In an interview with CelloBello, cellist Marika Hughes accused Kronberg Academy director Raimund Trenkler of racism and “gross mistreatment” at the cello competition that bears her family name, the Feuermann Grand Prix in Germany. Hughes is the granddaughter of Emanuel…
By Laurence Vittes Canadian violinist Christina Day Martinson serves as concertmaster for Boston Baroque and as associate concertmaster for the Handel and Haydn Society. For a virtuoso in that milieu the ultimate challenge must be either Bach’s Six Sonatas and…
Violinist Ben Beilman stopped by the Strings studio to perform two pieces by Bartók and Bach. Watch the 28-year-old violinist perform Béla Bartók’s Sonata for Solo Violin, Fuga and J.S. Bach’s Partita for Violin No. 3 in E major, BWV…
By Laurence Vittes Dmitri Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, Op. 107, was composed in 1959 for his friend Mstislav Rostropovich, who committed it to memory in four days and gave the premiere with Yevgeny Mravinsky conducting the…
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Following a few simple steps before you bid can save you a lot of headaches—and hard-earned cash By Greg Cahill Long tables fill the preview galleries at Skinner auction house in Boston, crowded with double rows of violins and violas…
By Patrick Sullivan About 40 centuries ago, Egyptian artisans started using a sticky adhesive derived from collagen in animal skins, which we now call hide glue, to craft chairs for the tombs of pharaohs. And for thousands of years after…
By Francesca Dego This year marks the 50th anniversary of Italian composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s death. I first fell in love with this composer when I performed his tongue-in-cheek “Figaro” from Rossini’s Barber of Seville, dedicated to Jascha Heifetz. Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s granddaughter…
By Laurence Vittes Marc Coppey‘s superb new recording of Beethoven’s five sonatas and three sets of variations for cello and piano (Audite) with Peter Laul explores the composer’s extraordinary, evolutionary use of the cello-piano combination. It was recorded live during two nights…
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While playing at first sight as an ensemble has its challenges, there are individual and group strategies to greatly improve the experience
April 9, 2018: Weigang (first violin), showing us the lounge life, getting ready for our 35th anniversary Beethoven Quartet Cycle in Beijing, Tianjin, Wuhan, and Changsha. Scotch is the quartet’s drink of choice when traveling, as you can see here…
By Whitney Phaneuf Yuga Cohler is on a mission to disrupt the classical-music establishment. And he already has its attention. The 28-year-old conductor, who debuts as the music director at Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra (RSO) on May 5, gained international prominence…
By David Templeton Violinist Queen Kyla is currently doing for cross-cultural musical mash-ups what John Travolta once did for Angel Flight pants and disco dancing. As the violinist of the popular mariachi/heavy-metal band Metalachi—pronounced “met-ul-AH-chee—Kyla has won critical praise and…
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By Laurence Vittes Since 2005 the JACK Quartet—violinist Christopher Otto and violist John Pickford Richards, two of the original founding members who met at Eastman, and recent recruits Austin Wulliman and cellist Jay Campbell—has been one of the engines of…
By Greg Cahill “My colleagues and I were in the process of discussing our larger goals as a group, something that we have done every few years to align our individual dreams and interests with one another to come up…
By Brian Wise In February 1921, the Cleveland Orchestra made its New York debut at the Hippodrome, an enormous, Moorish-style venue on Sixth Avenue that hosted circuses and other spectacles. A New York Times critic took note of the ensemble’s…
By Laurence Vittes At 25, Austrian-Persian cellist Kian Soltani is on the verge of a major breakthrough. With Daniel Barenboim conducting the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Soltani—formerly the orchestra’s solo cellist—will play Strauss’s Don Quixote on a seven-day tour November 5–11…
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It’s not so hard—until you hit measure 18...
The Juilliard Quartet cellist brings lessons learned from Jacqueline du Pré and Robert Mann to beloved repertoire By Laurence Vittes Before Astrid Schween joined the Juilliard String Quartet, she had already, at age 16, performed the Lalo Cello Concerto with…
By Laura Cortese How do you come up with titles for fiddle tunes? Is there a story behind all of them? It can be like giving a name to your baby. I have a friend who is a new father.…
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