All Features articles
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Premium ❘ FeatureSession Report: the Tippett Quartet on recording Glazunov’s string quartets
Harry White speaks to members of the Tippett Quartet about recording the complete string quartets of Glazunov – works that trace the composer’s journey from youthful confidence to late retrospection
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Premium ❘ FeatureMany voices, one sound: orchestral blending
How is it possible to create a seamless yet distinctive orchestral string sound? Players from some of the world’s leading orchestras speak to Peter Somerford about the techniques, traditions and listening skills that shape an orchestral identity
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Premium ❘ FeatureChiaroscuro Quartet: gut instinct
The musicians of the Chiaroscuro Quartet talk to Pauline Harding about the challenges of playing on gut strings, and the emotionally and physically demanding experience of recording the complete Beethoven string quartets
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Premium ❘ FeatureYehudi Menuhin 110th anniversary: music with friends
To mark the 110th anniversary of Yehudi Menuhin’s birth on 22 April 1916, Tully Potter presents an overview of the great violinist’s numerous chamber music partnerships and their recordings
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Premium ❘ FeatureRudolf Neudörfer: guardian of a lineage
The German bow maker Rudolf Neudörfer celebrates his 90th birthday next month. Gennady Filimonov looks back at his life and career, exploring the Neudörfer dynasty of makers and examining his bows
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Premium ❘ FeatureSession Report: violinist Midori on recording works by Robert and Clara Schumann
Violinist Midori speaks to Thomas May about her new album, which features Robert Schumann’s Violin Concerto and juxtaposes his late works alongside chamber music by Clara Schumann
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Premium ❘ FeatureBack to life: an 18th-century viola concerto rediscovered
When writer and music director Gerald Elias was looking for a work to include in a recent concert, he and violist Devan Maria Freebairn unearthed a rare viola concerto by 18th-century composer Markus Heinrich Graul. They explain how they prepared for its performance and first ever recording
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Premium ❘ FeatureFrank Peter Zimmermann: ‘Music that possesses you’
Frank Peter Zimmermann is one of the first German musicians to record Elgar’s emotionally charged Violin Concerto, in a new release with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He speaks with Thomas Eisner, a first violinist with the LPO, about bringing the work to life
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Premium ❘ FeatureInveterate innovator: Louis Noebe
Despite success in his own time, and a penchant for experimentation, German maker Louis Noebe is an almost forgotten figure in lutherie history. Clifford Hall examines his life and achievements
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Premium ❘ FeatureUS school repair shops: close to home
In US public school music programmes, broken instruments can harm students’ learning and create stress for teachers. Rita Fernandes discovers the schools that are tackling the problem head on by offering free repairs via in-house repair shops
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn a spirit of collaboration: Brandenburg experiments
Makers at the annual Brandenburg violin making workshop joined forces on a two-year project to build and test two identical violins, one of which was made with treated wood. The results were intriguing. Adam Winskill reports on the methodology and findings
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Premium ❘ FeatureSession Report: the Neave Trio on recording Chaminade, Pejačević, and Clara Schumann
The musicians of the US-based Neave Trio speak to Hattie Butterworth about their latest recording, which champions the varied music of three female composers
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Premium ❘ FeatureHarness your superpower: self-efficacy for adult learners
Cellist and teacher Billy Tobenkin reveals how adult learners of stringed instruments can improve their sense of self‑efficacy, thus helping themselves to achieve their goals
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Premium ❘ FeatureNemanja Radulović: music in the moment
Charismatic Serbian violinist Nemanja Radulović chats to Charlotte Gardner about the importance of artistic freedom and musical friendships, and recording his latest album of music by Prokofiev
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Premium ❘ FeatureNot just the greatest showpiece: Paganini’s Fifth Caprice
Do we have the wrong impression of Paganini’s famously flashy Fifth Caprice? Violinist Benjamin Shute believes so. He discusses why we should think more carefully about performance practice, especially the infamous ricochet bow
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Premium ❘ FeatureSession Report: cellist Steven Isserlis on recording sonatas by Schumann and Moscheles
Cellist Steven Isserlis chats to Peter Quantrill about his new recording of sonatas by Schumann and Moscheles, both written in 1851 during a period that marked a great flourishing of the arts
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Premium ❘ FeatureFrom sword to bow: Marczi Zöldy
The young Hungarian soldier who became known as virtuoso violinist Marczi Zöldy at the turn of the 20th century was skilled in many areas, not least as a musician and a fencer. Grzegorz Kaproń tells his eventful, colourful life story
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn the layers of light: the ground coat
What is the ground coat – and more importantly, what is it for? Pierre Flavetta examines the properties and visual effects of this mysterious pre-varnish instrument coating
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Premium ❘ FeatureSeven, they are seven: Nicolò Amati cello 1642
One of only seven known cellos by Nicolò Amati, this 1642 example is in an excellent state of preservation. Alberto Giordano examines its history and provenance, while Barthélemy Garnier discovers what its condition can tell us about the old Cremonese working methods, and Francesco Piasentini discusses CT-scanning the cello
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Premium ❘ FeaturePromise and possibility: the Isidore Quartet
The Isidore Quartet players tell Pauline Harding about their sudden propulsion into professional string quartet playing, a beloved mentor whose loss has inspired their debut album, and their emotionally raw collaboration with the composer Billy Childs
