Autumn 2017
The two cornered small viola by Helen Michetschläger
This autumn I'm working from three different workshops: my own where I had two violins to restore and some preparations to do for new instruments, and Helen Michetschläger in Manchester and Philip Brown in Newbury.
Helen Michetschläger is a well respected maker of violins, violas and cellos, who has developed several of her own models for tone quality and playability. It is always interesting to work with Helen. We worked on two of her specialised small violas: a two cornered 15inch viola and a small 14 1/4 inch viola. You can see them here on her website.
At the end of the week week we had a special treat, attending a concert of the BBC Philharmonic in the Bridgewater Hall: Messiaen's Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps and Shostakovich's Symphony no 14. Two impressive works, marking important moments in the lives of their composers personally, as well as in 20th century history. Both are in different ways unique and characteristic in their rhythms, harmonies, instrumentation and text, intriguing and beautiful.
Helen Michetschläger is a well respected maker of violins, violas and cellos, who has developed several of her own models for tone quality and playability. It is always interesting to work with Helen. We worked on two of her specialised small violas: a two cornered 15inch viola and a small 14 1/4 inch viola. You can see them here on her website.
At the end of the week week we had a special treat, attending a concert of the BBC Philharmonic in the Bridgewater Hall: Messiaen's Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps and Shostakovich's Symphony no 14. Two impressive works, marking important moments in the lives of their composers personally, as well as in 20th century history. Both are in different ways unique and characteristic in their rhythms, harmonies, instrumentation and text, intriguing and beautiful.
Helen has recently also developed a sideline activity of making beautiful instrument covers which protect violins, violas and cellos from case damage often caused by the bow holders inside cases. The proceeds of the blankets go to the RAB Trust, which supports student violin makers. Dare I mention the word Christmas present? She sells them here.
I'm also working with Philip Brown in Newbury this autumn. Philip and Kathrin (Philips assistant) are showing me an interesting technique to correct the projection of the necks of instruments. For a variety of reasons the angle of the neck can come down or go up, resulting in a change of tension of the strings over the bridge and problems with bowing clearance, string heights and sound quality. The angle can be corrected by removing the fingerboard, correcting the neck angle with heat and a small wedge before regluing the fingerboard, as opposed to resetting the neck completely which is much more invasive, or putting a larger wedge between the fingerboard and the neck, which can increase the neck thickness unfavourably.
Last week I made a trip to the Netherlands. It so happened my sister lives opposite violinist and violin enthusiast Jos Schutjens, who expressed an interest in trying my violins. I took over two violins and we spent an enjoyable afternoon trying out and comparing. Jos's orchestra is doing a double bill of two operas at the moment: Gianni Schicchi and Eine Florentinische Tragödie.
Gianni Schicchi is a character who briefly appears in Dante's Divina Commedia. Dante dissapproves of him, but in the opera libretto Gianni gets more sympathy. He cleverly manages to turn things to his hand, and in the opera asks the audience for approval. The Florentinische Tragödie is a dark and intense story after Oscar Wilde, with very rich music.
The premiere is on 11th November and it will run till 28th November in the Nationale Opera & Ballet in Amsterdam. Check here for more information.
Gianni Schicchi is a character who briefly appears in Dante's Divina Commedia. Dante dissapproves of him, but in the opera libretto Gianni gets more sympathy. He cleverly manages to turn things to his hand, and in the opera asks the audience for approval. The Florentinische Tragödie is a dark and intense story after Oscar Wilde, with very rich music.
The premiere is on 11th November and it will run till 28th November in the Nationale Opera & Ballet in Amsterdam. Check here for more information.