I review a lot of violin related material. It's easy to find many a writer or video host waxing eloquently about the romance and almost magical genius behind the stringed instruments of the "old masters". It's impressive to think that some of these instruments sell for over $10 million. My goodness, at that price they must indeed be special and one could easily surmise that instruments by contemporary makers must pale by comparison.
I recently came across a short article where the author talks about how instruments by the old masters were modified. The former trend of reducing the size of great old Italian cellos and violas causes one to cringe at the thought of how that process must have interfered with all the care and rigourous attention to the lost art and principles that went into making those instruments. It makes one wonder how an instrument can be modified to such a degree and come out the other end still sounding better than anything a contemporary maker could produce today.
I recently came across a short article where the author talks about how instruments by the old masters were modified. The former trend of reducing the size of great old Italian cellos and violas causes one to cringe at the thought of how that process must have interfered with all the care and rigourous attention to the lost art and principles that went into making those instruments. It makes one wonder how an instrument can be modified to such a degree and come out the other end still sounding better than anything a contemporary maker could produce today.
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