More eBay Knockoffs - Now Violins

[amerikajinda]

Originally Posted by Kent Wang

Do any of them play? None are particularly attractive -- not model quality -- so they may indeed.

hahaha

 

[amerikajinda]

Favorites To Play:
Favorite Concerto: Beethoven (also Brahms, Mozart #3, Saint-Saens #3)
Favorite Solo Work: Bach Chaconne from the D Minor Partita (also Paganini Caprices, Ysaye solo violin sonatas)
Favorite Sonata: Beethoven F Major "Spring" (also Mozart sonatas)
Favorite "Piece": Wieniawski's Scherzo-tarantelle (also anything by Paganini!)

 

[antirabbit]

Concerto: Either of the Shosticovitch violin concertos, although I prefer the 1st for its extended cadenza which might be my favorite part of any music ever written (that I know of). Bartok 2 is amazing and is a quick second to Shosticovitch 1.
Prokofiev 1 & 2 are really fun to play.
The Schuman concerto: Like the Brahms, if Brahms was insane and suicidal...Dig this piece, although the second movement seems written for a piano...scales are not right.

Solo work: Ysaye solo sonatas, Bartok solo sonata, Bach, and the Last Rose of Summer (for you non-violinists, listen to this one, it is insane and fun to listen to if played well).

Sonata: Messiaen, Frank...damn that piece its too good.

Piece: hmmm, either the lark ascending, or Poeme by Chausson. Both are love music.

 

[tweedlesinpink]

Originally Posted by Kent Wang

Do any of them play? None are particularly attractive -- not model quality -- so they may indeed.
hilary hahn is actually fairly attractive, and a great violinist. her beethoven is practically note-perfect--of course the question of whether it's too mechanical arises--but, really, wow. antirabbit and amerikajinda, i may have missed it in the thread, but what instruments do you two play on?

 

[antirabbit]

I play on a Paul Kaul made in France in 1923.
I acutally tried some violins that were several hundred thousand and this came out on top.
She is very loud and kind of dark, which suits my style. She and I have learned how to play sweetly together.
You can Google Paul Kaul and learn some very interesting lore about the maker.

Originally Posted by tweedlesinpink

hilary hahn is actually fairly attractive, and a great violinist. her beethoven is practically note-perfect--of course the question of whether it's too mechanical arises--but, really, wow.

antirabbit and amerikajinda, i may have missed it in the thread, but what instruments do you two play on?

 

[amerikajinda]

Originally Posted by tweedlesinpink

antirabbit and amerikajinda, i may have missed it in the thread, but what instruments do you two play on?

I still play on my modern Italian that I got when I was I was in high school... I also have played on $50,000 instruments that didn't sound as nice as mine at less than half the price. But it also takes a while to get used to a new instrument... and I'm sure if I'd gone into music professionally like many of my friends did (not to name drop, but one of my childhood orchestra friends plays in a trio with Itzhak Perlman's daughter) I would have purchased a different instrument by now... probably a modern one since I don't have a million bucks to spend!

 

[Thracozaag]

Originally Posted by tweedlesinpink

hilary hahn is actually fairly attractive, and a great violinist. her beethoven is practically note-perfect--of course the question of whether it's too mechanical arises--but, really, wow.

Hilary was a little girl in pigtails when I knew her and the way they market her now is rather amusing--she's a fabulous violinist, of course. Same with Leila Josefowicz.

koji

 

[antirabbit]

Although I do not have T&A, here is how my band markets me:
"The ultimate anomoly....A classically trained concert violinist who works in Synthetic Organic chemistry, who can tell one in extreme detail about the Neapolitan shoulder"

 

[Thracozaag]

Originally Posted by antirabbit

Although I do not have T&A, here is how my band markets me:
"The ultimate anomoly....A classically trained concert violinist who works in Synthetic Organic chemistry, who can tell one in extreme detail about the Neapolitan shoulder"

Works for me.

koji

 

[amerikajinda]

Originally Posted by Kent Wang

Do any of them play? None are particularly attractive -- not model quality -- so they may indeed.

One of the girls is Judy Kang - here's a link to her MySpace page where you can see how she played when she was little...

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...endID=88680670

 

[Charley]

Some of you may find that this article represents an opportunity. Although, I suppose that in the circle of those so interested, this eventual sale is well known. This group may have benefitted from what has turned out to be some speculation.



