Lutherie – Page 89
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ArticleCould Mittenwald be sitting on a fortune in Nazi treasure?
Mittenwald, the violin making hub in southern Germany, could be the last resting place of a cache of gold and diamonds belonging to Adolf Hitler, according to a Dutch film-maker. Leon Giesen, 51, has carried out three excavations in the Bavarian town and is seeking funding for a fourth, using ...
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ArticleChina's international lutherie competition announces results
The results are in from the second China International Violin Making and Bow Making Competition, held in Beijing. In the violin division, the gold medal and 120,000 yuan (€14,500) prize went to Xiangwei Chen from China. Chen also won the silver medal. Bronze went to Min Sung Kim from Italy. ...
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ArticleJetstar to allow violins and violas on flights
Australian budget airline Jetstar is set to amend its cabin baggage policy regarding musical instruments. The new policy will allow instruments up to 81cm long as carry-on baggage, which will include violin and viola cases. Jetstar, a low-cost subsidiary of Qantas Airways, currently allows baggage of up to 56cm in ...
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FocusEleven great performances of Bach's Chaconne
Over the last few weeks we’ve been posting videos of some of the finest performances of Bach’s Chaconne available on YouTube. And a distinguished playlist it is, stretching back from Arthur Grumiaux and Nathan Milstein to Viktoria Mullova and Gil Shaham. Each performer has a different style, mood, conception – ...
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ArticleFuturistic cello projects videos and lighting displays
High-tech polymer manufacturer Bayer MaterialScience has developed a prototype interactive cello. The instrument's polyurethane body can display videos or graphics, tell you when you’re out of tune, and keep you in time using a flashing metronome beat.The idea for Cello 2.0 emerged when Bayer MaterialScience asked its design partner, Teams ...
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FocusThe special art of decorated instruments
The Strad Calendar 2014 features beautifully decorated instruments by some of the finest makers of all time. John Dilworth tracks the history of the noble tradition, through the makers featured
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ArticleEau de violin shop: luthier launches workplace-inspired fragrance
Cremona luthier Edgar Russ has a new and unusual product sideline: perfume. The violin maker is launching a scent that he says is inspired by the aromas of a luthier's workshop. Russ's fiancée came up with the idea four years ago, and the violin maker collaborated with Guy Bouchara, a ...
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ArticleNew York dealer to pay $325,000 to settle legal dispute with violinist
New York violin dealer Emmanuel Gradoux-Matt has agreed to pay $325,000 to a violinist who sued him for allegedly losing her instrument while it was on consignment. South Korean violinist Kyung-Ah Yang had been seeking $400,000 in damages to compensate for the loss of her 1837 J.F. Pressenda, as well ...
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FocusWhy beginners deserve the best
As the new school year beckons, an article from The Strad, August 1905, offers some sage advice to parents thinking of violin lessons for their children
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BlogsRemembering London orchestral players of the 1950s
Ariane Todes's chance discovery of a box of old concert programmes led to an outpouring of tributes to a golden generation of string players
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ArticleUS violin dealer Charles Magby charged with first-degree larceny
American instrument dealer Charles Magby was arrested on 23 August on charges of first-degree larceny. According to police in Guilford, Connecticut, several complaints have been made against the 63-year-old owner of Charles H. Magby Fine Violins Ltd, regarding his selling of high-end custom instruments, including violins, cellos, bows, on consignment. ...
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BlogsDo violin competitions face extinction?
A day trip to Switzerland yielded some provocative conversations about the future of string music contests for Ariane Todes
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BlogsViolinist Ivry Gitlis remembers George Enescu
Our October issue will focus on great players of the past, including interviews with people who knew them or revere them. Ariane Todes has just interviewed the inimitable Gitlis about his former teacher and gives a sneak preview
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ArticleArgentina's first stringed-instrument gallery set for opening
A museum in Buenos Aires is to open a new permanent exhibition hall dedicated to stringed instruments in October. Officials at the Isaac Fernández Blanco Museum of Spanish–American Art believe that the new gallery will be the first such exhibition space in Argentina. Among the instruments to be displayed is ...
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ArticleStolen £1.2m Stradivarius violin recovered
UK police have recovered a 1696 Stradivarius violin, more than two and half years after it was stolen from Korean violinist Min-Jin Kym. The instrument, discovered intact with some very minor damage including a small crack on the front, was recovered in its case on 18 July, along with a ...
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Article
Newark students complete late maker's cello in two-week project
In a special project to benefit the UK-based Rowan Armour-Brown (RAB) Trust, a group of students from the Newark School of Violin Making have completed an unfinished cello by Brian Laurence, who died in 2012. Laurence, who was based in Doncaster, began making the cello in 1989 when he ...
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ArticleBow maker uses human hair for shampoo promotion stunt
A bow maker in Singapore has swapped horsehair for human hair as part of a promotion for a shampoo brand. Paul Goh's services were called upon by the Singapore and Manila branches of advertising agency J. Walter Thompson, which wanted to find a new way to ...
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ArticleFrench violin expert Étienne Vatelot dies aged 87
French violin expert and luthier Étienne Vatelot died on 13 July at the age of 87. In a career that spanned almost eight decades, he became a world-renowned expert on stringed instruments and bows, serving as president of the French Association of String Instrument and Bow Makers, ...
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DebateEmbrace the difference
Luthiers often have more experience than players of Baroque instruments and bows. So, says US bow maker David Hawthorne, they should be fearless in producing authentic equipment to enlighten and inform
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ArticleLuthier documentaries focus on Italian tradition and a Catalan's unusual violins
Four contemporary Italian violin makers and a Catalan luthier who created violins with sympathetic strings are the subjects of two new documentaries currently in production. Parma luthier Andrea Zanrè and art historian Paolo Parmiggiani are making a film about the lives and careers of four of ...
