All Lutherie articles – Page 10
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FocusThe Strad Calendar 2025: 1871 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin
An exact copy of Stradivari’s ‘Messiah’, it remained in a vault in Paris for more than 70 years
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BlogsThe return of a stolen pardessus: a case of provenance and restitution
In 2022, Annalisa Pappano bought a six-string pardessus from a reputable dealer that turned out to be stolen from a Belgian museum. She shares her turbulent story, in an aim to raise awareness of issues related to stolen instruments and the potential pitfalls for musicians
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BlogsStradivari to Degas: The Strad visits the Metropolitan Museum’s string instrument collection
The Strad’s staff writer Rita Fernandes discovers the Met’s string instrument collection in its many forms! Check out her photos of the extensive collection and learn more about some of the instruments below
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FocusThe Strad Calendar 2025: c.1700 ‘Bell’ Giovanni Tononi violin
With a reddish-brown varnish over a golden ground, this violin shows the influence of Nicolò Amati
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Premium ❘ FeatureMy Space: Corvus Kwok’s Hong Kong workshop
The luthier takes us on a tour of his shop in Kowloon, Hong Kong
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Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: Testing an instrument’s sound using weight ratios
In contrast to the normal practice of using tap tones to determine an instrument’s sound, Veikko Jaatinen presents a method based on the weight ratios of a violin’s various parts
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BlogsWhy I rotate between seven bows: cellist David Finckel
From 19th-century French bows to modern carbon fibre, David Finckel outlines why each of his seven bows has a time and place in his music making
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FocusThe Strad Calendar 2025: 1715 Domenico Montagnana violin
A rare example of a violin by the noted Venetian maker of cellos, it has a two-piece back of irregular figure
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A c.1750 violin by Michele Deconet
Peter Koerner examines the French maker’s mid-century instrument
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NewsOne gold medal awarded at 2024 Cremona Triennale violin making competition
Alessandro Peiretti received the award in the cello category, while Liu Zhaojun, Borja Bernabeu and Michele Dobner all received silver medals
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FocusThe Strad Calendar 2025: 1700 ‘Taft’ Antonio Stradivari violin
Boasting beautiful orange–red varnish, it was formerly played by Emil Heermann, concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
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Premium ❘ FeatureThe Strad Calendar 2025: Canada’s crème de la crème
The Strad Calendar 2025 celebrates the work of the Canada Council for the Arts, which has been matching players with fine instruments for 40 years. Christian Lloyd takes a look at the collection’s highlights
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Preparing the wood surface before varnishing
Samuel Peguiron shares a method involving a bespoke mixture and wood shavings
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FocusThe Strad Calendar 2025: 1706 ‘Brott-Turner’ David Tecchler cello
The first instrument ever added to the Musical Instrument Bank of the Canada Council for the Arts, it is a masterpiece of the Rome-based luthier’s work
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VideoVideo: 15 Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ violins in less than 4 minutes
Highlights from David Garrett’s 2024 ‘Del Gesù’ Club, bringing together fine Guarneri instruments from all over the world
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Blogs‘Del Gesù’ Club brings together 17 Guarneri violins
Organised by David Garrett, the annual two-day event allows owners and players of Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ violins to play and examine each other’s instruments
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Premium ❘ FeatureFrom the land of a hundred violins: Amedeo Simonazzi
The luthier Amedeo Simonazzi was born into a region with a strong native musical tradition – which is almost forgotten today. Stefano Pio reveals how his surroundings influenced his career
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BlogsWhy I only make violas: luthier Gabrielle Kundert
The maker shares why she has dedicated her craft to the viola, as we take a close-up look at her copy of a 1787 Castello viola commissioned by National Symphony Orchestra principal violist Daniel Foster
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Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: Optimising sound spaces for good acoustics
Any luthier’s workshop requires a room or area with good acoustics to assess an instrument’s sound quality. Gideon Baumblatt and Simon Eberl explain how they optimised their sound spaces
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Purfling and edgework after closing the box
A method that allows for more aesthetic freedom than completing the plates before finishing the soundbox
