Word: stradivaris
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...designed drill, he bored small, cone-shaped holes in the undersides of the bridges of several string instruments; these holes, says Starker, act like tiny megaphones and "dramatically" amplify the quantity and quality of the tone. So far, he has applied his treatment to 50 string instruments, including the Stradivari played by Chicago Symphony Associate Concertmaster Victor Aitay, who says it has made a "tremendous difference." Starker has applied for a patent for his technique, plans to market the Starker Bridge in six weeks for about...
...much ice with many performers, if only because musicians have a habit of disagreeing on almost every notion concerning their instruments, especially violins. Fiddle players agree on one important fact, however: the finest violins are the Cremona instruments made by Joseph Guarneri del Gesù (1698-1744) and Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737). There are only about 150 Guarneri and 550 Strads still in existence, and they sell today for $30,000 to $100,000. Most violinists cannot afford that kind of money...
Died. Gertrude Clarke Whittall, 97, Washington patron of the arts who, after the death of her husband, wealthy Rug Manufacturer Matthew Whittall, in 1922, began the first of many endowments by presenting five priceless Stradivari instruments and Tourte bows to the Library of Congress, at the same time establishing a $1,225,000 Whittall Foundation to sponsor concerts (admission price: 25?) at which they would be played, and in later years a $644,000 Whittall Poetry and Literature Fund for readings and lectures; of complications following a hip injury; in Washington...
...peak did I recall the national anthem." Returning to his cello, he found it like "a piece of furniture I had never seen before . . . Its import seemed pale in comparison to the reception of my conducting." Disturbed that "the little baton had such an easy victory over my Stradivari," he has resisted the spell of the magic wand ever since...
When Antonio Stradivari died in Cremona, Italy in 1737, he left behind him an estimated 1,100 masterfully constructed stringed instruments, of which perhaps 600 that have any claim to his name exist today. Every violin virtuoso, concertmaster and well-heeled amateur in the world has wanted to own an instrument by the famed Cremona fiddlemaker. The supply, while never plentiful, has surprisingly never been exhausted, and last week the proceedings of a Swiss court pointed to the reason why: buyers of supposed Strads and other instruments with great Cremona labels have been the victims of a traffic in fake...