May-2014
Violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg talks about her multifaceted career and the Kronos Quartet looks back on 40 years at the cutting edge of contemporary music. Teachers discuss ways of preparing their students for orchestral auditions and we investigate the complex world of insurance for players and makers. Plus, Peter Herresthal gives a Masterclass on Thomas Adès.
March-2014
We investigate Berlin’s burgeoning chamber music scene in a German-themed issue, and find out why the nation’s music schools are so highly regarded. String players and luthiers remember the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and Antoine Tamestit gives a Masterclass on Bach. Plus, cellist Jan Vogler’s practice diary and an in-depth interview with the Mandelring Quartet
January 2024
We examine the 1713 ‘Boissier, Sarasate’ violin by Antonio Stradivari and chat to young virtuoso cellist Zlatomir Fung. There’s a look at how Maud Powell championed the Sibelius Violin Concerto in the US, and Carolin Widmann reveals her Life Lessons. Plus a Mozart Masterclass with Dmitry Sitkovetsky
Read more in The Strad
September-2020
August-2020
November-2019
October-2019
Raphael Wallfisch marks the centenary of Elgar's Cello Concerto with the story of the work's composition, premiere and subsequent interpretations. Plus we speak to the Kuss Quartet about performing Beethoven on the 'Paganini' set of Stradivaris, and investigate how instrument set-up can affect sound.
March-2019
June-2018
We complete our analysis of the ‘Vieuxtemps’ Guarneri, with Anne Akiko Meyers’ views on playing the priceless violin. There’s a look at the pitfalls of playing outdoors, we go in search of Stradivari’s ‘lost’ mould, and Kyung Wha Chung gives her Life Lessons.
Plus Accessories 2018: your guide to strings, bridges, rosin, pickups, and much more.
May-2018
December-2017
Buy the December 2017 issue of The Strad. Includes focus on Stradivari's final years and the turbulent social and political times in Cremona from 1702 to 1737.
Plus Renaud Capuçon on teaching; Steven Isserlis’ trench cello; double bassist Barry Guy; Dragonetti’s Gasparo da Salò bass and its seismic effect on English luthiery; Trondheim Chamber Music Festival; an 1856 violin by Giuseppe Rocca; luthiers David Finck and Eric Benning; exercises to release tension and improve movement; Daniel Müller-Schott on Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto
July-2016
Chamber music tutor Tim Frederiksen discusses putting together string quartets and we examine the history of violin making in Amsterdam. Joshua Bell and Steven Isserlis discuss their latest collaboration, and there’s an In Focus on a Stradivari cello. Plus bassist Dan Styffe on Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel.
May-2016
In a special edition to mark the 100th anniversary of Yehudi Menuhin’s birth, we ask some of the people who knew him best fr their memories of the great violinist. We also explore Menuhin’s photo archive and examine his favourite instrument, the ‘Lord Wilton’ Guarneri. Plus two free supplements: Cremona 2016 and Degrees, your guide to string teaching courses around the world.
December-2015
Baroque violinist Rachel Podger discusses the perils of scordatura and we a late-period Guarneri violin comes under scrutiny. Christian Tetzlaff completes his Masterclass on Beethoven, there’s a Kodály retrospective and double bassist DaXun Zhang gives his Practice Diary. Plus Jan Vogler on Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations
September-2015
Violinist Nicola Benedetti discusses her work with young players in our education special, while recent competition winners discuss their practice methods. We look back at the life and teaching style of luthier Peter Paul Prier, and Roby Lakatos gives a guide to gypsy fiddling. Plus Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson on the Brahms ‘Double’
August-2015
We talk to Itzhak Perlman, 70 this month, and investigate the story of America’s first female violin maker. Lynn Harrell gives a guide to resonant cello sound, and Rachel Barton Pine explains why Mozart’s Third Violin Concerto is her ‘good friend’. Plus a Masterclass on Brahms’s Viola Sonata and a tribute to Lindsay Quartet co-founder Peter Cropper.
June-2015
We talk to the Carducci Quartet about its upcoming Shostakovich quartet cycle, and examine the career of Gregor Piatigorsky. There’s a report on how acting techniques can benefit string players, and the second of two articles on the Andrea Amati ‘King’ cello. Plus Hilary Hahn on Vieuxtemps, Christian Tetzlaff on Beethoven, and a celebration of Leopold Auer’s life and career.
April-2015
Simon Rattle discusses the Berlin Philharmonic’s characteristic string sound in a German speical, which also includes articles on cellist Anja Thauer and the development of instruments in Markneukirchen. Alban Gerhardt discusses playing Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, Tabea Zimmermann gives a Masterclass on Hindemith and there’s a guide to double bass bowing from Jeff Bradetich. Plus Sarah Chang’s practice diary.
January-2015
December-2014
We interview Korean violinist Kyung Wha Chung and examine a 1767 violin by José Contreras, described by some as ‘the Spanish Stradivari’. Russian pedagogue Maya Glezarova recalls her 70 years of teaching, and Augustin Dumay and Louis Lortie reflect on performing as a duo. Plus a Dvořák Masterclass with 14 audio examples
October-2014
A Girolamo Amati contralto viola reveals its secrets in an extensive study, and we talk to US quartet Brooklyn Rider about its latest multidisciplinary project. We examine the legacy of French violinist–composer Jean-Marie Leclair and there’s a Masterclass on Rimsky-Korsakov. Plus mutes, chin rests, violin cases and carbon-fibre bows in Accessories 2014.
