All Features articles
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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
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Premium ❘ FeaturePaganini Quartet: When the stars aligned
The Paganini Quartet was formed 80 years ago in Los Angeles, named after the four Stradivari instruments in its members’ charge. Tully Potter looks at the group’s dazzling but relatively short career
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Premium ❘ FeatureBending the rules: arching constructions
How can luthiers create an instrument’s arching from scratch? Sebastian Gonzalez presents a possible solution to an age-old dilemma, using simple formulas and the latest technology
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Premium ❘ FeatureSession Report: Violinist Ning Feng on recording the Goldmark and Brahms violin concertos
Violinist Ning Feng speaks to Harry White about recording two contrasting 19th-century concertos – Goldmark’s First and Brahms’s mighty warhorse – and how he strives to serve the voice of the composer above all
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Premium ❘ FeatureIberian lutherie guilds: Tradition and Innovation
Instrument making in the Iberian peninsula was once tightly controlled by a network of guilds. Pablo Soriano examines regulations and personal documents to reveal the details of luthiers’ working lives
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Premium ❘ FeatureStella Chen: a bright future
The American violinist chats with Rebecca Franks about her philosophy of playing and teaching, studying at Harvard, her experience of winning the Queen Elisabeth Competition and her new album, which marks a fresh chapter in her career
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Premium ❘ FeatureStanding on great shoulders: the Lakatos dynasty
The Lakatos family has long been synonymous with Gypsy violin playing. Erika Nyerges looks at the key figures of this generations-old musical dynasty, meeting Sándor Déki Lakatos along the way and discovering what it takes to become a Roma musician
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Premium ❘ FeatureA master of his craft: Simone Fernando Sacconi
Born 130 years ago, Simone Fernando Sacconi was a brilliant violin maker and restorer, a respected teacher and, latterly, a celebrated author. Friends, colleagues and former students share their memories with Peter Somerford
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Premium ❘ FeatureAmaryllis Fleming: A life less ordinary
To mark a hundred years since the birth of Amaryllis Fleming in December 1925, Oskar Falta takes a look at the British cellist’s colourful life and influential career, and hears from one of her pupils – Raphael Wallfisch
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Premium ❘ FeatureThe mindful hands: creative health for musicians
Pedro de Alcantara considers a playful yet philosophical approach to boosting health for the curious musician, and suggests some novel arm, wrist, hand and finger exercises for string players
