Stradivari violin

The largest single collection in the world of Stradivari string instruments is at the Smithsonian in Washington DC. I hope they lend them out. I think it a total waste if those instruments are only on display. They should be heard, played by the best. That is what makes them a treasure.

Great thread! While my previous post discussed my preference for listening for the special tone of special performers, I have always been intrigued by the craftsmanship of fine stringed instruments. My dream is to one day retire, open a violin shop, and restore/make instruments in a room with a reference level audio system. That would be heaven!

Some of my favorite instruments that I've had the privilege of examining up close...

The "ex-David" del Gesu that Heifetz played for many years, currently used by Midori. What a beautiful instrument! A previous post mentioned the "Soil" Strad played by Perlman. I'd say the Soil, the ex-David, and the Bull Strad are the three finest violins in existence.

In terms of sheer beauty... the Axlerod Strads. They are a quartet of matching, beautifully decorated Strads at the Smithsonian. I studied cello with David Geber of the American String Quartet for awhile, and the Axlerod family has loaned these Strads to the quartet on several occasions. They are, in a word, breathtaking. The "fit and finish" of these instruments is incredible, even compared to other Strads.

As for cellos, my personal favorites are the Davidov Strad (mentioned in my previous post), and as Sugarbrie mentioned, the Duport Strad played by Rostropovich. Both are examples of Strad's "golden years" and have that beautiful golden-red varnish that simply glows.

Keep the posts coming! I'm finding this thread to be great reading!

Happy Holidays,
EWHA

Nice posts:
In a more pedestrian strand there is a very nice album by Tony Rice and David Grisman called Tone Poems that is interesting. They play traditional tunes on a variety of old traditional instruments. The notes include the instruments played. Its very nice if you like the style of music. Each musician is recorded on one channel. I have never played this cd for anyone who commented that the instruments were different without it being pointed out first. They are not playing a Stradivarias but they do play some of the finest old guitars and mandolins available and the production was geared toward highlighting the instrument's voices. Check it out if you have the chance.
I fear the greatest acoustic instruments are somewhat homogenized once they are recorded or transduced or what ever.
Great question.
cklomparens

sugarbrie: in the early '70's, the smithsonian did loan out a portion of its collection of strads to the university of iowa string quartet (which, temporarily, changed its name to the stradivarius string quartet in recognition of the great honor). the cellist at the time, charles wendt, was a friend i valued dearly. i remember how charles always had the biggest travel budget in the quartet, since he had to buy an extra ticket (1st class, of course) so his cello would have its own seat. it was always listed on the passenger manifest as "ms. strad cello." the smithsonian, for reasons i've lost in my ever-degrading memory banks, reneged on their "permanent loan" agreement and sent the strads to another group. i've lost track of these strads now, tho i hope, as you, that they're not hanging up as a static display. -cfb

Sugarbrie, instruments do indeed "burn in"; especially wooden ones. A new oboe or clarinet must be broken in slowly, played for short periods of time during the first few days of ownership; the sound then opens up as the wood relaxes. To not be carefull about this can cause the wood to crack. Unfortunately, in the case of clarinets and oboes this process also means that the instrument will eventually get "blown out". The wood relaxes to the point that the internal bore of the instrument changes, and this adversely affects the response and sound of the instrument and it starts to sound lifeless and less briliant with less core to the sound. This happens over years of use.

This fortunatelly does not happen to stringed instruments; although they do need to be broken in. In fact it is important that they be played regularly. This is one of the reasons that instruments that are part of institution-owned collections are loaned out; so that they get played.

Regards.