Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Joshua Bell - on the Vieuxtemps Guarneri










Source: Progressive Art Laboratory Length: 4min 42sec
 theguardian.com
 Monday 5 July 2010

Grammy award-winning violinist Joshua Bell discusses what it feels like to play a 
Guarneri del Gesù violin once owned by composer Henri Vieuxtemps

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One of the last violins to be created by the master, Giuseppe Antonio Guarneri,  Vieuxtemps Guarneri, made in 1741 three years before his death.

it has been played in concert halls around the world by some of the greatest virtuosi of its 269-year existence. It is named after Henri Vieuxtemps, a 19th-century musician who composed solo pieces for violin which he performed using the instrument.
More recently, it has passed through the hands of Yehudi Menuhin, Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman.
Excerpt above taken from The Guardian, Tuesday 6 July 2010.
© 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

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It's interesting to hear him speak on how he feels previous owners leave their imprint on the instrument.

"I think there may be a physical element to having a great violinist like Vieuxtemps playing on an instrument like that, I think they leave their imprint on the instrument.. maybe scientists will figure out exactly how that works.. When someone plays on it in a particular way, plays it in tune and really milks the violin for what it's worth for many many years, i think it really makes the violin in some way what it is. 
I don't think it's a coincidence that the violin sounds as great as it does…" Joshua Bell

Finding it fascinating, I could not resist sharing this short video here.
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dVb


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