Eli5. What makes a „world-class“ classical musician, or rather what really differentiates the most famous e.g. violinists/pianists, from say a local/regional similarly trained musician, and Would you be able to tell the difference in a random test?

Question

Eli5. What makes a „world-class“ classical musician, or rather what really differentiates the most famous e.g. violinists/pianists, from say a local/regional similarly trained musician, and Would you be able to tell the difference in a random test?

In: 2

Answer 1

They are often not similarly trained and that’s the difference. Someone who learned piano as a kid and now teaches lessons is not the same as Lang Lang.

However, there are some very highly skilled players who simply chose to not go the concert route. Assuming they keep the same amount of rigorous practice/training as a pro does (they likely wouldn’t) then yes they could be comparable.