
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Franz Schubert

Friday, January 30, 2009
Mozart's violin

I was not there so I cannot guarantee this is correct - nonetheless, the Hill brothers from London say it is verifiable. Do you know what violin Mozart played? It was not a Strad and it was not a Guarneri. It was not a Kloz and it was not a Stadlmann. It was not a Montagnana and it was not a Storioni. It was not a Stainer either. It was a Pietro Antonio Dalla Costa. The violin on the left is a Dalla Costa, but it's not the one Mozart owned.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Cho-Liang Lin

Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Iona Brown

Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Mozart

Monday, January 26, 2009
Ferdinand David

*only Steven Staryk and Mischa Mischakoff rival him in that arena.
Violin Concertos
Assuming that the world has produced at least 7000 composers since the craft was first taken seriously by someone (we do not know who.) Then further assuming that at least ten percent of these men and women produced at least one violin concerto, that would give us 700 violin concertos from which to choose. When considering that the bulk of the concertos being performed today were written by no more than twenty composers - Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Paganini, Mendelssohn, Spohr, Wieniawski, Brahms, Bruch, Vieuxtemps, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, Saint Saenz, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Shostakovitch, Korngold, Barber - that leaves the rest (680) of these 700 composers out altogether. We hear the same concertos over and over and over and over and over and over and over again...especially when it comes to the Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Bruch, Sibelius, and Tchaikovsky concertos. Why?
Stephane Grappelli

Sunday, January 25, 2009
Francois Habeneck
Friday, January 23, 2009
Christian Sinding

Gaspar Da Salo

Labels:
Amati,
Amihai Grosz,
Brescia,
Cellini,
Gaspar da Salo,
Gasparo Bertolotti,
guadagnini,
Maggini
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Girolamo Amati - 1609

Labels:
Amati,
Andrea Amati,
Antonio Stradivari,
Girolamo Amati,
Guarnerius
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Joshua Bell

Ida Haendel

Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Nico Richter

Monday, January 19, 2009
Royal orchestras

Sunday, January 18, 2009
Record Labels

Messiah Stradivarius

Saturday, January 17, 2009
Castagneri

Andreas Castagneri was an important French violin maker born around 1696 (nobody knows for sure.) Very little is known about his life and work. It's a highly esoteric field after all. An encyclopedia of violin and bow makers is available from some publisher in New York. It sells for $595 plus shipping, in case you're interested. Castagneri built many violins like this one (circa 1740), though he is better known and appreciated for his cellos. Nowadays, his violins sell for between $5,000 and $25,000. Should you, or someone you know, find one in the attic, parting with it might be worth your while. This example is a little beat up - you can better see the scratches if you click on the photo. Castagneri died in 1747.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Tattooed Violins

Here is an Amati from 1563 – the so-called King Charles – which has been decorated. It used to be fashionable to decorate violins like this. Even Guarneri and Stradivari decorated a few of their violins, though not many. You won’t find modern violin makers doing this. I knew a violinist who had a decorated Guarneri. I never saw it because he sold it way before I met him. He got drunk one day and sold it for $500. He had no idea the instrument was quite valuable. He just liked the way it sounded. This violin is decorated with figures of people and a corpulent floating angel. If you click on the photo, you might be able to see the drawings a little better. The decorations render the violin somewhat ugly. Experts are not even sure it’s by Amati, but the back of the violin has been attributed to Amati. Either way, I don’t like it.
Labels:
Antonio Stradivari,
Decorated violins,
Francescatti,
guadagnini,
Heifetz,
Menuhin
Amati 1574

Andrea Amati is said to be the founder of what is called the Cremona school of violin making. He was born around 1520 and died in 1578, perhaps earlier and maybe later – only God knows. His earliest known violins date from about 1564. Amati is unfairly credited with the basic design of the modern violin since Gaspar Da Salo lived around the same time and built them the same way. Andreas’ sons were Antonio and Geronimus. Nicolo Amati (Andrea’s grandson) was Geronimus’ son and Girolamo was Nicolo’s son. It is said that Andrea Guarneri (1698-1744) and Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737) studied with either Girolamo (1649-1740) or Nicolo Amati. There is no evidence to prove such a claim though. They had to apprentice with someone - you don't learn to do this stuff by yourself - we just don't know who. The Amati shown here is from 1574. If you want to see it in a slightly larger size, just click on it.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Otto Joachim

