All Blogs articles – Page 19
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BlogsRunning violinists and dashing cellists
David Kettle goes in pursuit of masked string players at the opera
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BlogsTop violin teaching secret revealed
Editor Ariane Todes learns of a simple idea that offers a powerful teaching tool
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BlogsWhy are Proms string players like policemen?
Performers seem to get younger and younger, according to Ariane Todes
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BlogsHave you been affected by the Icelandic fog?
Ariane Todes asks if string players deal with adversity particularly well
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BlogsIt's always worth haggling
Ariane Todes has just negotiated a discount on her insurance policy
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BlogsAriane Todes turned into a grumpy old woman last night at the Wigmore Hall
What do you do during a concert when the person in front of you starts mailing on their Blackberry?
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BlogsOpinion: Get rid of histrionics in quartet playing
Over-the-top emoting by individual players ruins the whole point of chamber music, says David Kettle
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BlogsOpinion: today's performers should remember that you don't need to be aggressive to make a searing point, argues Richard S. Ginell
Not too long ago, I walked away from a performance by one of our leading female violinists in Los Angeles’s futuristic Walt Disney Concert Hall feeling as if I had just been mugged. She was playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, and her conception had all kinds of ...
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BlogsEditor's blog: will alternative violin styles ever catch on in Europe?
Editor's blog: will alternative violin styles ever catch on in Europe? I’m just back from an exhilarating week in New York at Mark O’Connor’s Fiddle Camp. There was a dizzying array of different styles and techniques on offer – almost too much to choose from, with jazz, ...
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BlogsEditor's blog: Ariane Todes visits the Kronberg Violin Masterclasses
This spring I was lucky enough to spend a few days in Kronberg. The leafy town, half an hour from Frankfurt, is already known for its advanced training courses, with some of the best international string players coaching the younger generations. Up to now these have mainly ...
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BlogsOpinion: painting pretty pictures on instruments simply degrades them, argues Ariane Todes
Clay, stone metal, paper, canvas, glass, timber: just some of the media available on which to imprint your imagination if you’re a visual artist. So why does anybody insist on painting flowers, clouds, pretty patterns or cherubs on violins? The subject came up in The Strad office ...
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BlogsEditor's blog: Fritz Kreisler's telling me not to practise
I'm knee deep in The Strad archive at the moment, looking for articles to include in a forthcoming supplement about violin heroes, and I just came across a wonderful interview with Fritz Kreisler from a 1933 issue. Asked about his practice routine he replies: 'I am of ...
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BlogsThe advantages of modern instruments
Ariane Todes chairs a panel discussion in which luthiers shed light on the process of commissioning
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Blogs
Publisher's blog: Robin Shute takes his comfortable shoes to Frankfurt
Musikmesse in Frankfurt prides itself on being the world’s greatest music trade fair. The annual extravaganza, this year held from April 1–4, demands both mental and physical stamina – and a comfortable pair of shoes – such is its vast scale. My legs are still aching. This year was different. ...
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BlogsEditor's blog: international relations in London
As the leaders of the free world meet each other and take tea with the Queen in London with the aim of improving international relations, world harmony of a different nature is taking place at the Royal College of Music, with the London String Quartet Competition. I ...
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Blogs
Meet Sir Alan Stradivarius
Sir Alan Sugar might come out with strange musical similes but he has the potential to use his huge financial power wisely, says Catherine Payne
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BlogsEditor's blog: the ASTA conference
I'm just back home from a flying visit to Atlanta for the annual convention of the American String Teachers Association. I had a bumper time, fitting in as many of the sessions as I could as well as meeting lots of lovely people at The Strad stand. ...
