Lutherie – Page 88
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ArticleBerlin declares viola 'Instrument of the Year 2014'
An annual citywide festival in Berlin that spotlights underrepresented musical instruments will turn its attention on the viola next year with a series of concerts, workshops and events at locations across the German capital. The year-long event, simply called ‘Instrument of the Year’, launched in 2011 with ...
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ArticleMusicians forced to take instruments without cases on board flight
Three members of the French string quartet Quatuor Voce were requested to remove their stringed instruments from their cases before taking them on board a flight, the ensemble reported on Twitter. The musicians were at Paris's Orly Airport booked on a flight with the Spanish airline Vueling ...
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ArticleCremonese luthiers shape their craft
This photograph by Italian artist Ettore Favini is one of a series called Ipotesi di Finito #4 – Dare forma alla cultura – a collaborative project involving people who work in libraries, museums, theatres, palaces and other cultural locations in Cremona. For each photo site, the artist asks ...
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FocusA luthier's tribute to Nelson Mandela
Inspired by South Africa's Nobel Peace Prize winners, luthier Brian Lisus made a quartet of instruments that could spread a message of reconciliation and help some of the world's poorest children to make music. Peter Somerford traces its evolution
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ArticleThe Strad December 2013 issue is on sale now
The December issue of The Strad is now on sale. In this edition the German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter discusses her many-stranded approach to bringing classical music to the new generation, plus there is a chance to win one of ten copies of Mutter’s new Dvorák Violin Concerto ...
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ArticleTop lots from Skinner Auctioneers' November auction
Skinner Auctioneers has released the results of its November auction in Boston, US. Among the top lots for stringed instruments was a Nicolaus Gagliano violin (pictured) from Naples made in 1720, which fetched $168,000 on an estimate of $120,000–$140,000, and a modern violin from the School of ...
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ArticleSwiss violin maker identifies rare Bergonzi violin
A violin maker and dealer based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, has identified the only known full-size violin by Zosimo Bergonzi (1724–79). Zosimo was the son of the great Cremonese luthier Carlo Bergonzi, and the brother of Michel Angelo Bergonzi. Up until now the only evidence of Zosimo's ...
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FocusNever judge a book by its cover
This story about the instrument repairer and the farmer's violin from The Strad, November 1959, contains all the hallmarks of the Hans Christian Andersen tale The Ugly Duckling. Its message remains as pertinent today as ever
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BlogsJanine Jansen on the struggle and pain of Britten's Violin Concerto
Benjamin Britten, born 100 years ago today, produced only a small number of string works, but musicians rate them among the greatest – and most testing – of the 20th century. Violinist Janine Jansen describes the enduring lure of his Violin Concerto
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ArticleStrad Fest LA to showcase eight Stradivari violins
Eight of Stradivari’s best known violins are to go on display in Los Angeles as part of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s Strad Fest LA event, which will run from 26–29 March 2014. The eight instruments are the ‘Serdet’ Strad of 1666, the 1708 ‘Ruby’ (pictured), the ...
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FocusFrom the archive: The day the 'Huberman' Strad reappeared
In this article from The Strad 1987, Charles Beare recalls the media storm that followed the discovery of the stolen Stradivari violin
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ArticleEU to simplify customs procedures for musicians carrying instruments
The European Union is about to simplify its rules for musicians temporarily importing instruments for professional use. Under a new amendment to the Customs Code, to be applied from next Thursday 21 November, musicians visiting the EU with a portable musical instrument as professional equipment will be able to use ...
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FocusFrom the archive: The tale of the King of Spain Strads
The set of decorated Stradivari instruments housed at the Royal Palace of Madrid made news recently when they received their first public performance, by the Quiroga Quartet from Spain (see link below). The stringed instruments have an eccentric history, shrouded in mystery and conflicting views. Stradivari made them for the Spanish ...
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ArticleAmati first online auction top ten sales
Eleven weeks after launching its online auction division, Amati has announced the results of its first sale. Among the highlights was the sale of a cello (pictured) by Carlo Giuseppe Testore, c.1820, which sold for £124,000, just above its estimate. A silver-mounted cello bow by Nicolas Simon, presented to Amati ...
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ArticleTop lots from London and New York October sales
Bonhams, Brompton’s, Ingles & Hayday and Tarisio have released the results of their October auctions. At Ingles & Hayday’s London sale a violin owned by the violinist Leila Josefovicz and catalogued as ‘probably by Michele Angelo Bergonzi’ fetched £156,000, and a Storioni viola with an estimate of £100,000–£150,000 ...
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FocusWhat competition success did for my career – by six prize-winners
Seasoned competition goer Heather Kurzbauer considers the place of competitions today, and violin laureates discuss how their wins have helped their careers
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FocusFrom the archive: classic and modern violins compared
A report and subsequent correspondence in The Strad, 1935, show that instrument blind tests offered provocative results even then
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FocusHow to market yourself as a string player
You need flexibility and business acumen as well as talent to stand out from the crowd in today's rapidly changing music world, argues double bassist-turned-agent Corrado Canonici
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FocusThe stolen instruments of the Third Reich
In an article from 2009, Carla Shapreau exposes the systematic theft of stringed instruments under Hitler's rule, and today's efforts to locate them
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ArticleRoyal Palace of Madrid decorated Stradivari quartet receives first public performance
The musicians of the Quiroga Quartet from Spain have been named the first artists in residence of the Royal Palace of Madrid, allowing them access to the unique set of decorated Stradivari instruments on display as part of the Royal Collection exhibition.The residency, instigated by the Patrimonio Nacional, which owns ...
