All Features articles
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Premium ❘ FeatureThe legacy of a legend: Jacqueline du Pré tribute
The impact of British cellist Jacqueline du Pré’s towering talent continues to endure, despite her cruelly short career. To mark 80 years since her birth on 26 January 1945, several prominent string soloists speak about the influence her playing has had on their own music making
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Premium ❘ FeatureA unique poster: ‘Paderewski, Wendling’ violin – part two
Expert and conservator Balthazar Soulier has curated this month’s poster which, for the first time, features an ‘original composite’ violin: the ‘Paderewski, Wendling’, made by Montagnana and Guarneri ‘del Gesù’. Here he places this unique instrument in context and highlights complementary information to enable a better understanding of the poster ...
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Premium ❘ FeatureHeifetz as teacher: Words from the master
Ayke Agus served as Heifetz’s personal accompanist during classes and performances for the last 15 years of his life. Here, she shares recollections of his practice routine and teaching methods with Enrico Alvares
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Premium ❘ FeatureFive generations of the Weidhaas–Finkel bow making dynasty
Gennady Filimonov continues his survey of the great 20th-century German bow makers with a look at the Weidhaas–Finkel dynasty, which now boasts five generations in the profession
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Premium ❘ FeatureCelebrating South African music: the Signum Quartet
Carlos María Solare meets the members of the Signum Quartet towards the end of their two-year-long project to commission and perform brand new works that mark 30 years since the fall of apartheid in South Africa
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Premium ❘ FeatureSession Report: Nemanja Radulović on the sunny side of Bach
Violinist Nemanja Radulović speaks to Tom Stewart about his no-preconceptions approach to arranging and recording some of Bach’s concertos and shorter pieces, and finding just the right balance of novelty and reverence
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Premium ❘ FeatureMerchants of Venice: Venetian lutherie
In the 16th century, the Republic of Venice was a hotbed of innovation for stringed instrument makers – and the members of the Linarol family were at the heart of the trade. Stefano Pio explores the archives to reveal their fascinating and often colourful lives and careers
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Premium ❘ FeatureViolinist Ning Feng: Truth and substance
There is seemingly nothing the Chinese-born, Berlin‑based violinist Ning Feng can’t do, from dazzling Paganini interpretations to Bach to 20th‑century concertos. He talks to Michael White about his influences, his future plans and his desire to pass on his musical wisdom to the next generation
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Premium ❘ FeatureThe cosmopolitan virtuoso: Ivan Mane Jarnović
Tanja Goldberg examines the life and legacy of the violin virtuoso and composer Ivan Mane Jarnović, who died 220 years ago, and whose influence on the development of the violin concerto and violin playing in the 18th century has long lain unrecognised
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Premium ❘ FeatureAn unforgotten talent: 100 years of violinist Leonid Kogan
The matchless Soviet violinist Leonid Kogan was born 100 years ago on 14 November 1924. To mark the centenary, Tully Potter examines the life of ‘the greatest violinist’ he’s ever heard in concert
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn the zone: a one-person double bass repair method
For luthiers working alone, double bass repair can be a difficult task to take on. US bass maker Nick Lloyd presents his ‘Zone method’ for re-gluing a bass top using just one pair of hands
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Premium ❘ FeatureLike father, like daughter: the Giorgis family of violin makers
New research in the Turin archives has uncovered fascinating insights into the life of the violin maker Nicola Giorgis. Claudio Amighetti reveals why Giorgis’s daughter Francesca Maria took over his workshop upon his death in 1745
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Premium ❘ FeatureRachel Barton Pine: ‘What we’re doing today is the history of tomorrow’
As she turns 50, the American violinist Rachel Barton Pine speaks to Ariane Todes about her unwavering enthusiasm for discovering, and communicating, the artistic integrity in everything she does
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Premium ❘ FeatureMusical service: String groups in the US military
Rita Fernandes hears from musicians in the United States Air Force, Army and Marine Corps and travels to Washington DC to discover the little-known world of string playing in the US military
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Premium ❘ FeatureSession Report: violinist Fenella Humphreys and composer Adrian Sutton on a new violin concerto
Being diagnosed with an incurable cancer spurred on War Horse composer Adrian Sutton to write a new violin concerto for Fenella Humphreys. Michael White hears from both composer and soloist about recording the work
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Premium ❘ FeatureThe DIY approach: Self-taught string playing
Can you teach yourself the violin? Violinist, teacher and author Celia Cobb believed it to be impossible – until a new book made her re-evaluate some of her assumptions
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Premium ❘ FeatureThe Strad Calendar 2025: Canada’s crème de la crème
The Strad Calendar 2025 celebrates the work of the Canada Council for the Arts, which has been matching players with fine instruments for 40 years. Christian Lloyd takes a look at the collection’s highlights
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Premium ❘ FeatureSession Report: Cellist Matthew Barley on recording Light Stories
Cellist Matthew Barley’s album Light Stories was inspired by a life-changing incident he experienced as a teenager. He tells Charlotte Gardner how he put together its deeply personal narrative and recorded it in his home studio
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Premium ❘ Feature50 years of the Takács Quartet
As the Takács Quartet celebrates its 50th birthday, its members talk to Pauline Harding about the ensemble’s legacy, the intangible ‘fifth spirit’ that has shaped its character even as its players have changed over the decades, and the importance of teaching and other projects and challenges
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Premium ❘ FeatureFrom the land of a hundred violins: Amedeo Simonazzi
The luthier Amedeo Simonazzi was born into a region with a strong native musical tradition – which is almost forgotten today. Stefano Pio reveals how his surroundings influenced his career
