Stradivari

This evening was a nice surprise at the Philarmonie thanks to the debut tournee of the Stradivari-Quartett . A nice classical concert to finish the week-end is not a bad idea afterall. I am even surprised the concert hall was almost full, which first means it will be a good quality concert. The quartett's name comes from naturally of the Stradivari instruments.

This is what says Wikipedia about it : "Antonio Stradivari was born in Italy in 1644. He was a disciple of Nicolo Amati, of the Amati family of violin makers of Cremona. Antonio set up business for himself in 1680, though his early violins are generally considered inferior to those made between 1698 and 1720. While many of his techniques are still not fully understood by modern science, it is known for sure that the wood used included spruce for the harmonic top, willow for the internal parts and maple for the back, strip and neck, and that the wood was treated with several types of minerals, including potassium borate (borax), sodium and potassium silicate, and bianca (a varnish composed of Arabic gum, honey and egg white).
A Stradivarius made in the 1680s or during Stradivari's Brescian period from 1690-1700, could be worth several hundred thousand dollars or more at today's prices in auction. If made during Stradivari's "golden period" from 1700 to 1720, depending on condition, the instrument can be worth several million. They rarely come up for sale and the highest price paid for a Stradivarius (or any musical instrument) at public auction was The Hammer, made in 1707, which sold for US $3,544,000 on May 16, 2006. Private sales of Stradivari instruments have exceeded this price.[1][2] The world's only complete set of Stradivarius instruments (string quintet) belongs to the Spanish Government and consists of two violins, two cellos, and a viola. They are exhibited in the Music Museum at the Palacio Real de Madrid. Another significant assemblage is the York Gate Collections of the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Many people will find violins labeled or branded as "Stradivarius", and believe them to be genuine. It is believed that there are fewer than 700 genuine extant instruments, very few of which are unaccounted for."

As some other concerts you just think that the players just do their job. Sometimes it's happening. All is ok but you get the feeling that all sounds a bit mechanical. This time, no. It showed that they are happy to play for us. We had the chance as well (well not for me, I could not understand due to the language's barrier) but the good idea was to avoid us to fall asleep to ask an actor to come between the pieces to tell us stories about the composers, the music pieces, the instruments and the players. Tonight's programm was also rich with Haydn; Schnyder and Smetana.

All those good feelings exploded in the end while we applaused and we were granted of two extra music plays. The last one, I think they made real cool and sounded like old Louisiana melody because Mrs Weber was playing her violoncello like a banjo.