ONE OF A KIND

Editorís letter

As if sustaining the levels of excellence needed

Contributors

MATTHIEU BESSELING (In Focus, page 59) has been

Konzert

Violine

COME FLY WITH ME

LETTER of the MONTH A lesson learned? Frontier

SPY STRENGTH

While the instrument cases endorsed by Francesca Dego,

TALES OF OLD

Norman Werbner posits an intriguing theory as to

REVEALED AT LAST

The twelve Stradivaris played by Janine Jansen on

ONLINE COMMENT

When news came in of Colombian violinist and

TOP 3 ONLINE POSTS

www.thestrad.com 1 Cellist Rick Mooney (below) has

Late arrivals

News and events from around the world this month

NEWS IN BRIEF

Chaos Quartet among BBC’s 2023 New Generation Artists

OBITUARIES

RICK MOONEY Cellist and pedagogue Rick Mooney has

Gently does it

PREMIERE of the MONTH

COMPETITIONS

Yeyeong Jenny Jin Emad Zolfaghari Sterling Elliott JIN

Hatching healthy habits

PRACTICE BOW FROGS

TO THE POINT

Larsen Strings has released a ‘Direct & Focused’

CARBON COPY

CodaBow has released a new carbon-fibre double bass

Life lessons

Rachel Barton Pine

CAN NERVES BE CONQUERED?

Violinist Jenny Clift struggled with performance anxiety until she discovered an unusual therapeutic technique. Now she believes that anyone can tame, or even overcome, stage fright

Serving the music

Technical level was higher than ever before at the 2023 Montreal International Music Competition, but it was musicianship that really took centre stage, finds Rita Fernandes

‘I CAN’T HELP HAVING A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE’

Only 36, Nicola Benedetti is making her much-anticipated debut as director of the Edinburgh International Festival this year – the first Scot, woman and violinist to occupy the position. She speaks to Rebecca Franks about her plans

THE ART OF CHANGE

A successful string quartet combines four individuals into a single ‘identity’. But how does a group cope when its members change? Peter Quantrill speaks to players who have survived, and even thrived on the experience

FINDING THE POWER WITHIN

Escher Quartet cellist Brook Speltz talks to David Kettle about the foursome’s original interpretations of Janáček and Haas quartets, and how the recording had an unusually tempestuous start

GRACE, CHARM AND EFFORTLESS ELEGANCE

To mark the 70th anniversary of the death of the great French violinist Jacques Thibaud, Tully Potter looks back at the life of one of the 20th century’s most influential musicians

DOWN TO THE GROUND

While much attention has been paid to the varnish used by Antonio Stradivari, there has been comparatively little research into the initial preparation layers. Giacomo Fiocco presents the results of a study using innovative spectroscopic techniques to examine two of the master’s finest instruments

FRANTISEK ZIVEC

IN FOCUS A close look at the work of great and unusual makers

A platform for gluing a broken button

TRADE SECRETS Makers reveal their special techniques

MY SPACE A peek into lutherie workshops around the world

LUTHIER DAVID SEGAL LOCATION New York, NY, US

Prime examples

MAKING MATTERS Points of interest to violin and bow makers

DVOŘÁK VIOLIN CONCERTO, FIRST MOVEMENT

MASTERCLASS

The big release

TECHNIQUE

CONCERTS

Your monthly critical round-up of performances, recordings and publications

RECORDINGS

To browse through more than a decade of

BOOKS

GETTY The Cello, How It Works: A practical

From the ARCHIVE

FROM THE STRAD AUGUST 1923 VOL.34 NO.400

IN THE NEXT ISSUE

EDUCATION FOCUS

JULIAN RACHLIN

For the Lithuanian violinist, the haunting musical language of Shostakovich’s String Quartet no.8 brings back treasured memories of working with Mstislav Rostropovich