All Featured Stories articles
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Premium ❘ FeatureAdult beginner cello: Never too late to learn
When Billy Tobenkin decided to learn the cello from scratch at 25, he ignited a lifelong passion. He shares what turned out to be a bumpy but ultimately deeply fulfilling journey
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Pavel Haas Quartet at 20: Coming home
The energetic and eloquent musicians of the Pavel Haas Quartet are celebrating 20 years of music making with a new recording of Brahms quintets joined by some old friends, as they tell Tom Stewart
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‘I’ve always been led by music’: cellist and gambist Christophe Coin
For Christophe Coin, the French cellist, gambist and musical time-traveller, historically informed performance practice involves a combination of forensic-level investigation and leap-of-faith creativity. In conversation with Helen Wallace, he describes the instruments and scholarship behind his work as an interpreter
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Blogs
From page to performance, with the help of the composer
Cellist Thomas Carroll shares his experience of working with composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad on her new work for solo cello, Excelsus
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That festival feeling: Postcard from Odense
Davina Shum reports on the violin final of the Carl Nielsen International Competition in Denmark, an event that encourages a unique sense of collaboration and support between competitors
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Vadim Gluzman: Life Lessons
The Israeli violinist talks about dealing with self-doubt and developing a strong work ethic
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Opinion: The power of imagination
To enhance a pupil’s learning, it is useful to build a list of words and catchphrases that conjure images relating to different techniques. Jeffrey Howard introduces his own ‘violin vocabulary’
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Sentimental Work: Joshua Bell
Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto no.2 brings back fond memories for the American violinist, from studies at Meadowmount to reminiscences of his mentor Josef Gingold
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‘Where else may there be thriving, yet-to-be-discovered hubs of violin making?’: Letters to the Editor June 2022
A selection of letters The Strad receives each month from its readers around the world: June 2022 issue
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Masterclass: Simon Standage on Bach’s Violin Sonata in E major
Early music expert Simon Standage discusses historically informed performance, interpretation and balancing violin and harpsichord in the first two movements of BWV1016
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Sentimental Work: Renaud Capuçon
Despite being a ‘non-violinistic’ piece, the Brahms Violin Sonata no.1 stands out for the French violinist as the work that helped him discover the wonders of chamber music
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Historically informed performance: Baroque revolution
Historically informed performance requires no secret code, argues Baroque violin professor Walter S. Reiter. The information is out there for the taking, and modern music colleges need to get ahead of the game
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Session Report: A royal consort
Richard Boothby of Fretwork speaks to Robin Stowell about the ensemble’s recording of fantasias for viol consort by Thomas Lupo, the Italian who made a name for himself at Queen Elizabeth I’s court
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Pietro Castrucci: Resurrecting a Baroque maverick
When Gerald Elias unearthed music by the little-known London-based 18th‑century composer and virtuoso violinist Pietro Castrucci, he discovered a unique and independent musical voice
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Blogs
Defending the duet: the Cello and the Nightingale
Patricia Cleveland-Peck offers her rebuttal of recent claims that Beatrice Harrison’s historic 1924 duet with a nightingale was faked
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Blogs
‘When I am in tune, my body knows it’: playing with multisensory aphantasia
How do you tell a story with music when your mind cannot picture images? Violist and clinical telehealth therapist Neesa Sunar explains her tactile approach to music making
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Blogs
5 insights on historically informed performance from The Strad archives
Whether you are an historically informed professional or just looking to expand your knowledge, we’ve pulled some interesting articles out of our archive just for you.
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Opinion: A New Deal for Early Music
Covid-19 has highlighted the economic inequalities that divide musicians who perform on period instruments from the majority of today’s string players, says Andrew Mellor
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Feature
Sentimental Work: Amanda Forsyth
For the Canadian cellist, Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote is a rollercoaster ride through all the composer’s Romantic works, as well as a huge physical challenge
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Astrid Schween: Life Lessons
The Juilliard Quartet cellist recalls her many tutors and stresses the importance of staying curious
