Violinist Joshua Bell speaks to Pauling Harding about his work as music director with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, playing Paganini and memories of Neville Marriner

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JOSHUA BELL The US violinist talks to Pauline Harding about his work with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, where he has been music director since 2011

THE IMPROVISED CONCERTO Can an innovative composition help string players find the confidence to make their own kind of music? Andrew Mellor speaks to the originators to find out

RICHARD OTTO GLÄSEL A master copyist, the German bow maker learnt his trade in France just before the First World War. Gennady Filimonov examines some of his finest works

SESSION REPORT Emma Denton and Eoin Schmidt-Martin of the London-based Carducci Quartet tell Tom Stewart about their latest recording of Shostakovich

BORIS PERGAMENSCHIKOW Oskar Falta examines the life and career of the Russian cellist and pedagogue who died 20 years ago this month, with reminiscences from former students

CELLO BRIDGE DESIGN Could a radical new model of bridge bring improvements to the instrument’s sound? Sebastian Gonzalez reveals the results of an acoustic investigation

 

In our regular sections:

IN FOCUS A 1759 violin by Joseph Marquès

TRADE SECRETS Making a fleur-de-lys decoration on the back of a Baroque instrument

MY SPACE Helsinki luthier Elina Kaljunen

MAKING MATTERS Bow maker Jacques Poullot explains the steps that go into identifying a bow

MASTERCLASS Gary Hoffman gives hints on playing the second movement of Beethoven’s Cello Sonata no.5 in D major op.102

TECHNIQUE Cellist and singer Matthew Sharp on the connections between cello and voice

LIFE LESSONS The memories and opinions of American violinist Tai Murray

OPINION Is there a lack of educational focus when it comes to practising pizzicato?

POSTCARD FROM BEIJING The 2023 Global Music Education League violin competition

FROM THE ARCHIVE From April 1904

SENTIMENTAL WORK Violinist Elena Urioste on her love for Mel Bonis’s Violin Sonata

 

Plus, in your digital edition:

  • View more photos from the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande’s groundbreaking holographic symphony concert on 25 January
  • Read the life story of German bow maker Richard Otto Gläsel, along with extra photos of bows from the various periods of his life
  • More images from the Global Music Education League competition in Beijing, including all the prizewinners and jury members
  • Examine the score of possibly the world’s first ‘improvised concerto’, Signe Lykke’s Crux
  • Read about the Carducci Quartet’s latest Shostakovich recording, while listening to audio clips from the Ninth and Fifteenth Quartets
  • My Space: more pictures from the well-appointed workshop of Helsinki luthier Elina Kaljunen
  • And audio clips from our monthly ‘The Strad Recommends’ recordings

The digital magazine and print edition are on sale now, or subscribe to access the entire magazine online here

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