Word: strads
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Pablo's Strad. Slonimsky, who was born in St. Petersburg on April 27, 1894 (according to unchecked information), does his sleuthing from a book-lined study on Boston's Beacon Street. He attributes his success as a detective to his refusal to trust authorities. But even Slonimsky can err. He "feels disgraced" by the fact that he reprinted the story that Queen Isabella II of Spain gave Violinist Pablo de Sarasate a Stradivarius when he was ten (actually, as Slonimsky later learned, Sarasate bought the Strad himself when he was 22). And Slonimsky's new dictionary contains...
Secret Formulas. Most experts agree that there are plenty of modern fiddles every bit as fine as the finest Strad. Says one liutaio (literally, lutemaker): "I cannot tell you the names of my clients because they always claim to be playing a Stradivarius." In Italy alone there are some 120 liutai. amateur and pro, who turn out from three to six instruments a year and sell them for as much as $600 each.* Among the best known are the four Bisiach brothers of Milan and Flo ence, Rome's Politi family, Milan's Luigi Ornati and Ferdinando Garimberti...
...best modern violins have all the qualities of a fine Strad: instant response, no dead spots in the range from bottom to top, no perceptible difference in quality from string to string, a potentially sweet, powerful tone, and visual beauty. Despite all this, fiddlers often will not like the finished instruments, or if they do, they may not play them in public. Explained
Russia's David Oistrakh to William Moennig Jr. during his U.S. visit: "I'd love to play one of your violins in my concerts, but I must use a Strad. Otherwise, if I made a mistake, people would blame it on the instrument...