All stradivarius articles
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BlogsDesmond Cecil: my search for the perfect violin
Excerpt from Desmond Cecil’s newly published memoir: ‘The Wandering Civil Servant of Stradivarius’
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Blogs
Desmond Cecil: My time with violinist Max Rostal
Excerpt from Desmond Cecil’s newly published memoir: ‘The Wandering Civil Servant of Stradivarius’
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Focus
7 tips for carving a scroll
How to perfect the head of your instrument from 125 years of the Strad
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Focus
Exploring the secrets of Stradivari's workshop
The workshop where Stradivari made the instruments of his golden period was demolished in 1938. Andrew Dipper uncovers the clues that give an insight into the great master's working environment
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Premium ❘ Gallery
From the Archive: the ‘General Kyd’ Stradivarius violin, Cremona, 1714
This illustration of the ‘General Kyd’ Stradivarius was published in The Strad, January 1962. The following text is extracted from the article accompanying the photographs
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Article
Soundpost: Letters to the Editor
A selection of letters The Strad receives each month from its readers around the world: December 2019 issue
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News
Crowdfunding helps to save Stradivari’s wood
The ‘Save the wood of Stradivari’ campaign has raised 230 thousand euros, which has been used to recover 3,000 resonant spruces
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Premium ❘ Feature
Curiouser and curiouser
Was the 1672 ‘Mahler’ the first viola ever made by Antonio Stradivari? As Jonathan Marolle explains, this is just one of the unanswerable questions that arise when studying this fascinating instrument
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Focus
In focus: the 1728 'Milanollo' Stradivari
Roger Hargrave examines the Stradivari ‘Milanollo’ violin of 1728, one of the few of the master’s instruments to keep its original sharpness
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News
Kuss Quartet to play Paganini's Strads
Short-term loan of quartet of instruments once owned by Paganini will include a complete Beethoven cycle in Tokyo
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News
Henry Ford's Stradivarius loaned to Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The 1703 violin was played in concert by the DSO last week
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News
Stradivarius instruments recorded for posterity
The resulting database will store all the possible tones that four instruments selected from the Museo del Violino’s collection can produce.
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Focus
The 1724 ‘Cecil’ Stradivarius – a masterpiece unseen and unheard
Despite having been examined by some of the best-known experts in history, the violin has spent centuries largely hidden – until now. John Dilworth examines one of the least regarded instruments by the Cremonese master
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Focus
Tokyo Stradivarius Festival: A Celebration of Genius
Ending on Monday 15 October, the Tokyo Stradivarius Festival 2018 has brought together 21 of the finest Stradivari instruments from all over the world, together with some of the master’s tools and templates, an acoustic demonstration, and concerts performed on several of the instruments.
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Focus
Piecing together the history of the
'Mara' Stradivari celloIts fate was almost to be consigned to the murky depths of an Uruguayan river but it continues to delight and inspire audiences of the present day. Alessandra Barabaschi delves into the dramatic life of the ‘Mara’ Strad
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Focus
In focus: the 1686 'Helvetica' Stradivari
In this article from the December 2015 issue, David Bonsey takes a look at a violin from early in its maker’s career, but already a few steps along a crucial design evolution
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Focus
Maxim Vengerov: Me and my Strads
In conversation with Sota Nakazawa, Russian virtuoso Maxim Vengerov explains his love for Stradivari instruments, and his long relationship with them
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Video
Rolf Lislevand plays a Stradivarius guitar
Norwegian early music specialist Rolf Lislevand plays the 1679 ‘Sabionari’ Stradivari, the only guitar by the maker which is currently playable. The piece is a Tarantela by Spanish Baroque composer Santiago de Murcia. Read: The ‘Sabionari’ Stradivarius guitar, 1679 [gallery]
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Gallery
The ‘Sabionari’ Stradivarius guitar, 1679
Of the five or six Stradivari guitars still extant, it is also, thanks to a recent restoration, the only one that is currently playable. Violinmaker Gregg Alf takes a closer look [click + to zoom]
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Focus
From the archive: the 1697 'Molitor' Stradivarius
This article by Philip Kass was first published in the December 2010 issue, soon after the instrument had been sold to Anne Akiko Meyers for a then-record $3.6m
