Editor’s letterIt’s not often that a leading performer re-enrols as

Contributors(Trade Secrets, page 66) graduated from the North Bennet

SOUNDPOSTLetters, emails, online comments

Sounds like team spiritLike so many other music establishments, record labels were blindsided by the eff ect of the pandemic – but despite the restricti ons, have carried on producing high-quality recordings

NEWS IN BRIEFJan Vogler launches new streaming platform bit.ly/31gQMq5

OBITUARIESErich Gruenberg, violin soloist and former leader of

New UK artist management agency launchedIMPOSSIBLE DREAM: Violinists Maxim Vengerov and Aleksey

NEW PRODUCTSHarnessing the firepower of a legendary instrument

Life lessonsEarly encounters with nature left their mark on the Moldovan-born violinist, who thinks a culture of perfection is damaging our relationship with music

ACTIVE LISTENERFrom getting to the core of new works to appreciating her students’ motivations, Midori is on a constant search for understanding. Toby Deller finds out how the Japanese-American violinist communicates this passion to those around her

HIDDEN GEMSThis month Ensemble Diderot releases The Berlin Album, the latest in its ‘cities’ recording series, juxtaposing works by established 17th- and 18th-century composers alongside those of lesser-known contemporaries. Ensemble founder and violinist Johannes Pramsohler speaks to Pwyll ap Siôn about why these works deserve greater attention

EMPTY CHAIRS AT EMPTY TABLESViolin makers worldwide were hit hard by the Covid-19 outbreak as the customers dried up – nowhere more so than in Italy. Peter Somerford speaks to makers in Cremona, Florence and Modena to find out how the industry is gradually getting back on its feet

EARLY INSPIRATIONSViolinist Tessa Lark’s new collaborative album, The Stradgrass Sessions, brings together the musical influences of her childhood, fusing bluegrass, folk, jazz and classical styles. The project might easily have been delayed by Covid-19, but her musical partners were only too happy to record remotely

NOT QUITE CINDERELLABritain during the late Georgian era was fertile ground for the viola as a serious chamber and solo instrument – and witnessed a flourishing in standards of playing and making, writes Kevin MacDonald

UNDERNEATH THE ARCHINGSThe old Cremonese luthiers’ method of designing violin archings has been lost in the mists of time. Andrew Dipper uses evidence from 18th-century manuals to propose how they might have done it, through a system encompassing string lengths, internal forms… and a lot of mathematics

ERIK LINDHOLMA close look at the work of great and unusual makers

Organic scroll carvingA method for shaping the scroll and pegbox that can give more flowing results, in line with what is seen on old instruments

MY SPACEA peek into lutherie workshops around the world

Why varnish mattersUlrike Dederer reviews and summarises new research

HAYDN C MAJOR CELLO CONCERTORed Priest’s Angela East discusses her approach to phrasing and sound in the first movement, and the influence of Baroque and early-Classical vibrato, bowing and style

Artificial harmonicsHow to use this less-common technique to improve harmonics, hand frame, intonation and bow control

ReviewsBACH Six Suites for solo cello BWV 1007–1012

JOURNEY OF A LIFETIMEExploring the Ébène Quartet’s recordings of Beethoven’s complete oeuvre, Julian Haylock finds himself in a marvellous sonic landscape of intensity and variety

CONCERTSANNE SØE (VIOLIN), MALIN WILLIAM-OLSSON (VIOLIN), MINA

BOOKSA Festi val of Violin and Fiddle Styles: For Violin

From the ARCHIVEKenneth Warren makes a pilgrimage to Oxford to view Stradivari’s famed ‘Messiah’ violin – an undoubted highlight of the respected US violin dealer’s career

ANSSI KARTTUNENFor the Finnish cellist, Magnus Lindberg’s Cello Concerto no.2 embodies his lifelong working relati onship with the composer, through a complex set of emoti ons