Our April 2025 issue cover artist discusses her bow and instruments
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This is an excerpt from The Strad April 2025 feature, ’Violinist Arabella Steinbacher: angels and demons’. Read the full article here
On her new recording, Steinbacher plays the Lentz Concerto on the 1718 ‘Benno Walter’ Stradivari, and the Beethoven on the 1744 ‘Sainton’ Guarneri ‘del Gesù’, both instruments on loan from a private Swiss foundation. She uses a bow by the German maker Johann Christian Süss (1829–1900).
‘I thought that it would be interesting to include both instruments on this album,’ she explains. ‘They’re so different from each other, just like the concertos. The Strad fits almost everything really well, because its sound is shiny and delicate but at the same time deep and round. The “del Gesù” is a very special instrument. It has an amazing warmth of sound that fits so well with the Beethoven. It’s like an artwork and in such incredible shape.’
The sound of the ‘del Gesù’, however, had to be coaxed out with some determination at first, because the instrument had been recently restored and not played for some time. ‘It felt like it was angry with me,’ Steinbacher says. ‘It sounded so nasal and in general like a person after an operation: irritated, and not sure what was happening. I had to figure out how to find its warmth again.’
When she succeeded, it sounded better than ever. Now she is almost in awe of it. ‘It is fascinating to play, because it has such a strong character,’ she says. ‘I have huge respect for it. It feels like a goddess. You cannot just have a coffee with it, you know? I don’t even want to play on it every day for hours! It’s not like a good friend.’ I ask, then, is the Strad a good friend to her? ‘It’s a bit closer to me,’ she laughs. ‘But let’s say it’s like a queen. The Guarneri is more untouchable.’
Read: ‘A huge versatility of sound’: Arabella Steinbacher on the 1744 ‘Sainton’ Guarneri ‘del Gesu’ violin
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