By Greg Cahill The union of strings—notably violin, viola, or cello—and piano can produce pure magic: Consider the seemingly telepathic coupling of violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and pianist Lambert Orkis, the elegance of Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott, or the electrifying…
In a generation defined by standards set by Jascha Heifetz, where does Henryk Szeryng’s technique and style fit in? By Sasha Margolis Henryk Szeryng, born a century ago this year, belonged to an almost impossibly gifted generation of violinists that…
As the music world looks back over John Corigliano’s contributions over a lengthy career, his works for strings will emerge and play a leading role.
Schumann’s only violin concerto vanished after his death in 1856, only to re-emerge in the 1930s. The amazing story of its rediscovery is told in a new novel and concert. Inge Kjemtrup meets its author, Jessica Duchen Robert Schumann threw…
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By Christopher Jacoby A violin maker is an atavist—or, as you may know it, a throwback. Mostly ignoring the results of generations of tool and technological advancement, a violin maker is interested in an older tradition, and uses tools that were…
By Brian Wise In a century that produced its share of violin firebrands, the Polish-born Henryk Szeryng (1918–88) was the aristocrat of the instrument, favoring a graceful, silky tone and civil onstage discourse over surface flash or provocation. He cut…
By Emily Taubl Joseph Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major has a particularly special story, having been completely lost for almost two centuries before it was rediscovered in the 1960s. In the decades since, it has become one…
By Cristina Schreil For the premise of its 11th album, Brooklyn Rider didn’t have to look beyond its own music stands. Each of the recording’s five works were either commissioned or premiered by the string quartet in the past few…
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By Cristina Schreil How often does lightning strike? For violinist Sara Caswell, three times. The first two jolts were upon encountering two violins: a Joseph Collingwood that was the first full-size instrument she purchased, and a Stefano Scarampella, which Caswell…
At age 32, violinist Stefan Jackiw has repeatedly impressed audiences with his unique combination of intellect, poetic sensitivity, and taken-for-granted technique.
By Elizabeth Wilson 1. Antonín Dvořák’s Cello Concerto London Philharmonic Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini, cond. Dvořák Cello Concerto, Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1 (EMI, 1977) In 1950 Rostropovich won the Hans Wihan Competition in Prague playing the Dvořák Concerto. This…
By Matt Wehling When the Violin Society of America (VSA) called and asked if I would be a bow workmanship judge for its 2014 competition, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the experience. While I had entered the competition…
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by Martin Steinberg Suffering is essential for art, Mstislav Rostropovich told me during an interview a month after he turned 75. The 2002 interview was at New York’s Lincoln Center, where “Slava” Rostropovich was about to conduct the London Symphony…
By Miranda Wilson Before we stepped into the hall, Professor Ivashkin handed out a collection of bijou chocolate boxes and instructed us to give them to the maestro, who had a fondness for candy and young people. We must, he…
Compiled by Stephanie Powell PLAYER Elizabeth Wilson I first met Rostropovich backstage at the Edinburgh Festival after his electrifying performance of Shostakovich’s First Concerto. I was just 15, an aspiring cellist, if rather backward in standard, and here was my…
By Patrick Sullivan You’ll find many luthiers in London’s Marylebone area, but one workshop there may be unique. In the Royal Academy of Music Museum, a team of four luthiers—all women—and one bow restorer care for one of the world’s…
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By David Templeton “Live performance is like a triangle.” Violist Kim Kashkashian—a gentle murmur of laughter frequently underscoring her sometimes intricate wordplay—has named her favorite three-sided geometrical construct as the perfect metaphor for the complex system she sees at work…
By Andrew Dipper In 1711, the year that Antonio Stradivari built the “Duport” cello, Cremona had suffered 11 years of the effects of the War of the Spanish Succession. The death of Charles II, King of Spain, in 1700 and…
By Thomas May Two years ago, in February 2015, Alan Gilbert announced his surprising decision to step down from his position as music director of the New York Philharmonic. Timing—obviously crucial to a conductor’s art on the podium—also has far-ranging…