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- The Strads December issue: Willemotte Stradivari: The late-period violin's strong personality is the perfect match for its current owner Leonidas Kavakos.
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Historical
Video
The Strad Calendar 2021: Gasparo da Salò double bass c.1580
The workmanship of this bass is typical of Gasparo, with the distinctive double purfling and long, widely set f-holes
Focus
The Strad Calendar 2021: Giovanni Battista Rogeri cello 1695
The arching of the Rogeri is flat, unlike the bulbous forms of most of his contemporary makers
Current issue
December
We examine the ‘Willemotte’ violin of 1734 – a masterpiece of Stradivari’s late period, now owned by Leonidas Kavakos. There’s an article on a newly discovered cadenza to Beethoven’s Violin Concerto by Vieuxtemps, and a look at the history of the viola d’amore..
VideoThe Strad Calendar 2021: Carlo Bergonzi ‘Kreisler’ violin 1735
The ‘Kreisler’s characteristically thin yet intensely coloured varnish is in abundance
- Article
‘It was like the earth moved beneath me’ - violinist Leonidas Kavakos on playing the ’Willemotte’ Stradivari
Kavakos describes his first encounter with the 1734 violin, made when Antonio Stradivari was 90 years old
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1734 Stradivari violin ‘Willemotte’: Late… but worth the wait
Made when Antonio Stradivari was 90 years old, the 1734 ‘Willemotte’ bears all his hallmarks including a deep, complex tone quality. Sam Zygmuntowicz examines the violin and compares its design features with other gems of the great master
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The viola d’amore: For a sympathetic ear
The viola d’amore is undergoing a resurgence in popularity among early music groups, with a wealth of repertoire still to be rediscovered. Rachael Durkin tracks the development of this unique instrument, examining its many precursors along the way
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The Strad Calendar 2021: Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin 1848-50
This Vuillaume is a mid-period ‘del Gesù’ copy, on which the f-holes of the ‘Ole Bull’ Guarneri have been imposed
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The Strad Calendar 2021: Giuseppe Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ violin 1744
Guarneri’s carving is free and energetic, the movements of the tools quick and deep
- Focus
The Strad Calendar 2021; Nicolas Lupot cello 1823
The Lupot cello is a wonderful piece of controlled craftsmanship, and bears his personal signature on the back
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Carlo Bisiach: Dispatches from the front line
Gennady Filimonov examines the letters between Carlo Bisiach (1892–1968) and his American representative Leo D. Larsson, which provide a fascinating perspective on the violin trade in the 1930s and 40s, as well as an insight into the Italian luthier’s working methods
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Hollywood Bow Makers: Unsung heroes of the silver screen
Lasting from the late 1920s to 1960, Hollywood’s golden age was a boom time for musicians, and those who catered for them. Raphael Gold tells the stories of some of the era’s best-regarded LA bow makers, and reveals why their work should be better known today
- Focus
What is it like to play Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s own violin?
Christoph Koncz, principal second violinist of the Vienna Philharmonic, shares his experience
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The Strad Calendar 2021: Francesco and Giovanni Grancino viola c.1665
The varnish of the Grancino is most beautiful and wonderfully well preserved
- Video
The Strad Calendar 2021: Francesco Rugeri cello c.1680
This poplar-backed cello is clearly very similar in form and modelling to Amati patterns
- Video
Cremonese makers launch video showcase
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its effect on Italian lutherie, a group of violin makers in Cremona have put together a video showcasing their working methods. The aim is to demonstrate the vibrancy and industriousness of today’s luthiers, as Antonio Stradivari wanders the streets of modern-day Cremona, viewing ...
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The Strad Calendar 2021: ‘Arditi’ Antonio Stradivari violin
This year’s calendar contains twelve masterpieces by Stradivari, Guarneri ‘del Gesù’, Rogeri, Vuillaume and many more
- Video
Video: Violin Makers – The Renaissance of Italian Lutherie
A 60-minute documentary featuring interviews with some of the greatest 20th-century Italian luthiers
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From the Archive: October 1950
Kenneth Warren makes a pilgrimage to Oxford to view Stradivari’s famed ‘Messiah’ violin – an undoubted highlight of the respected US violin dealer’s career
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Not Quite Cinderella: The Viola in Late-Georgian Britain
Britain during the late Georgian era was fertile ground for the viola as a serious chamber and solo instrument – and witnessed a flourishing in standards of playing and making, writes Kevin MacDonald
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The Lost Art of Cremonese Violin Archings
The old Cremonese luthiers’ method of designing violin archings has been lost in the mists of time. Andrew Dipper uses evidence from 18th-century manuals to propose how they might have done it, through a system encompassing string lengths, internal forms… and a lot of mathematics
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