December 2019 issue

‘Romanov’ Amati: Exploring the fascinating story of the 1677 ‘Romanov’ Nicolò Amati viola – once part of Russia’s Imperial Collection | December 2019 issue | The Strad

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Cover features

A Massive Achievement: the 1677 ‘Romanov’ Nicolò Amati viola

Made in 1677, the ‘Romanov’ Nicolò Amati viola is one of the maker’s late masterpieces

Lights, Camera, Action

As the founder of Music in Vision, Kathleen Ross has built a business from supplying professional musicians for on-camera roles. Introducing instrumentalists to the world of film and TV can be challenging, but, she writes, ensuring that musicians in background parts are convincingly portrayed is well worth the effort

A Treasury of Sound

The Royal Danish Orchestra has been adding to its collection of fine stringed instruments for centuries – but there is revolution as well as evolution behind its distinctive string sound, which is unmistakable whatever the repertoire and whoever the conductor, finds Andrew Mellor

Into the Light

Why it took nearly a century for an important, beautiful concert piece for cello and piano from a 20th-century female composer to be published is incomprehensible. We can certainly blame contemporaneous sexist attitudes towards women, but was there also something more personal here?

Like Fathers, Like Sons

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Émile Auguste Ouchard, as well as the 40th of his son Bernard – both regarded as among the 20th century’s finest bow makers. Thomas Martin, Andrew McGill, Martin Lawrence and George Martin examine the legacy of the Ouchard dynasty, particularly ...

A Conductor’s Tale

Music director Manfred Honeck has brought a distinctly European flavour to the Pittsburgh Symphony. Gavin Dixon spoke to him at his summer festival in Wolfegg, Germany, as he prepared to embark on a tour of Europe with his Pittsburgh forces – and discovered how his time as a violist in ...