All Focus articles – Page 26
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Focus‘Take it, make it work and don’t hurt yourself’ - tips for small framed violists
Viola professor at Juilliard and Curtis Institute of Music Hsin-Yun Huang offers practical tips for petite musicians and teachers to avoid unnecessary pain and over-exertion
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Focus‘A Baroque composer living in the 21st century’ - Steven Isserlis on recording British Solo Cello Music
In this extract from the January 2022 issue, cellist Steven Isserlis speaks about recording works by British composers, who are all linked by a shared respect for the past
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FocusecoRosin by Leatherwood Bespoke Rosin
ecoRosin strives to leave a zero footprint on our planet whilst offering string players premium rosin recipes for colourful music making
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Focus‘Minimalistic music is composed in a minimalist way, but I want to get the maximum out of this’
Toby Deller speaks to the LGT Young Soloists artistic director Alexander Gilman about recording Philip Glass’s brand new Symphony no.14 ’Liechtenstein’, in this extract from the January 2022 issue
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FocusPlayer profile: Cellist Sifiso Mbatha
Cellist Sifiso Mbatha is a student of the ARCO Project, a long distance online teaching collaboration between the UK and South Africa. Read about how his involvement with the ARCO Project enabled his journey from Soweto, South Africa, to receiving a full scholarship at the Royal Northern College of Music
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FocusSentimental Work: Roger Tapping
Listening to Brahms’s String Sextet no.1 op.18 is one of the earliest memories of the Juilliard Quartet violist – and might even be the reason why he took up the viola
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FocusThe Strad Podcast Episode #29: Julia Fischer on Mozart Violin Concertos
‘I played the first movement of the G major concerto in the Philharmonie in Munich when I was eight’
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Focus‘You’ve got to think outside the box to rise above the parapet’ - Young musicians making a career during the time of Covid
In this extract from the January 2022 issue, Charlotte Gardner speaks to representatives from the City Music Foundation and Young Artists Classical Trust about how young artists can emerge from the pandemic successfully
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FocusMasterclass: Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider on Mozart Violin Concerto no.5
The simplicity and purity of the master’s violin concertos belie their great technical and musical demands. Violinist Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider delves beneath the surface, in this article from August 2006
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FocusSentimental Work: Guy Johnston
The Walton Cello Concerto brings back fond memories for the British cellist, from one of his first concerts to a recent performance by early mentor Steven Isserlis
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Focus‘A teacher should be most aware of a student’s health, both mental and physical’ - bassist Mary Condliffe
The Cardiff-based double bass pedagogue explains why her students’ health is her biggest concern, in this interview from April 2012
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Focus‘A feeling of waves and lightness’ - Francesca Dego on performing Mozart Violin Concerto no.4
Violinist Francesca Dego guides us through the finale to Mozart’s Violin Concerto no.4, illustrating how working with an orchestra can help maintain ‘the big picture’
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FocusFour insights on the Prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite no.1 in G major
Have a read of what two cellists and two violists think about ‘that famous cello song’
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FocusThe Power of a Performance Psychologist
What can musicians learn from sports and ballet psychology? Violinist Emma Baird speaks to performance psychologist Britt Tajet-Foxell, with further accounts from cellist Matthew Barley and violinist Ksenia Berezina
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FocusThree copies of Stradivari’s ‘Titian’ violin
In this extract from the January 2022 issue, Jesús Alejandro Torres introduces a study in which three copies of Stradivari’s ‘Titian’ violin were made from wood of different densities
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FocusThe Strad Podcast Episode #28: Alexandra Conunova on losing her Guadagnini violin
Conunova’s violin was seized by customs officials at Chișinău airport in October 2021. She shares what happened on that day, as well as how she finally managed to get the instrument back after two months
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FocusStepping up: Postcard from Munich
Held every three years, the Hindemith International Viola Competition moved beyond its local origins to become a truly world-class event in 2021 – and a fitting tribute to its namesake, as Carlos María Solare reports
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FocusHow should a double bassist prepare to play Bach’s Cello Suites?
Virtuoso bassist and conservatoire professor Leon Bosch explains how he introduces the Bach Cello Suites to his students
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FocusWhat is true violin legato?
In an exclusive video premiere, violinist Daniel Kurganov examines the art of legato and what violinists can learn from singers
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FocusMasterclass: Bach Cello Suite no.5, Prélude, by Jean-Guihen Queyras
Practical tips to help you master the challenges of this most fundamental of repertoire
