All Focus articles – Page 7
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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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‘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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'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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A 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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'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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Students 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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Francesca Dego: Life Lessons
Students must be helped to find the right advice from the beginning, says the Italian violinist, who reflects on her own formative experiences
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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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‘Ida Haendel was not a natural collaborator’
Tully Potter shares his insights into the late violinist’s distinctive personality
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Position 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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The 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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String players should bow with individual fingers rather than the whole hand
Awareness of the movement of each right-hand finger is one of the great secrets of bowing, writes Rok Klopčič
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How 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
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A targeted approach to Ševčík will help you to overcome any problem in the repertoire
When using Ševčík cello studies, it pays to plan your practice carefully, says Tomáš Jamník, Artistic director of the Academy of Chamber Music and the Ševčík Academy, in Prague, Czech Republic
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How to develop secure intonation, by cellist Maria Kliegel
The German recording artist and former Rostropovich Cello Competition winner explains how developing accurate intonation gives security and confidence to her playing
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‘There wasn’t any proof that our hard work would pay off. For a long time it didn’t’ – TwoSet Violin on their rise to fame
Violinists and comedy stars Brett Yang and Eddy Chen of TwoSet Violin speak to Kimon Daltas on the process of becoming YouTube sensations
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Alexander Sitkovetsky: Life Lessons
The Russian–British violinist on moving between artistic cultures and the future of collaborative music making
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New UK artist management agency launched
String players including Francesca Dego (pictured), Henning Kraggerud and Laura van der Heijden will be represented by the new firm
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'The great challenge was to be comfortable improvising' – violinist Viktoria Mullova
For her latest recording, violinist Viktoria Mullova has collaborated with her son, jazz bassist Misha Mullov-Abbado in an eclectic array of duets. Harry White speaks to the pair about what they each found challenging about the project
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Remembering Helen Hagnes after 40 years
On 23 July 1980, the violinist Helen Hagnes was murdered in the Metropolitan Opera House. 40 years on, her former colleague Thomas Suárez remembers that night