NJ Orchestra to Sell Rare Instruments
By Associated Press


NEWARK, N.J. -- The financially struggling New Jersey Symphony Orchestra is selling its prized collection of "Golden Age" string instruments, four years after acquiring them for $17 million from a benefactor who wound up in jail.

The NJSO had hoped the 30 violins, violas and cellos made by such Italian makers as Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu would place it among the world's top orchestras.

But orchestra officials said the debt from the 2003 purchase hasn't been relieved by ticket sales or donations.

 

[amerikajinda]

Most expensive violin ever: $3,544,000 Strad

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2006/05...us-violin.html

Below is the blurb about the instrument in the Christie's pre-sale catalog:

"New York "” Leading the international musical instruments auction market, Christie's is pleased to announce the sale of a Stradivari violin known as The Hammer (estimate: $1,500,000-2,500,000). Made in Cremona by Antonio Stradivari in the year 1707, the violin will be sold in New York on May 16. Christie's holds the world record price for any musical instrument sold at auction with the sale of The Lady Tennant, Stradivari which realized $2,032,000 in April of 2005.

The Hammer survives in a wonderful state of preservation. With its superb outline and the use of the finest materials, the violin dates from the maker's "˜Golden Period' (1700-1720). These works are the ones most coveted by collectors and musicians for both their beauty and superior tonal qualities.

Provenance: The violin's name, The Hammer, derives from the 19th century Swedish collector of the same name (Christian Hammer). Its importance was not lost on the greatest connoisseurs of the day, William E. Hill and Sons, who mentioned the violin in their seminal book Antonio Stradivari, His Life and Work, published in London in 1909. The provenance of The Hammer weaves a story of ownership by concert artists, collectors and connoisseurs in varied fields, with a unique history of nearly 80 years of possession by wealthy U.S. businessmen. Purchased in 1911 from Hart & Son, the violin was brought to America by the violinist, teacher and collector Bernard Sinsheimer who had owned no fewer than five violins by Stradivari. The instrument later came into the possession of the American industrialist and collector Raymond Pitcairn. As a highly successful businessman in Pittsburgh's emerging manufacturing industries he purchased two other Stradivari as well as a 1737 Carlo Bergonzi and a Gasparo da Salo of 1570. The Pitcairn family maintains a legacy of music and connoisseurship. The great niece of Raymond Pitcairn is violin virtuoso Elizabeth Pitcairn and owner of the 1720 Stradivari known as The Mendelssohn.

Purchased at Christie's London sales rooms in 1990, it was at the time the world auction record for a work by Stradivari. Leaving the Pitcairn family in 1927, the violin was sold through the Berlin and New York dealer Emil Herrmann to the collector Albert H. Wallace. A resident of Los Angeles, Wallace was also an important collector who possessed three other works by Stradivari as well as a Bergonzi and a Nicolo Amati. In 1945 the violin was sold by Rembert Wurlitzer to Chicago businessman Laddie Junkune where it remained until 1992 when it came into the possession of the present owner.

Until recently the violin was on loan to violinist Kyoko Takezawa. A prolific recording artist, Ms. Takezawa is a soloist who resides in New York and used The Hammer Stradivari as her primary performance instrument.

Auction: Fine Musical Instruments May 16 at 10am
Viewing: Christie's Galleries at Rockefeller Center May 12 - 15

More information about Christie's sales of Musical Instruments can be found on www.christies.com. All lots from upcoming sales can be viewed online along with full catalogue descriptions on LotfinderÂ

, which also allows clients to leave absentee bids. www.christies.com provides information on more than 80 sale categories, buying and selling at auction, complete auction results, and Christie's international auction calendar.

# # # Images available on request Visit Christie's Web site at www.christies.com"

 

[tweedlesinpink]

may i rave a little about Gardiner/ORR's Beethoven 9th? i don't own the ORR beethoven box set (i will someday), but amidst my recent jazz purchases i also stopped by the library to borrow their copy of the 9th and i must have played the first movement over and over again for an hour and a half. the opening gives me a punch that karajan's doesn't! this thread should be in Entertainment/Culture, really

 

[Thracozaag]

My friend's old Strad (guarded by a fearsome teddy bear):

She recently switched to a Storioni, circa 1793, that she actually likes better.

koji

 

[amerikajinda]

Originally Posted by Thracozaag

My friend's old Strad (guarded by a fearsome teddy bear):

She recently switched to a Storioni, circa 1793, that she actually likes better.

koji

Which Strad is that? Was it on loan to her?