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V.com weekend vote: Have you met your (violin) maker?
Last week I had the wonderful honor of spending time with a group of violin makers who were showing their instruments at a special event at Metzler Violin Shop, in Glendale, Calif.. near where I live. They were so interesting that I made a video so you could "meet" them, too - find that here.
But it also made me think, how many of us violin players interact with violin makers? Certainly, I have colleagues who are very immersed in the world of their instruments, interacting with violin makers on a regular basis, commissioning instruments, etc.
What are your experiences, interacting with violin makers? If you have made a violin (whether as a seasoned professional or a beginner) please answer that you are a violin maker. Making even one violin is an enormous achievement. If you have "met your maker," please vote for that. And if you have make violin makers, but not the one who make your fiddle, then check that box. If you have never met a violin maker, I do hope you will get the chance to do so! Thinking about the "life" my instruments have had before they came into my hands - this lends an entirely new and interesting perspective to being a violinist!
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For the Record, Op. 373: Nemanja Radulovic, Gil Shaham, Tabea Zimmermann
Welcome to "For the Record," Violinist.com's weekly roundup of new releases of recordings by violinists, violists, cellists and other classical musicians. We hope it helps you keep track of your favorite artists, as well as find some new ones to add to your listening! Click on the highlighted links to obtain each album or learn more about the artists.
Prokofiev
Nemanja Radulovic, violin
Philharmonia Orchestra, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, conducting
"There is something wondrous in the music of Sergei Prokofiev, as if it constantly moves between light and shadow, searching for truth through contrast, sarcasm, magic, love, irony, and beauty," said Serbian-French violinist Nemanja Radulovic. His new release is devoted entirely to Prokofiev’s music, including the Second Violin Concerto and examples of Prokofiev’s chamber music, including the Sonata for Solo Violin, Sonata for Two Violins, recorded with Johan Dalene, and Five Melodies for Violin and Piano, recoded with pianist Laure Favre-Kahn. Radulovic and Favre-Kahn team up once again for violin-and-piano arrangements of Prokofiev's ballets Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, and Chout; his opera The Love for Three Oranges; and his "Classical" Symphony. The program concludes with the "Grand Waltz" from Cinderella, featuring the ensemble Les Trilles du Diable. BELOW: "Mercutio" from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet.
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Talking with 10 Makers and Testing Their Violins and Bows
What an honor it is, to try the beautifully crafted, brand-new violins and bows featured this week at the Contemporary American Violin Makers Exhibition and Sale by Metzler Violin Shop in Glendale, Calif.
I went on Tuesday ("violin night") when violinist Moni Simeonov gave a thoughtful demonstration eight bows and 25 violins. (A full video of his demonstration will be available in about two weeks, and I will post it on Violinist.com.) He was truly pulling the sound from each instrument and had a consistent approach to playing each one. There was also a "viola and cello night" Wednesday, featuring demonstations by Drew Forde and Robert deMaine.
I was impressed to learn that nine of the violin makers and one bow maker had come from as far as Mexico and Canada to see their instruments played, and since I got to meet them, I thought that you should, too! So I interviewed each one of them briefly, then went back the next day to do a short test of test of each their instruments. I have stitched it all together in the following video, so you can see each maker, then hear me take a quick spin on each instrument. I hope you enjoy the result!
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The Week in Reviews, Op. 540: Takács Quartet, Chad Hoopes & Jan Vogler, David Coucheron
In an effort to promote the coverage of live violin performance, Violinist.com each week presents links to reviews of notable concerts and recitals around the world. Click on the highlighted links to read the entire reviews.
The Takács Quartet performed Clarice Assad’s NEXUS at Carnegie's Zankel Hall.
- New York Classical Review: "Clarice Assad’s NEXUS...had the players literally in motion, circling each other onstage like planets trying to form a solar system. But what the Brazilian-born composer called this group’s 'visceral, whole-body approach to musical expression' was in evidence even when they were conventionally seated for quartets by Haydn and Debussy."
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