ContributorsANDREW FAIRFAX (In Focus, page 57) attended

SOUNDPOSTLetters, emails, online comments

Editorís letterThe Leonkoro Quartet, featured in our cover story

A hot-button topicNews and events from around the world this month

NEWS IN BRIEFGoldner Quartet to disband after 30 years bit.ly/3qxEGZc Australia’s

OBITUARIESSHERBAN LUPU Violin performer, teacher and music editor Sherban

PREMIERE of the MONTHTrue to life

COMPETITIONSLuiz Fernando Venturelli Anne-Sophie Mutter Lucilla Rose Mariotti VENTURELLI

NEW PRODUCTSSHOULDER REST Separate ways A shoulder rest made

Life lessonsThe German violist on finding his confidence and the journey of becoming a soloist

Life is sweetA stay in northern Bavaria’s spa town of Bad Kissingen for the Kissinger Sommer festival proved to be a balm for the soul for Laurence Vittes

Ringing the changesMAKING MATTERS

WITH ONE VOICEFormed in 2019, the Leonkoro Quartet burst on to the scene with a string of competition wins and now a debut album. The foursome speak to Peter Somerford about what it takes to succeed as a young string quartet today

NORWEGIAN WOODRegarded as Norway’s national instrument, the Hardanger fiddle is the product of a long evolution beginning in medieval times. Wiebke Lüders presents a history of the instrument’s development, profiling some of the most notable artisans

A MARRIAGE MADE IN HEAVENA string player can miss out on the full potential of their instrument if they don’t find the perfect bow to go with it. A host of players and bow makers share their experiences with Jacqueline Vanasse and lend advice on the process of searching for the right bow

LOOKING FOR THE LIGHTThe young Swedish violinist Johan Dalene speaks to Tom Stewart about recording his fourth album, a recital of luminous, Neoclassical 20th-century music for violin and piano

Journey to a MASTERPIECETo mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Pablo Casals in October 1973, Oskar Falta examines the great Catalan cellist’s ‘rediscovery’ of the Bach Cello Suites, and the continuing legacy of his highly personal approach to the music

THE FULTON COLLECTIONThe Strad Calendar 2024 pays tribute to one of the 20th century’s finest stringed instrument collections, put together in just a couple of decades by American violin collector David L. Fulton. Christian Lloyd examines the treasures

JOSEPH PANORMOIN FOCUS

Making a mould and templates from a posterTRADE SECRETS

MY SPACEA peek into lutherie workshops around the world

KOUSSEVITZKY DOUBLE BASS CONCERTO, FIRST MOVEMENTMASTERCLASS

The big timeTECHNIQUE

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

RECORDINGSALFANO String quartets: no.1 in D major (1924 version),

BOOKSABRSM VIOLIN EXAM PIECES FROM 2024 VIOLIN PART,

From the ARCHIVEThe Strad selects some highlights from the memoirs of violinist Charles Dancla (1817–1907), recently published in Paris

IN THE NEXT ISSUENORTH AMERICA FOCUS Joseph Conyers The principal bassist of

SERGEJ KRYLOVMstislav Rostropovich had some resonant words of wisdom for the Soviet-born Italian violinist when they worked together on Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto no.1