NEWS IN BRIEF

Editorís letter
As if sustaining the levels of excellence needed

Contributors
MATTHIEU BESSELING (In Focus, page 59) has been

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

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

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

ONE OF A KIND
Despite being self-taught and living far away from any centres of lutherie, Marino Capicchioni became famous in his time for the superb quality of his instruments, which remain sought after today. Lorenzo Frignani looks back at his life and legacy

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

Konzert
Violine

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