Worlds greatest Stradivarius player.
Posted on 01/22/2009 12:33:27 PM PST by decimon
ping
I’ve always wondered about this. Do the Stradivarius and Guarneri violins really produce better sound than what the best instument makers can manufacture today, or is it something that people accept as fact because everyone says it’s true, so it must be true? If they blindfolded a panel of classical music afficianados, and put them in a room with virtuoso violinists, I wonder if they would be able to pick out the Stradivarius violins from the other high quality violins. It’s human nature to get taken in by hype, so that’s why I’m wondering if it’s true in this situation too. Anyone who knows much about the Stradivarius violins, I’d be interested to know your opinion.
Tell Mrs. Jazzy that beer improves the quality of the WOOD!
Until this guy has actually *produced* a violin that sounds like a Stradivarius, he probably shouldn’t claim he’s discovered the secret.
I suspect that the aficionados would mostly fail. That's what happens with wine tastings. The virtuosos probably know the difference because they usually have definite preferences.
Maybe he can't but there should be people who could. There's a guy with a Russian name in Brooklyn who makes well regarded violins. The researcher should work with someone like him.
My ancestors made some of the first 100% American made rifles, some are in the Williamsburg museum. I just wanted to keep the craft alive for a little bit longer.
“Every time I go out and pee on the tree behind our house and my wife catches me I tell her: This tree will make great violin wood one day.”
At least your wife lets you get by with that.
The blood of the violin maker’s dead wife makes the best violins, don’t you know?
Apologies to “The Red Violin.”
Quite interesting
Yes, I am. And the article? ;-)
:-)
Heck I can even start a small camp fire with old oak limbs I have collected and sit around it for hours. I tell her the ashes are needed so I can add them to the garden soil.
She likes homegrown tomatoes. ;)
So one day we’ll be able to buy “Stradivarius-in-a-Bottle” at Walmart for .99 cents. That’ll knock the hell out of those 5 million dollar fiddles, won’t it!
“Most people would say the sound has made the Stradivarius the gem that it is. Undeniably, the very essence of the violin is its sound, but this ethereal commodity is too difficult to grasp. Dealers can tell you it never enters into the arcane formula that determines the market value of fine old instruments. Musicians, audiences and critics often profess their preference for a certain tone quality–a late period Amati, a mid-period Strad, or a late ‘del Gesu’–but anecdotes abound on how easily they can be misled. I have personally witnessed several amusing cases, one of them involving a concert of a famous string quartet whose players had just a year before switched from the customary mix of antique instruments to a matched set of four Strads. Alerted to this rare occasion by the press and the program notes, many afficionados entered a state of nirvana induced by what they believed to be the most homogeneous fabric of string voices. The intermission was buzzing with variations of oohs and aahs, and the newspaper critic also found it to be a once in a lifetime experience. In reality, there was no matched set in play; two of the four Strads had been left at home for maintenance and replaced with other instruments. Probably, only a few gifted listeners have the discernment to recognize individual string voices. The ranking of fine violins is even more difficult, and it requires time for a consensus of expert opinions to develop.”
http://www.nagyvaryviolins.com/mystique_and_intrigue_of_the_stradivarius.html
Don't discount the snob value. Tin eared puds with too much money will still pay for the exclusivity.
Worlds greatest Stradivarius player.
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