astonished the crowd with an outstanding concert.
Although this definition of virtuoso only recognizes performers, Paganini was an exceptional composer who performed solely his own works in his concerts. His most well known compositions are the 24 Caprices for solo violin, which we spoke of in class. They seem to be written for the purpose of wowing the crowd, rather than taking the listener on an emotional journey like many of the other works we have studied in class.
Our in-class discussion of virtuosity got me thinking: Who can be considered a virtuoso of the 21st century? Beyonce has won 17 Grammy awards and has sold over 118 million solo records. So can we consider international performer sensations like Beyonce or Justin Timberlake virtuosos? Would the Beatles, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, and Elvis Presley all be considered virtuosos? Would the term include big Hollywood producers and Swedish DJs? Or is this term confined to classical music or centuries past?
The Thousand-Year Ears 
I’m going to post a short list of living guitar players who I consider virtuosos.
John Petrucci
Slash*
Mike Romeo
Yngwie Malmsteen
Joe Satriani
Steve Vai
Ana Vidović
Al Di Meola
Jeff Beck*
Kirk Hammett*
Dave Mustaine
Marty Friedman
Alex Skolnick
Dave Murray*
Adrian Smith*
Janick Gers*
Jeff Loomis
Carlos Santana
Michael Schenker
Matthias Jabs*
Tommy Emmanuel**
Eddie Van Halen
Zakk Wylde*
Eric Johnson
Dave Jungreis***
*There are some silly people who would contest this selection.
**Steve Vai once remarked that these is no best guitarist, but if he’s wrong about that, it’s because of Tommy Emmanuel.
***There may be legitimate reasons for contesting this selection, like his inability to sweep more than four strings or to skip strings at high speed.
This is a short list, recall.
I agree, Paganini is a virtuoso because his pieces are generally technically difficult. Many of his pieces are show pieces, designed to impress the audience. So, applying this definition to the 21st century, Michael Jackson would definitely be considered a virtuoso, because he liked to impress the audience with cool and creative dance moves. The other artists are also to an extent.
Why, though, would you consider him a musical virtuoso rather than a dance virtuoso?
Michael Jackson was able to innovate and combine music and dance very effectively, making it difficult to separate the two. I consider him a virtuoso, with respect to both music and dance.
Based on Paganini’s role as both composer and superb violinist, I think a virtuoso is someone who is able to do something that no one else is able to do, whether it’s composition or just performance. So Michael Jackson is definitely a virtuoso but what is it that Beyonce has done that’s so remarkable other than entertain the masses?
I think that Whitney Houston is a virtuoso simply because I’ve never heard anyone sing with as powerful and majestic a voice as hers. We always hear people try to sing “I Will Always Love You” at singing competitions because they want to show they can match Houston’s voice, but honestly I’ve never heard a better performance of it than from Houston herself.