Playing – Page 31
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Premium ❘ FocusPlaying with the Straight and Narrow
Vilde Frang has made a name for herself with her playfully ethereal musical style and unconventional approach to programming. Charlotte Gardnertalks to the Norwegian violinist about her latest recording and her unusual route to success
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Premium ❘ FocusMusical Emissaries
The Shanghai Quartet celebrates its 35th anniversary during the 2018–19 season by performing eight complete Beethoven cycles around the world. The players speak to Charlotte Smithabout forming at a time when Western chamber music was barely understood in their native China, and about promoting the art form to Chinese audiences ...
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Premium ❘ FeatureFrom the Archive: April 1920
Towry Piper (1859–1925) recalls some of the more unusual habits of violinists, observed during his many years of writing for The Strad
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Premium ❘ FeatureMasterclass: Augustin Hadelich on Beethoven’s Violin Concerto first movement - part 2
The German–American violinist considers ensemble, character and line in the first movement of this great Classical work, in the second of two articles
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Premium ❘ FocusWhere there’s a will there’s a way
During two months in Uganda, Pauline Harding learns about the indigenous one-stringed endingidi, and discovers how difficult it can be to learn an instrument in a country whose education system lends little support for arts training
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Premium ❘ FeatureAnne-Sophie Mutter: The Big Picture
For Anne-Sophie Mutter, Beethoven’s 250th anniversary is the perfect time for a season of concerts dedicated to his works. The project follows her recent recording collaboration with film composer John Williams – yet as different as the two ventures sound, there is far more that unites than divides them, as ...
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![Fiona Bonds - Associate Principal Viola [378]](https://dnan0fzjxntrj.cloudfront.net/Pictures/100x67/2/5/3/17253_fionabondsassociateprincipalviola378_263221.jpg)
Premium ❘ FeatureAcademy of St Martin in the Fields at 60: One Big Family
The Academy of St Martin in the Fields celebrates its 60th anniversary this season with a 60-CD box set of its celebrated recordings, and tours to Europe and the US. Toby Deller speaks to some of the orchestra’s long-standing string players about working together democratically and the artistic transition from ...
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Premium ❘ FeatureSession Report: A Voyage of Discovery
French composer Benoît Menut’s new concept album of songs and chamber works takes its listeners on a single, continuous journey across the sea. He and cellist Patrick Langot speak to Tom Stewart about the project
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Premium ❘ FeatureFrom the Archive: March 1940
Paganini researcher S. L. Salzedo gives his effusive first impressions of the violinist’s birthplace Genoa, as well as his initial thoughts on seeing ‘Il Cannone’
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Premium ❘ FeatureMaking a Full Quartet of Instruments: Matches Made in Heaven?
It’s both a privilege and a challenge to build a quartet of instruments that are intended to be played together from the start. Peter Somerford speaks to players and makers to discover both the pitfalls and the opportunities
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Premium ❘ FeaturePablo Casals: Boundless Expression
The legacy of Pablo Casals is alive and well in the cello playing of today – and can be traced primarily to the methods of his colleague Diran Alexanian and favourite student Maurice Eisenberg. Oskar Falta explores the Catalonian cellist’s main vibrato theories, as communicated by his two important associates
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Premium ❘ FeatureSession Report: Freedom of Choice
For Jack Liebeck, recording the Brahms and Schoenberg violin concertos has felt like a homecoming – a chance to reflect on the life of his grandfather, and to appreciate the liberties we enjoy today, as he tells Harry White
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Premium ❘ FeatureWilliam C. Honeyman: The People’s Violin Man
During the 19th century there was an upsurge of interest in violin playing in Britain. At its centre, writes Kevin MacDonald, was the Scottish violinist and writer William C. Honeyman – purveyor of string secrets to the masses and perhaps the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes
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Premium ❘ FeatureSession Report: Violinist Johan Dalene makes his recording debut
For his debut album as an exclusive BIS artist, Johan Dalene – teenage winner of last year’s Carl Nielsen International Competition – has not shied away from ambitious and much-loved repertoire. He and producer Jens U. Braun recall the recording process
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Premium ❘ FeatureKaren Tuttle: The Violists’ Champion
Violists, particularly in the US, regard Karen Tuttle as a pioneer of pedagogy, tirelessly committed to improving the playing freedom of her students. As this month marks the 100th anniversary of her birth, Carlos María Solare pays tribute to her career, teaching methods and formidable strength of character
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Premium ❘ FeatureFrom the Archive: February 1930
In his regular ‘Continental Happenings’ column, the acerbic George Cecil rounds up some of the more unusual string-related news and performances around Europe
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Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Sense Of The Senseless: Leila Josefowicz on B. A. Zimmermann’s violin concerto
As Leila Josefowicz explains, the unexpected twists and turns of B. A. Zimmermann’s Violin Concerto make it a rollercoaster worth riding. Tom Stewart finds out more
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Premium ❘ FeatureÉbène Quartet: The Freedom of Instability
Currently making international appearances to mark Beethoven’s 250th birthday as well as celebrating 20 years since its foundation, the Ébène Quartet is riding high now that violist Marie Chilemme has become an established member. But, the players tell Charlotte Gardner, replacing former violist Mathieu Herzog was no easy matter following ...
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Premium ❘ FeatureJerry Horner: A Virtuoso Teacher
In February last year, former Fine Arts Quartet violist Jerry Horner died at the age of 83. China Conservatory of Music violin professor and past Horner student James Dickenson reflects on the career and teaching legacy of a fine mentor, drawing on interviews with Horner’s students and colleagues, and with ...
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Premium ❘ FeatureRetirement from Performance: A Change of Pace
Is there a time when we should admit defeat, acknowledge our age and put our instruments away for good? Or is it possible to keep enjoying, playing and sharing music forever? Pauline Harding talks to musicians young and old about falling standards, failing physiques and a joy of playing music ...
