SOUNDPOST

LETTER of the MONTH

Impressive warm-up: Maxim Rysanov

REACHING NEW HEIGHTS

In The Strad ’s recent newsletter, violist Maxim Rysanov gives insight into his warm-up regimen (bit.ly/3At2teV). He says: ‘Normally I warm up with a four-octave scale, four octaves of arpeggios, and two octaves of doublestops.’ This didn’t ring true for me. How can you play four-octave scales and arpeggios in any key on the viola? Open C string to middle C is one octave, up to a secondfinger C in first position on the A string is two, up to C in seventh position (third finger) is three, then you can just about reach the next C above fourth octave on a good day. Now try it starting on a B…

The rest of his advice is well grounded. What resonates with me is the recognition of the problem that viola players may have in getting to the very high positions when you can’t keep the thumb behind the neck and need to reach around the bout to reach the higher notes. Fortunately, this is not a problem for most of the viola chamber music repertoire if the composer keeps the part in a more natural range for the viola.

ROGER MUNDY London, UK

COST OF TEACHING CRISIS

This morning I had a call from the mother of one of my students giving her abject apologies that she had to discontinue violin lessons for her daughter with immediate effect. The reason she gave was the cost of living crisis, and how she feared that her energy bills were going to skyrocket this winter; and she didn’t want her daughter to start the new academic year doing something that might be taken away from her further down the line. We all know that times are hard and everyone needs to scrimp and save where they can, but I really fear for the future when it seems that parents now see their children’s music education as something as dispensable as their weekend trips to the country or a subscription to the latest streaming service. I wonder if other music teachers have encountered this in the past few weeks, and whether it’s becoming a common sentiment in homes across the UK?

CAROLINE THOMPSON London, UK

THE PRICE OF WAR

Thanks to The Strad for keeping the Russia–Ukraine conflict at the forefront of readers’ minds. Where other music magazines published a few stories in the first few months of the war, The Strad has managed to sustain its coverage, most recently with the account by luthier Orest Putsentela (above) of life in the refugee-hit city of Lviv (bit.ly/3AEO0fK). My heart goes out to the more than 500,000 Ukrainians he says have passed through the town so far, and we all hope and pray, as he does, that the country can soon ‘move on to the stage of great reconstruction after the terrible destruction’.

CRAIG MERIT Nottingham, UK

RYSANOV PHOTO LÁSZLÓ EMMER

OUT OF INTEREST

I enjoyed the June issue’s feature on the Fulton collection (‘Magnificent obsession’, June 2022). What a spectacular range of instruments! I was not aware of the collector and was pleased to learn more about his life and favourite instruments. Something I wonder, how did he come to own such an impressive collection? The article says that David Fulton (right) was a software engineer – what a jump to make to instrument collector! Perhaps he simply had a lifelong interest in the instrument? He does mention that his motivation to collect was originally out of curiosity about whether the instruments could really be as good as they are known to be, but what a large investment to make out of mere curiosity!

LUKAS BILETTI Bologna, Italy

‘PRINCE DORIA’ PHOTO COURTESY ARVEDI LABORATORY. SARTORY PHOTO GUILLAUME ST CYR

THE SUSTAINABLE STRAD

A few months ago, I wrote to The Strad asking if there were any plans to ditch the magazine’s non-biodegradable polyethylene packaging. This morning I received the September issue and couldn’t be happier to see that my prayers have finally been answered. Like all my other subscription periodicals, The Strad now comes encased in wrapping made from properly compostable potato starch. It’s such a relief to drop it in with my food waste as opposed to my plastic recycling! It might not seem like much, but it’s the little things like this that make the biggest impact when implemented on a vast scale. And given that The Strad has for quite some time been championing environmentally responsible materials for luthiers (the ‘Despiau Planet’ range of violin bridges springs to mind), it’s wonderful that the magazine’s now putting its money where its mouth is!

EMILY HOYLE Burnley, UK

ONLINE COMMENT

For the past few months, The Strad has treated its online following to weekly instrument guessing challenges on social media. Our 8 August ‘mystery’ instrument was the 1734 ‘Prince Doria’ Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ (right), featured in our August issue, and followers were quick to share their impressive

ONLINE COMMENT knowledge bit.ly/3K4Lqmu

DEBRA FAIGLEY WHITED It’s a ‘del Gesù’ – the Prince Doria, I think. I noticed the tiny knot in the wood on the upper left side in a different post you did on it, and it made me wonder why they chose that piece of wood. Wouldn’t such a ‘defect’ affect the tone? Apparently not!

PETE MICHALIK ‘Del Gesù’ 1734 ‘Stauffer’

PETER RATCLIFF One side of the front is from the same tree as the ‘Pasquier’ ‘del Gesù’ which sold recently.

ERWIN LIÉNART ‘Del Gesù’ between 1734 and 1738