Featured Stories – Page 123
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FocusTan Dun and Eldbjørg Hemsing on their latest collaboration
Chinese composer Tan Dun’s new concerto for Norwegian violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing draws on traditions common to the homelands of both artists. Andrew Mellor speaks to them about this latest in a series of collaborations
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Video‘With Nicky’ 9: Recap – vibrato in Massenet’s Méditation
A recap from Nicola Benedetti’s vibrato video, using the first two bars of Massenet’s Meditation as a vibrato exercise. ‘It’s important to remember that with all exercises, in the end, use your ears – they will tell you exactly how you want to sound and send messages to your hands ...
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VideoSearching for the True Beethoven
In this video from Bärenreiter publishing house the music editor Jonathan Del Mar gives us an insight into the painstaking process of scrutinising Beethoven’s original scores, and the secrets that lie within. With contributions from pianist Igor Levit, Sir Simon Rattle, the Pierrot Quartett and the Berlin Philharmonic.
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Blogs7 tips on starting a quartet – and keeping it going long-term
The Minguet Quartet began playing together as students in 1988, and the original line-up are still going strong 30 years later. Here’s how they do it.
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FocusSentimental work: Antje Weithaas on Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto
The Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto presents a mixture of Eastern and Western influences to the German violinist – and only revealed its true secrets after a whole decade of resting
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VideoDuet on horn violin
In this video South Korean Violinist Yueun Kim, founding member of the Zaffre String Quartet and student of Midori Goto, tries out her pal’s horn-violin, with pleasing results.
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FocusHow to practise at home without annoying your neighbours
Practice is part of life for all musicians, and string players are no exception. But what do you do if those around you think your music is just a nuisance? Vicky Hancock finds out
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VideoSheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason talk about the Edinburgh Festival
The brother and sister musicians talk about growing up with classical music, the sense of escape that music offers them, and the inspiring atmosphere of events like the International Festival, at which they perform on 7 August 2019.
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Blogs14 tips for efficient double bass practice
As the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire prepares to host a free double bass day, its three masterclass tutors Thomas Martin, Anthony Alcock and Julian Atkinson offer their best practice advice
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FocusTechnique: Velocity studies with Hans Jørgen Jensen
Some musicians love playing fast. Others struggle with it, both psychologically and physically: they can’t control their tempo, they play too loudly, their fingers collapse and lose their natural curvature, they have unnecessary tension in different parts of the body, they make facial grimaces, or they lift their fingers too ...
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ArticlePaul Tortelier gives Dvorák Cello Concerto masterclass
‘I give you a little trick because I like you! My second finger is the leader – like Mrs Thatcher, it’s an Iron Finger’ French cellist Paul Tortelier gives a masterclass at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester for the BBC in 1987. Performing the concerto is 20-year-old ...
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FocusStringtelligence by Thomastik-Infeld: dealing with corrosion and perspiration
In the first of a new blog series for The Strad celebrating Thomastik-Infeld’s 100th anniversary, the Austrian string manufacturer’s director of engineering and technology, Franz Klanner, gives his recommendations for players who find their strings corroding too quickly
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VideoSheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason perform The Swan
In this video Sheku Kanneh-Mason and his sister Isata perform Saint-Saëns’s The Swan on the Norwegian-Swedish television talk show Skavlan.
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VideoPatricia Kopatchinskaja on playing Pierrot Lunaire
Here Patricia Kopatchinskaja talks about playing Pierrot Lunaire, a project the violinist first conceived while she was unable to practise due to an arm injury. ‘All my life I’ve felt that I was Pierrot. Whenever I played the piece on my violin as a student which I I spoke the ...
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FocusEdgar Meyer on the Prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite no.2
For the American double bassist and composer, what began as a pathway to technical expertise became a lifetime’s voyage of musical exploration. From the November 2015 issue
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Blogs7 tips for successful practice by violinist Rachel Podger
The Baroque musician reveals the most important elements of her practice routine
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FocusSentimental Work: Anne Akiko Meyers on traditional Japanese songs
A brace of traditional songs from Japan bring back fond memories and inspire a wealth of interpretations for the American violinist
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BlogsThe 5 steps to natural stage presence
Cellist and workshop leader Ruth Phillips explains how yoga and meditation liberated her from the prison of stage fright
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VideoHilary Hahn plays Bach in 1997
In this video from 1997 (first 21 minutes), the 17-year-old violinist performs Bach and gives an interview in which, amongst other things, she admits to knowing about 27 concertos off by heart.
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BlogsTechnique can be developed, but musicianship is inbuilt, says violist Rivka Golani
In this article from 2016, Toby Deller paid tribute to the pioneering musician and teacher as she celebrated her 70th birthday