List of Violinists 4 of 4

List of Violinists 3 of 4

M-R: Andrew Manze, Alexander Markov, Ralph Matson, Edouard Matzener, Tymur Melnyk, Anne Akiko Meyers, Shlomo Mintz, Erica Morini, Victoria Mullova, Irina Muresanu, Anne Sophie Mutter, David Nadien, Kurt Nikkanen, Gordan Nikolitch, Siegmund Nissel, Elmar Oliveira, Igor Oistrakh, Mark O'Connor, Raphael Oleg, Sergey Ostrovsky, Michaela Paetsch, Susie Park, Adela Pena, Elisa Pegreffi, Itzhak Perlman, Christine Pichlmeir, Elizabeth Pitcairn, Rachel Podger, Alina Pogostkina, Anton Polezhayev, Hristo Popov, Andrej Power, Hubert Pralitz, William Preucil, Philip Quint, Julian Rachlin, Manuel Ramos, Jonathan Rees, Vadim Repin, Ruggiero Ricci, Aaron Rosand, David Rubinoff,
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
List of Violinists 2 of 4

List of Violinists 1 of 4

Amati

Everyone has his favorite violin maker (luthier, in formal terms). Stradivari seems to be a universal favorite. Andrea Amati's grandson or great grandson is said to have taught Stradivari but nobody really knows for sure. Here is a sample Amati from 1560. It looks kind of crude and it is. Click on the picture and you'll see how really rough it is. Violins didn't really begin to get sophisticated until about 1600. Makers used to make them out of pine or pear tree wood. For hundreds of years now, luthiers have been using maple and spruce. Though there has been some experimentation with the shape, the violin has stayed the way we see it now for more than 450 years.
Labels:
Amati,
list of violinists,
luthier,
old violins,
stradivari,
stradivarius
Henryk Szeryng

Henryk Szeryng was an extraordinary Polish violinist born on September 22, 1918. He owned the violin whose picture is shown in the previous blog. He began his violin studies at age 7 and, after his prodigious talent was recognized, continued with Carl Flesch in Germany (1929) and Jacques Thibaud in Paris later on. He made a sensational debut in 1933 (in his early teens) and started concertizing right away, even while continuing further studies. In 1946, he became a naturalized Mexican citizen in appreciation of Mexico's efforts to take in several thousand Polish war refugees. He was the only violinist who travelled on a diplomatic passport after he was appointed Ambassador for Cultural Affairs by the Mexican Government. It is not clear to me whether he was fluent in six, seven, or eight languages. There are varying accounts. In addition to being a virtuoso of the highest caliber, he was a great humanitarian and philanthropist. There is insufficient space and time to post even a few of this phenomenal violinist's accomplishments here. I must therefore refer you to his wonderful, official website - henrykszeryng.net. There are many, many recordings by this great artist and several amazing videos on YouTube. One thing which is not well known is that he also composed concertos and chamber music. He died unexpectedly on March 3, 1988, at age 69.
Leduc

I am not certain but I think this violin is now in the hands of the concertmaster of the National Symphony in Mexico City. It could also be in Israel. What do I know? Nothing. It is a nice violin though. It was owned by the late Henryk Szeryng, the Polish violinist. He made his home in Mexico and elsewhere. Guarneri was, of course, a pretty good maker of violins. He made this one in 1743 - some say 1745. It makes no difference - it sounds good. Stradivari was dead by then and he was a good maker as well. I do not know if either one actually knew how to play.
Glass violin

This is just a picture of a glass violin - my very own painting. It looks much better in person but you will probably never (I don't really know) see it in person. I try to spend as much time as I can painting violins in different positions and colors. This one hasn't sold yet and it might never sell, especially if I don't want to sell it.
List of violinists

Labels:
fiddle players,
fiddlers,
list of violinists,
violinists,
violins
Prone to violins
I hope this title is not too cutesy. Do not read this - it is just a test while I put this blog together.
Labels:
del gesu,
gaurnerius,
guadagnini,
paganini,
strad,
stradivarius,
violins
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)