All Featured Stories articles – Page 137

  • orchestral string sections
    Debate

    Must all orchestral string sections sound the same?

    2017-04-14T00:00:00Z

    Orchestras once boasted unmistakable musical identities, but an emotionally sanitised age has brought about a lamentable universality of sound, says Julian Haylock

  • ray chen breaks string
    Article

    Violinist Ray Chen breaks his string mid-performance

    2017-04-13T00:00:00Z

    In the video above Ray Chen demonstrates exactly how to react when breaking a string mid-performance. The violinist is performing with the Taiwan Philharmonic on a recent tour of Brussels when his string breaks. Coolly he turns to the orchestral leader and swaps instruments before continuing to ...

  • leia zhu
    Article

    10-year-old Leia Zhu performs Paganini's First Violin Concerto

    2017-04-12T00:00:00Z

    10-year-old British violinist Leia Zhu performs Paganini's First Violin Concerto at the Leonidas Kavakos masterclass in Athens, Greece in April 2017. Her piano accompanist is Ai Motohashi.Zhu is currently studying with Professor Itzhak Rashkovsky and is a regular participant in Zakhar Bron’s violin masterclasses in Switzerland.Watch: 8-year-old Leia ...

  • violinist patricia kopatchinskaja
    Article

    Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja performs at London's Wigmore Hall, 2017

    2017-04-11T00:00:00Z

    Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja gives a humorous and characterful performance of Giya Kancheli's Rag-Gidon-Time at London's Wigmore Hall on 27 March 2017 with pianist Polina Leschenko. The concert was captured by medici.tv - the full performance of Webern, Schumann, Bartók and Ravel can be viewed here. Watch: Patricia ...

  • bashmet
    Article

    Violist Yuri Bashmet shares his dream about Vladimir Putin

    2017-04-07T00:00:00Z

    I dreamed that my president Vladimir Putin was wearing a suit and white sports shoes - and he was very angry with me...' In a lighthearted interlude during his masterclass on Shostakovich's Sonata for Viola and Piano at the Verbier Festival Academy, Yuri Bashmet shares a dream ...

  • Bartok Jerusalem Quartet
    Review

    Bartók: String Quartets nos.2, 4 and 6

    2017-04-06T00:00:00Z

    Beauty and muscular intensity abound, just as they should in Bartók

  • hampton
    Focus

    How to avoid tension in the bow arm, by cellist Bonnie Hampton

    2017-04-06T00:00:00Z

    A good strong sound comes from a flexible bow hold and relaxed bowing arm, says the former Juilliard School professor

  • Vengerov
    Article

    'You don't need to move your whole body to make a big sound' - violinist Maxim Vengerov

    2017-04-06T00:00:00Z

    Play with your hands - and with more bow - but don't move your whole body'Maxim Vengerov gives a masterclass on Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto at London's Royal Academy of Music, and suggests that less is more when it comes to moving your body while playing. The violin student ...

  • gabetta
    Article

    Sol Gabetta performs Elgar's Cello Concerto

    2017-04-05T00:00:00Z

    Sol Gabetta performs Elgar's Cello Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Simon Rattle at the Easter Festival, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden in 2014. Read: ‘Teachers should adapt their methods to students’ individual techniques,’ says cellist Sol Gabetta Watch: Cellist Sol Gabetta performs – and sings – at the ...

  • jansen
    Article

    Violinist Janine Jansen performs Brahms aged 13

    2017-04-04T00:00:00Z

    A 13-year-old Janine Jansen demonstrates perfect control and a sweet, singing tone in Brahms's Third Violin Sonata at Indiana University's String Academy in 1991. Watch: Janine Jansen rehearses Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with Orchestre de Paris in 2015 Read: Janine Jansen receives 1707 Stradivarius violin on ten-year loan

  • perlman
    Article

    Violinist Itzhak Perlman performs Brahms's Violin Concerto in 1978

    2017-04-03T00:00:00Z

    In this live recording from 1978, violinist Itzhak Perlman performs Brahms's Violin Concerto with London's Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Lawrence Foster. Filmed by Christopher Nupen, the video was recently released on YouTube by Allegro Films. Read: ‘Never practise for more than five hours per day,’ says violinist ...

  • pine
    Blogs

    A novel way to practise double-stops - Rachel Barton Pine

    2017-03-23T00:00:00Z

    The US violinist advocates emphasising either the top or bottom lines when practising double stopped scales to anticipate more accurately what occurs in the repertoire

  • mcdonald
    Focus

    'Players should use the bow not only to sing, but to speak' - double bassist Matthew McDonald

    2017-03-22T00:00:00Z

    Berlin Philharmonic first principal bassist Matthew McDonald discusses his search to find his voice as a player

  • primrose
    Article

    William Primrose performs his viola transcription of Paganini Caprice no.5 [Audio]

    2017-03-17T00:00:00Z

    In this audio clip, recently uploaded to YouTube, British violist William Primrose performs his own transcription of Paganini's Fifth Caprice. The live recording was made in London on 5 May 1934. Read: Violist Cynthia Phelps on studying with William Primrose and Donald McInnes Watch: William Primrose performs ...

  • improvisation
    Blogs

    Whatever happened to improvisation in classical music?

    2017-03-14T00:00:00Z

    'Duelling' violin brothers Vladimir & Anton grew up surrounded by Romani music and use a variety of Romani techniques in their performances - including writing their own variations and cadenzas. Here they discuss the lost art of classical improvisation

  • AUSTRIA / Janoska-Brüder © Julia Wesely
    Article

    The Janoska Ensemble performs Rumba for Amadeus - plus tips for playing with 'Janoska Style'

    2017-03-13T00:00:00Z

    In the video above the Janoska Ensemble perform their own improvisation based upon Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 20 - 'Rumba for Amadeus'.The group of three brothers - Ondrej, Frantisek and Roman Janoska - together with their brother-in-law Julius Darvas provide tips below for performing violinist Roman's most popular ...

  • bell
    Article

    Joshua Bell performs Saint-Saëns' Violin Concerto no. 3

    2017-03-09T00:00:00Z

    Violinist Joshua Bell performs Saint-Saëns' Violin Concerto no. 3 with the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra conducted by Joshua Weilerstein. The performance was recorded at the Verbier Festival in the Salle des Combins, Switzerland on 6 August 2016. The entire performance is available to watch via medici.tv. Read: ...

  • second
    Focus

    Ask the Experts: playing violin in the second position

    2017-03-09T00:00:00Z

    Strad readers submit their problems and queries about string playing, teaching or making to a panel of experts

  • pine
    Article

    Violinist Rachel Barton Pine performs Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train

    2017-03-08T00:00:00Z

    Violinist Rachel Barton Pine performs her own solo arrangement of Ozzy Osbourne's 'Crazy Train', the first single from the Black Sabbath frontman's debut solo album, released in 1980. Read: 10 pieces of advice for performers by violinist Rachel Barton Pine Watch: violinist Rachel Barton Pine performs her ...

  • weilerstein
    Article

    Alisa Weilerstein rehearses Dvorák's Cello Concerto

    2017-03-07T00:00:00Z

    Cellist Alisa Weilerstein rehearses the first movement of Dvorák's Cello Concerto with Orchestre de Paris conducted by Emmanuel Krivine for a performance which took place on 13 May 2015 at the Paris Philharmonie. Watch: Cellist Alisa Weilerstein on memorising music Watch: Alisa Weilerstein performs Kodály’s Solo Cello ...