This has become one of my favourite cello models. I first came across it a few years ago when in collaboration with three fellow violin makers we made a copy of it as a project at the Royal Northern College of Music, which owns the original. It's a fine instrument with a rich quality of sound, and the versions I've made so far have all worked well. In fact this one is a commission from a Norwegian player who met the owner of the last one I made and liked it enough to commission one for … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2019
317: Violin based on Stradivari 1734 ‘Habeneck’
I made a violin based on this model earlier in the year, for a front-desk player in the Hallé Orchestra. I really liked the model; its quirky asymmetry is appealing but more importantly the arching shapes seemed as if they would give a violin with power, richness and warmth. This proved to be so, and being aware that it's always good to consolidate, I'm making it again. The 'real' Stradivari is in the collection of the Royal Academy of Music, and I was fortunate to be able to spend a morning … [Read more...]
