All Features articles – Page 25
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Premium ❘ FeaturePassing the Torch
Expert encouragement in their early years helped turn the Belcea Quartet into one of today’s most formidable chamber ensembles. Twenty-five years after they started out, they talk to Tom Stewart about passing on their experience to the next generation – as well as continuing to gain knowledge themselves
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Premium ❘ FeatureHistory is now
Growing numbers of young musicians are incorporating elements of historically informed performance into their playing. Charlotte Gardner investigates the reasons behind this phenomenon, explores the options for aspiring period artists and receives advice from both fledgling and long-standing practitioners
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Premium ❘ FeatureLife out of balance
While many luthiers are happy making stringed instruments to the standard form, others are keen to explore the possibilities of alternative patterns. Peter Somerford discovers how asymmetric designs can affect tone quality, projection, acoustics and player comfort
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Premium ❘ FeatureSession Report: Christian Tetzlaff on Beethoven’s Violin Concerto
At the end of last year violinist Christian Tetzlaff made his second official recording of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in two live performances, resulting in an interpretation much more in keeping with his own personal understanding of the work
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Premium ❘ FeatureAn unexpected twist
The few remaining guitars by Antonio Stradivari have distinctive characteristics – which proved useful when another example came to light recently in a museum collection. Emiliano Marinucci and Lorenzo Frignani tell the story
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Premium ❘ FeatureThe Jewel of Taiwan: The Strad Calendar 2020
The Chimei Museum in Taiwan houses the largest collection of stringed instruments in the world.The Strad Calendar 2020 marks 30 years since its founding, as Dai-Ting Chung and Andrew Guan highlight some of the remarkable treasures within its walls
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Premium ❘ FeatureLeonidas Kavakos: Social Harmony
Violinist Leonidas Kavakos this year presented his eighth Musical Horizons Conservatory masterclass series. Toby Deller attended the three-day event in Athens, during which Kavakos proved himself to be not only an intelligent and dedicated teacher, but also an advocate of social cohesion and personal responsibility through music
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Premium ❘ FeatureLeon Bosch: Irrepressible Drive
South African-born double bassist Leon Bosch has held top orchestral posts and performed as a soloist on multiple international stages since arriving in the UK in 1982. But, as he tells Kimon Daltas, now is not the time to rest on his laurels, as new works and new challenges await
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Premium ❘ FeatureNorthern double bass makers: Northern lights
The 19th century witnessed a thriving double bass making scene in the Manchester area of England. This northern school, which had its own distinct style points, flourished for a longer time than its southern counterpart, as Thomas Martin, Martin Lawrence and George Martin explain
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FeatureFirst principles of violin making: Music of the Spheres
In an age of little numeracy or literacy, how did luthiers settle on the proportions of stringed instruments, with hardly any variation in their basic design? François Denis shows how the principles of the classical Greeks – notably Pythagoras – informed their thinking
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Premium ❘ FeatureEduard Melkus: Testament to Versatility
Austrian violinist and violist Eduard Melkus turned 90 last year. Tully Potter speaks to colleagues, former pupils and the man himself – and outlines a far more diverse and varied career than his reputation for early music performance would suggest
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Premium ❘ FeatureBach Renewed: Antoine Tamestit
French violist Antoine Tamestit releases not one but two albums of Bach arrangements in 2019: the viola da gamba sonatas and the Goldberg Variations for string trio. He reveals his innovatory and thoughtful approach to these challenging works in conversation with Carlos María Solare
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Premium ❘ FeaturePower of two
In early May, violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and cellist Sol Gabetta premiered Akin, a new double concerto written for them by Michel van der Aa. Pwyll ap Siôn attended this performance, in Cologne, Germany, and spoke to composer and soloists about bringing the work to the stage
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn the mix
The Edinburgh Quartet recently selected its 2019 apprentice, following a round of public auditions featuring performances from nine young musicians. As the training programme enters its third session, Toby Deller discovers a unique opportunity for rehearsal and performance
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Premium ❘ FeatureA measured approach
Although the many varied methods of stringed instrument making have been analysed countless times, the actual production process has hardly been questioned in its 450-year history. Luan Amorim and Amanda Schwegler use techniques taken from engineering to survey the time and cost factors – and come up with some unusual ...
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Premium ❘ FeatureWhere there’s a will there’s a way
During two months in Uganda, Pauline Harding learns about the indigenous one-stringed endingidi, and discovers how difficult it can be to learn an instrument in a country whose education system lends little support for arts training
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Premium ❘ FeatureForms of mystery
Andrea Zanrè and Philip Ihle conclude their examination of Stradivari’s moulds, with the aid of micro-CT imaging by Rudolf Hopfner, by exploring whether the Cremonese master may have used more than the twelve forms that survive in the Museo del Violino
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Premium ❘ FeatureWomen of the World
At the beginning of the 20th century, as social attitudes towards women were changing, a small number of female violinists became internationally renowned. Linking the members of this intrepid group was the famous Czech string teacher Otakar Ševčík, as Rosalind Ventris discovers
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Premium ❘ FeatureInside information
Very often neglected, the chamfers of a bow head can give intimate clues as to a maker’s working style and personal characteristics. Anton Lu and Dai-Ting Chung compare and contrast bows from the Baroque era to the present day
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Premium ❘ FeatureSmall Forces, Big Ambitions
The french orchestra recently launched its own digital-only label. The third release features soloist and conductor Thomas Zehetmair in a Haydn violin concerto alongside two string orchestra arrangements of Strauss and Bruckner, writes Gavin Dixon
