January 2021 issue | Jean-Guihen Queyras | The Strad, essential reading for the string music world since 1890

January 2022 issue

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Cover features

Copying the ‘Titian’: A study in scarlet

Jesús Alejandro Torres reports on a study by the Violin Making School of Mexico, in which three copies of Stradivari’s ‘Titian’ violin were made using wood of varying densities

Bach Second Cello Suite – Prelude: A small but crucial omission

The final five bars of the Prelude to Bach’s Second Cello Suite are often misinterpreted by performers, argues Mats Lidström, Leo Stern Professor of Cello at London’s Royal Academy of Music. Here he traces the source of the problem back to the ink- and paper-saving abbreviations of Baroque composers

G.B Guadagnini’s 1773 ‘Cozio’ viola: The only constant is change

The commercial relationship between G.B. Guadagnini and Count Cozio di Salabue allowed the luthier greater freedom to experiment. Alberto Giordano and Barthelemy Garnier examine a 1773 viola to show how the 62-year-old maker continued to adopt new methods and ways of working in this period

Steven Isserlis: Instinctive performer

Steven Isserlis used the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 to work on a trio of projects: a companion to Bach’s Cello Suites, a new performing edition of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto and a recording of British solo cello music – as the cellist tells Charlotte Smith

Alexander technique: Thoughts that count

Violinist and Alexander technique specialist Alun Thomas details pathways to effortless expression using three real-life student examples

Session Report: Focusing the lens

For the LGT Young Soloists, recording a newly commissioned string symphony by Philip Glass provided ample opportunity for detailed and thoughtful music making – as the group’s artistic director, Alexander Gilman, tells Toby Deller

Cover story

Steven Isserlis: Instinctive performer

Playing

Covid-19 and young musicians: What you make of it

The lockdowns of the pandemic were particularly challenging for young artists looking to make a name for themselves, but providing support along the way were a number of schemes that ramped up their efforts accordingly. And, as Charlotte Gardner finds, for those musicians willing to take the initiative, the opportunities ...