MIDORI AT 15: A VIOLINIST WITH TIME

At 15, Midori Goto seems to be a normal, even typical, teen-ager who lives in Manhattan.

A native of Japan, she attends high school in her Upper West Side neighborhood; studies algebra, French, English and history; has “a lot of friends” and enjoys shopping at Macy’s.

But she also has another life. A violinist since the age of 4, Midori--the single word is now her complete, professional name--came to this country five years ago to study with Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School. Midori’s career has blossomed, and by now she has toured Europe and the Far East as soloist with the likes of Leonard Bernstein, the London Symphony and the St. Louis Symphony.

Tonight, she appears at Hollywood Bowl, playing the Mendelssohn Concerto with the Montreal Symphony under Charles Dutoit.

Yet, the personable, soft-spoken violinist insists that the demands of her instrument and her talent have not kept her from “having fun and having friends” and leading what some might call a normal life.

“I’m not deprived in any way,” Midori says emphatically.

Despite heavy responsibilities of schoolwork and violin, she says she finds time for everything. For instance, “Our school day is from 9 to 2, with no recesses. That gives us more time at the end of the day. I usually have only two lessons with Miss DeLay a week, then I go to karate class three times a week. There is time.”

Business is what brings Midori and her mother--the youngster says she always travels with her mother, sometimes with her mother and her manager--to Los Angeles this week. Tonight she plays at the Bowl. Tuesday night, and perhaps more important careerwise, she made an appearance on “The Tonight Show”--such television appearances have been said to propel classical musicians into higher tax brackets.

In a brief visit to her temporary headquarters in a posh Sunset Strip hotel late Monday, Midori displayed the same imperturbability and poise noted at her local debut 16 months ago, when she appeared with the Pasadena Symphony and gave a startlingly mellow--for one then 14 years old--performance of the Dvorak Concerto.

After confirming that the standard violin concertos are all part of her working repertory, Midori spoke unpretentiously about works she expects soon to add to her list: concertos by Walton, Berg, Elgar and Schumann; sonatas by Faure.

Still growing up, Midori says she has not yet graduated to a full-size violin. At the time of her much-publicized Tanglewood debut last summer, when strings on her violin broke twice during a performance at the western Massachusetts festival, she was playing an instrument of seven-eighths size; she has now moved up to one eight-ninths of full size. “If I grow,” she says, “I may some day play the full-size violin.”

On the practical level of her busy life, Midori revealed that after tonight, she returns to New York City and an algebra test she had to postpone from last May. Also, that, during the next month, she will fulfill professional engagements at the Blossom Festival outside Cleveland; at the Aspen Festival in Colorado; with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra at Ravinia, outside Chicago, and at the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York. Then it’s back to school.

“Because I have to have time to study and practice, we have decided to try to keep my engagements down to under 50 a year,” the 5-foot, 85-pound musician said earnestly. “My manager is very helpful.”

With her heavy schedule--she also has been studying karate in her spare moments, “to give me strength”--does she find time to attend other people’s concerts?

“Oh, yes, I attend a lot of concerts. Of course, in New York, there are many visiting artists. But, when I am on tour, I can also hear concerts in whatever city I’m in.” Are there violinists she particularly admires? Midori takes a moment before answering.

“I love Mr. (Pinchas) Zukerman’s sound, Mr. (Isaac) Stern’s interpretations and rhythm, Mr. (Arthur) Grumiaux’s Mozart, Mr. (Itzhak) Perlman’s . . . well, his playing is so interesting, especially when he plays all those short pieces!”

What about female violinists?

“Well, there’s Nadia Salerno-Sonnenberg. . . . I like her playing very much. I don’t know many other female violinists.”

Now just entering the 10th grade at the Professional Children’s High School--”I have a lot of friends because I go to two schools,” Midori states, matter-of-factly--the violinist says she wants to go on to college, and, “maybe, study archeology or anthropology. I’m also interested in drama. I love to read plays--Chekhov, Ibsen and Shaw and, of course, Shakespeare. Yes, I have time to read. My favorite books right now are ‘The Scarlet Letter’ and ‘The Crucible.’ I like that period of history.”

Are there cities she has visited to which she would like to return, as a tourist?

“But I don’t have to. I’m already a tourist, wherever I go. We always find the time to see things.