The Strad’s editor Emma Baker introduces the January issue starring US violinist Stella Chen, who discusses her competition success, teaching and a new album of Beethoven and Barber concertos
Welcome to our first issue of the new year. Our cover star is the American violinist Stella Chen, who came to international attention when she won the top prize at the 2019 Queen Elisabeth Competition. Alongside her talent and achievements as a performer, her academic qualifications are rather impressive too – she has a psychology degree from Harvard and a doctorate from the Juilliard School. She chats to Rebecca Franks about growing up in Silicon Valley, and how her playing and attitude have changed in the years since that competition success, as well as her experience of being mentored by Itzhak Perlman and now passing on the wisdom in her own teaching practice, and her new album of concertos by Beethoven and Barber.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the formation of the Paganini Quartet. The group comprised four players from the Franco-Belgian school who were brought together in Los Angeles to play the quartet of instruments formerly owned by Nicolò Paganini. Tully Potter tells the story of this brilliant but somewhat star-crossed ensemble, which had a relatively brief 20-year existence.
The Lakatos name is synonymous with the dazzling, virtuosic Hungarian Roma violin style, and is one that goes back many generations. Erika Nyerges looks at the history of this extraordinary musical dynasty, from the family’s 18th-century ancestor János Bihari to modern-day names such as Sándor Déki Lakatos and Roby Lakatos.
In lutherie this issue, Sebastian Gonzalez explains how he has developed a method, using straightforward geometry, to make accurate measurements of violin archings – particularly in relation to Cremonese violins, and Pablo Soriano examines 300 years of documents from the 15th century onwards, which shed light on the lives and practices of Iberian makers. Finally, our My Space interview features the studio of luthier Jordan Lambert, who resides in a particularly exotic location: Tahiti.
Emma Baker editor
Email me at thestrad@thestrad.com
Issue summary
Stella Chen talks about her new album, and we explore the traditional music of Hungary. There’s a retrospective of the Paganini Quartet and violist Timothy Ridout tells us his Sentimental Work. Plus a Beethoven Masterclass and Alasdair Tait’s Life Lessons
Contents
STELLA CHEN The US violinist, winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2019, tells Rebecca Franks about her latest album of Beethoven and Barber concertos
THE LAKATOS DYNASTY The Roma tradition of playing has been popular since its 19th-century heyday. Erika Nyerges explores the genre through one of its key exponents, Sándor Lakatos
IBERIAN LUTHERIE GUILDS Pablo Soriano sifts through inventories and ordinances from the 15th to the 18th centuries to discover what they tell us about the lives of instrument makers
PAGANINI QUARTET Formed in 1946 by Robert Maas and Henri Temianka, the US-based quartet disbanded 20 years later. Tully Potter looks at the group’s short but sweet lifespan
SESSION REPORT Violinist Ning Feng tells Harry White about his latest album of concertos by Brahms and his near contemporary, Hungarian composer Karl Goldmark
ARCHING CONSTRUCTIONS Sebastian Gonzalez demonstrates a geometrical method for describing an instrument’s archings, and how it relates to a selection of Cremonese violins
IN FOCUS A violin by Carl Nicolaus Sawicki
TRADE SECRETS Hugh Withycombe’s new design for a ‘very deep clamp’ for cello making
MY SPACE Jordan Lambert’s Tahiti workshop
MAKING MATTERS The design and development of a new ergonomic kind of viola
MASTERCLASS Lena Neudauer on the first movement of Beethoven’s Violin Sonata no.10
TECHNIQUE Gaelen McCormick discusses teaching spiccato on the double bass
LIFE LESSONS The memories and opinions of Scottish cellist Alasdair Tait
OPINION The importance of creating a musical environment for pupils from their earliest years
POSTCARD FROM MUNICH A report from the Hindemith International Viola Competition
FROM THE ARCHIVE From January 1896
SENTIMENTAL WORK Timothy Ridout on his love for Brahms’s Viola Sonata no.2 in E major
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