violin

New Release: Rachel Barton Pine’s Bel Canto Paganini

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Violinist Rachel Barton Pine tackles Paganini’s 24 Caprices with virtuosic flair and sonorous ease on her newest album, Bel Canto Paganini. The album’s title highlights the link between Paganini’s music and the “beautiful singing” melodic style of Italian opera composers like Rossini, Bellini, and Verdi. In addition to the Caprices, the two CD set includes a number of bonus tracks: Paganini’s Introduction and Variations on “Nel cor più non mi sento” from Paisiello’s La molinara, Duo merveille, Op. 6 “Duet …

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Classical Music Has Long Been at Home on Sesame Street

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In August came the surprise announcement that the popular children’s television program Sesame Street will be moving to HBO. (Reruns will still appear on PBS). The show’s nonprofit producers reached a five-year agreement with HBO. For 45 years Sesame Street has been freely available to the community on Public Broadcasting. Sesame Street‘s controversial move has raised broader questions about the commodification and privatization of the arts and education at the expense of the public realm. The effect on …

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Giora Schmidt’s New Violin

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American-Israeli violinist Giora Schmidt challenges the assumption that old Italian violins are superior to modern instruments. In 2011, Schmidt purchased a violin, made in 2000, by Philadelphia-based luthier Hiroshi Iizuka. For about eight years before, he had played fine Italian instruments on loan: a 1753 Milan Guadagnini and a 1743 Guarneri del Gésu. Million dollar-plus price tags often make these violins inaccessible to performers, who rely on generous donors. Schmidt was one of ten violinists who participated in the …

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Dmitry Sinkovsky’s Hardcore Vivaldi

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  There’s an old joke that Antonio Vivaldi didn’t write 500 concertos, he wrote the same concerto 500 times. Vivaldi’s own performances were undoubtedly infused with a virtuosic freedom and sense of spontaneity that grew out of improvisation and ornamentation. Robbed of these elements, modern performances of Vivaldi can sometimes sound formulaic, like bland elevator music. But if you want to hear just how exciting and adventurous Vivaldi’s music can be, listen …

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Roman Totenberg’s Lost Strad Resurfaces

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  An incredible violin-related news story broke yesterday. The 1734 Ames Stradivarius, stolen in 1980 from legendary Polish-American violinist Roman Totenberg, has been recovered by the FBI. The violin, valued at $250,000 when it was stolen and now estimated to be worth upwards of $5 million, was snatched from Totenberg’s office at the Longy School of Music as the violinist greeted well-wishers following a concert. Fine instruments commonly disappear into a private collection …

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The Yings Play Beethoven

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  The finest professional string quartets exhibit an almost scary sense of chemistry. This cohesiveness, almost like a sixth sense, develops when the right combination of people spend hours a day performing together. The Ying Quartet, formed at the Eastman School of Music in 1988, enjoys an additional advantage: the founding members are siblings. Only the first violin position has changed in recent years with the departure of Timothy Ying in 2009. Beginning …

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Hilary Hahn’s New Album: Mozart and Vieuxtemps

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Hilary Hahn released an excellent new recording on March 31. The album pairs Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219 with the Violin Concerto No. 4 in D minor, Op. 31 by Belgian virtuoso violinist Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-1881). In the recording’s official trailer, Hahn mentions that she first learned both pieces around the age of 10 as she was entering the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. There’s also some interesting violin lineage at work: Hahn’s teacher …

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