Skip to main content
Skip to navigation

Lutherie

Related video

Ray Chen compares a $69 factory-made violin with a $10m Stradivari

26 June 2020

’Even on the open strings you can tell the difference. The Strad has this resonance, clarity and warmth’

Violinist Ray Chen compares a $69 factory-made violin with the 1735 ’Samazeuilh’ Stradivari violin worth around $10m.

Watch: Ray Chen: What do you do when your E-string breaks in a concert?
Read: Players favour new violins over old in largest ever blind testing experiment

Topics

Janine Jansen: A spiritual connection

1
Janine Jansen: A spiritual connection
2
Antoine Tamestit on the ‘Mahler’ Stradivari viola
3
‘It was like the earth moved beneath me’ - violinist Leonidas Kavakos on playing the ’Willemotte’ Stradivari
4
Anne-Sophie Mutter on fine and contemporary instruments
5
Yo-Yo Ma on playing his 1712 ‘Davidov’ Stradivari cello
6
‘On paper, it should have been a match made in heaven’ – Julian Lloyd Webber on his struggle to find the right cello
7
Currently reading
Ray Chen compares a $69 factory-made violin with a $10m Stradivari
8
Maxim Vengerov: Me and my Strads
9
David Garrett tries out Stradivari and Guarneri 'del Gesù' violins

Latest video

Video
Cellist Santiago Cañón-Valencia performs his own composition, ‘Ouróboros’

28 July 2025 08:48
Video
Cellist Sterling Elliott performs Kevin Day’s ‘Gymnopédie I’

18 July 2025 10:35
Video
At the World’s Edge: Huw Watkins String Trio no.2

17 July 2025 10:35
Video
Watch: Alisa Weilerstein performs The Recovery of Paradise: Blackford Cello Concerto

4 July 2025 09:03
Video
Just Biber: a new video from violinist Rachel Podger

3 July 2025 08:41
Video
New video: Lembit Beecher’s ‘Green Line’ performed by cellist Karen Ouzounian

30 June 2025 08:37

Related articles

Review
Ray Chen: Player 1

3 January 2025 02:30 By David Kettle

Commitment and tonal beauty can’t overcome the mismatch on this album
Premium ❘ Feature
Violinist Ray Chen: Making the connection

16 August 2024 11:58

Global violinist Ray Chen’s mission is to connect people through music. He speaks to Amanda Holloway about his work both on and off the concert platform – through his Tonic practice app, his social media presence and his new album
News
Ray Chen to give away 100 violins to dedicated practisers

14 March 2024 14:07

A collaboration between Chen’s practice app Tonic and Kennedy Violins will reward 100 players who accumulate the most practice hours between 18 to 25 March

No comments yet

You're not signed in.

Only registered users can comment on this article.

Register

More from Lutherie

Focus
Ilya Finkelshteyn: Playing the Domenico Montagnana ‘Farina’ cello 1730

26 June 2025 08:54

Cellist Ilya Finkelshteyn shares his experience of playing the ’Farina’, the cover instrument of The Strad’s July 2025 issue and poster. He is principal cellist in the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, a faculty member of the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, and a frequent performer at the Mostly Mozart ...
Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: Sharpening gouges

17 June 2025 12:09

A practical method for maintaining the sharpness of this essential tool for all makers
Blogs
‘This sacred art is under tremendous threat’: Guy Johnston on the Newark School of Violin Making

28 May 2025 15:28

Cellist Guy Johnston recalls his experience interacting with Newark student Julius Hennicke in 2018, and why the school needs support in continuing its craft