Salvatore Accardo is an Italian violinist, conductor, teacher, and author, born on September 26, 1941 (Heifetz was 40 years old.) He is best known for his renditions of the works of Nicolo Paganini. Among other schools, he studied at Saint Peter’s Conservatory in Naples and gave his first recital at age 13, playing Paganini’s 24 Caprices. At age 15, he won the Geneva Competition and in 1958 took first prize in the Paganini Competition (Genoa, Italy.) Accardo has been concertizing ever since. He has founded several groups and festivals, including the Accardo Quartet (1992), the Italian Chamber Orchestra (1968), and the Cremona String Festival (1971.) He was the first to record all six of Paganini’s violin concertos and has twice recorded the Caprices. His discography on many different labels is fairly extensive and he has also recorded for film (1989 – Klaus Kinski’s Paganini.) He has conducted extensively as well, both chamber music concerts and operas. Accardo has played the Hart Stradivarius (1727-formerly owned by Zino Francescatti), the Firebird Stradivarius (1718), and an oversized Maggini. In 1987, Accardo wrote a book on violin playing, the Art of the Violin. Dimitri Musafia designed a limited edition violin case specifically for him (the Salvatore Accardo model) in 2006. All proceeds from sales have gone to charity.
Showing posts with label Francescatti. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Francescatti. Show all posts
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Salvatore Accardo
Salvatore Accardo is an Italian violinist, conductor, teacher, and author, born on September 26, 1941 (Heifetz was 40 years old.) He is best known for his renditions of the works of Nicolo Paganini. Among other schools, he studied at Saint Peter’s Conservatory in Naples and gave his first recital at age 13, playing Paganini’s 24 Caprices. At age 15, he won the Geneva Competition and in 1958 took first prize in the Paganini Competition (Genoa, Italy.) Accardo has been concertizing ever since. He has founded several groups and festivals, including the Accardo Quartet (1992), the Italian Chamber Orchestra (1968), and the Cremona String Festival (1971.) He was the first to record all six of Paganini’s violin concertos and has twice recorded the Caprices. His discography on many different labels is fairly extensive and he has also recorded for film (1989 – Klaus Kinski’s Paganini.) He has conducted extensively as well, both chamber music concerts and operas. Accardo has played the Hart Stradivarius (1727-formerly owned by Zino Francescatti), the Firebird Stradivarius (1718), and an oversized Maggini. In 1987, Accardo wrote a book on violin playing, the Art of the Violin. Dimitri Musafia designed a limited edition violin case specifically for him (the Salvatore Accardo model) in 2006. All proceeds from sales have gone to charity. 
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.
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