All Focus articles – Page 44
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FocusThe Strad Calendar 2021: Francesco and Giovanni Grancino viola c.1665
The varnish of the Grancino is most beautiful and wonderfully well preserved
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FocusWhat does it feel like to play in a socially-distanced orchestra?
As live music begins to make a cautious comeback, Matthew Bain, a freelance violinist with the London Philharmonic and Philharmonia amongst other ensembles, shares his experience of returning to orchestral playing
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FocusMaking the most of one hour of practice
The Strad’s panel of experts answer your string teaching questions for the Teacher Talk series
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FocusPatricia Kopatchinskaja: Life Lessons
Early encounters with nature left their mark on the Moldovan-born violinist, who thinks a culture of perfection is damaging our relationship with music
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Focus‘I go through the process of learning a piece a few times’ – Midori
The Japanese-American violinist speaks to Toby Deller about getting to the core of new works
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FocusWhat I would tell my younger self - violist Kim Kashkashian
The American violist talks about learning how to relax and to not take things so personally
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FocusAdvice I'd give my younger self: violinist Hilary Hahn
Identify your own instincts and find ways to bring those ideas across effectively, says the American musician
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Focus‘That pre-performance adrenaline rush made me feel alive again’ – Guy Johnston
Ahead of his streamed chamber music festival at Hatfield House, the British cellist shares his experience of performing for online broadcast during the lockdown
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FocusThe secrets of Giuseppe Ceruti’s making style
The Cremonese luthier Giuseppe Ceruti is often overlooked in favour of his more famous son, Enrico. Duane Rosengard examines two matching double basses by Giuseppe to discover the secrets of his making style
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FocusDark and troubled or ‘really quite jolly’: how should we view Schumann’s cello concerto?
Schumann’s Cello Concerto has frequently been viewed as dark and troubled, but not by Schumann himself and his wife Clara writes Peter Quantrill
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Focus‘He was a very gentle, introverted person, and you can hear that in his playing’ – Jerusalem Quartet on Bartók
The Jerusalem Quartet’s second instalment of Bartók string quartets brings a new delicacy and clarity to these works, which are so often portrayed as brutal. Violinist Alexander Pavlovsky and violist Ori Kam discuss their approach with Tom Stewart
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Focus'It is not my duty to be liked and loved by everybody,' says violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja
The Moldovan-born violinist talks to Toby Deller about sound, vision and changing the world through music
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FocusA video-gaming approach to practice will maximise your technical efficiency
How to use a competitive video gaming approach to plan out your practice, maximise your technical efficiency and play consistently accurately on stage
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Focus'She was a strong woman when there were comparatively few great women soloists' Tasmin Little on Ida Haendel
The British violinist speaks about Yehudi Menuhin, the importance of a good violin and meeting her hero - the late Ida Haendel
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FocusStudents should practise Bach’s Cello Suites with Schumann’s piano accompaniments - Leon Bosch
The virtuoso bassist and Trinity Laban Conservatoire professor explains how he introduces the works to his students
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Focus
The importance of unravelling towards our true height
In the second instalment of her 4-part article series about postural awareness, Gwendolyn Masin, concert violinist, author and educator, discusses how much easier playing can be if we allow our bodies to move freely
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Focus‘Ida Haendel was not a natural collaborator’
Tully Potter shares his insights into the late violinist’s distinctive personality
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FocusPosition and freedom: keeping the two in harmony
John Crawford, teacher of violin and Alexander Technique at Trinity Laban Conservatoire explains why a position-orientated approach to string playing may not serve us well
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FocusThe fear of making mistakes stops violinists from playing with resonance and character – Nicola Benedetti
The British violinist speaks to Peter Somerford about launching her mass education project for string players of all ages
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FocusHow Western music came to Mexico
The history of Western music in Mexico is inextricably tied up with religion. Pablo Alfaro and Jaime G. González reveal how European musical traditions permeated the culture of the indigenous people
