Lutherie – Page 38
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VideoHenning Kraggerrud plays a Guarneri ‘Del Gesù’
In this music video the Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerrud plays the Guarneri Del Gesù violin from 1744 (the last year of the luthier’s life) – the violin featured in The Strad calendar 2021. Read: Pride of Norway: The Strad calendar 2021
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Premium ❘ FeatureCarlo Bisiach: Dispatches from the front line
Gennady Filimonov examines the letters between Carlo Bisiach (1892–1968) and his American representative Leo D. Larsson, which provide a fascinating perspective on the violin trade in the 1930s and 40s, as well as an insight into the Italian luthier’s working methods
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Premium ❘ FeatureHollywood Bow Makers: Unsung heroes of the silver screen
Lasting from the late 1920s to 1960, Hollywood’s golden age was a boom time for musicians, and those who catered for them. Raphael Gold tells the stories of some of the era’s best-regarded LA bow makers, and reveals why their work should be better known today
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FocusWhat is it like to play Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s own violin?
Christoph Koncz, principal second violinist of the Vienna Philharmonic, shares his experience
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FocusHow has COVID-19 affected the Italian lutherie business?
Violin makers worldwide were hit hard by the Covid-19 outbreak as the customers dried up – nowhere more so than in Italy. Peter Somerford speaks to some of the country’s makers to find out how the industry is gradually getting back on its feet
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FocusThe Strad Calendar 2021: Francesco and Giovanni Grancino viola c.1665
The varnish of the Grancino is most beautiful and wonderfully well preserved
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VideoThe Strad Calendar 2021: Francesco Rugeri cello c.1680
This poplar-backed cello is clearly very similar in form and modelling to Amati patterns
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VideoCremonese makers launch video showcase
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its effect on Italian lutherie, a group of violin makers in Cremona have put together a video showcasing their working methods. The aim is to demonstrate the vibrancy and industriousness of today’s luthiers, as Antonio Stradivari wanders the streets of modern-day Cremona, viewing ...
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Video3 ways we can damage our instruments without even knowing it
As part of her ‘Students Stuck at Home’ series of videos, American luthier Anna Huthmaker reveals three ways in which we can damage our instruments without even knowing about it. For more in the series, click here. Watch: The oddities of a luthier’s workshop
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VideoThe Strad Calendar 2021: ‘Arditi’ Antonio Stradivari violin
This year’s calendar contains twelve masterpieces by Stradivari, Guarneri ‘del Gesù’, Rogeri, Vuillaume and many more
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VideoVideo: Violin Makers – The Renaissance of Italian Lutherie
A 60-minute documentary featuring interviews with some of the greatest 20th-century Italian luthiers
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Organic scroll carving
A method for shaping the scroll and pegbox that can give more flowing results, in line with what is seen on old instruments
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Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: Why varnish matters
Ulrike Dederer reviews and summarises new research on how multilayered varnishes influence the moisture protection and vibrational properties of tonewood
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Premium ❘ FeatureFrom the Archive: October 1950
Kenneth Warren makes a pilgrimage to Oxford to view Stradivari’s famed ‘Messiah’ violin – an undoubted highlight of the respected US violin dealer’s career
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Premium ❘ FeatureEmpty Chairs at Empty Tables: Lutherie and Covid-19
Violin makers worldwide were hit hard by the Covid-19 outbreak as the customers dried up – nowhere more so than in Italy. Peter Somerford speaks to makers in Cremona, Florence and Modena to find out how the industry is gradually getting back on its feet
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Premium ❘ FeatureNot Quite Cinderella: The Viola in Late-Georgian Britain
Britain during the late Georgian era was fertile ground for the viola as a serious chamber and solo instrument – and witnessed a flourishing in standards of playing and making, writes Kevin MacDonald
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Premium ❘ FeatureThe Lost Art of Cremonese Violin Archings
The old Cremonese luthiers’ method of designing violin archings has been lost in the mists of time. Andrew Dipper uses evidence from 18th-century manuals to propose how they might have done it, through a system encompassing string lengths, internal forms… and a lot of mathematics
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VideoThe Strad Calendar 2021: G.B. Guadagnini cello 1783
Formerly owned by Rostropovich, the fully arched model provides great depth of tone
