What Nicola Benedetti Plays
Benedetti plays on a Peter Guarneri, Venice, 1751. “I’ve had it for five years, gone through stages of loving it, and not loving it. It can have a wonderful sound quality, it’s even across the four strings, and not at all temperamental,” says Benedetti. “The fact that it has one distinctive tone makes me work to get a range of colors. My bow is by a French 18th-century maker. I have to admit that I don’t have an open mind when it comes to other instruments. The truth is, you have to really fight with the best instruments to get the best out of them. If I could have anything I wanted, it would be wonderful if my lower strings were like violas and cellos, and if my upper strings had more power.”