{"id":4899,"date":"2024-04-22T16:35:18","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T15:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/?post_type=product&#038;p=4899"},"modified":"2025-10-10T16:22:37","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T15:22:37","slug":"october-2024","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"October 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Contents:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>TAK\u00c1CS QUARTET AT 50<\/strong> This season marks the acclaimed chamber group\u2019s half-century. Pauline Harding finds out how the current players keep up the spirit of the original line-up<\/li>\n<li><strong>AMEDEO SIMONAZZI<\/strong> One of the most important luthiers from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, he became a key figure in its strong musical tradition, as Stefano Pio explains<\/li>\n<li><strong>R\u00c9GIS PASQUIER<\/strong> Jessica Duchen meets the veteran French violinist, who in his varied career has met everyone from Jacques Thibaud and David Oistrakh to St\u00e9phane Grappelli<\/li>\n<li><strong>SESSION REPORT<\/strong> British cellist Matthew Barley tells Charlotte Gardner how his latest album Light Stories became one of his most personal projects to date<\/li>\n<li><strong>THE STRAD CALENDAR 2025<\/strong> Next year the Canada Council for the Arts celebrates 40 years since the founding of its Musical Instrument Bank. Christian Lloyd examines some of the treasures<\/li>\n<li><strong>SELF-TAUGHT STRING PLAYING<\/strong> Is it really possible to teach oneself to play the violin? Celia Cobb examines a new approach from an author and teacher who claims it can be done<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Regulars:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>IN FOCUS<\/strong> A c.1750 violin by Michele Deconet<\/li>\n<li><strong>TRADE SECRETS<\/strong> A method for preparing the surface of instrument plates before varnishing<\/li>\n<li><strong>MY SPACE<\/strong> Hong Kong luthier Corvus Kwok<\/li>\n<li><strong>MAKING MATTERS<\/strong> A system of calculating the weight ratios of an instrument\u2019s various parts<\/li>\n<li><strong>MASTERCLASS<\/strong> Yuri Zhislin discusses the first movement of Schubert\u2019s Arpeggione Sonata as performed on the viola<\/li>\n<li><strong>TECHNIQUE<\/strong> Violinist Lucie Robert gives hints and tips on expressive fingering<\/li>\n<li><strong>LIFE LESSONS<\/strong> British cellist Alexander Baillie<\/li>\n<li><strong>OPINION<\/strong> How should teachers deal with parents who buy cheap instruments online?<\/li>\n<li><strong>POSTCARD FROM SCOTLAND<\/strong> A report from the 2024 East Neuk Music Festival<\/li>\n<li><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVE<\/strong> Reflections on the orchestral format, from October 1934<\/li>\n<li><strong>SENTIMENTAL WORK<\/strong> Alexander Sitkovetsky on his love for the Bach \u2018Double\u2019 Concerto<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The current members of the Tak\u00e1cs Quartet discuss the group\u2019s 50<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary and we ask whether it\u2019s possible to teach yourself the violin. French violinist R\u00e9gis Pasquier shares some stories from his long career and we examine the career of luthier Amedeo Simonazzi. Plus interviews with Alexander Baillie, Matthew Barley and Alexander Sitkovetsky.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestrad.com\/magazine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read more<\/a> in The Strad<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/account.thestrad.com\/subscribe?Sourcecode=TSPO2019&amp;campaigncode=TSSHOP\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-4908 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/2_Banner-1500x300-Subscribe-1-1024x205.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"205\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/2_Banner-1500x300-Subscribe-1-1024x205.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/2_Banner-1500x300-Subscribe-1-300x60.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/2_Banner-1500x300-Subscribe-1-768x154.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/2_Banner-1500x300-Subscribe-1-1536x307.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/2_Banner-1500x300-Subscribe-1-2048x410.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/2_Banner-1500x300-Subscribe-1-600x120.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4907,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[108,113],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4899","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-the-strad-merchandise","7":"product_cat-the-strad-merchandise-single-issue","8":"product_shipping_class-the-strad-standard","10":"first","11":"instock","12":"purchasable","13":"product-type-simple"},"bundled_by":[],"bundle_stock_status":"instock","bundle_stock_quantity":142,"bundle_virtual":false,"bundle_layout":"","bundle_add_to_cart_form_location":"","bundle_editable_in_cart":false,"bundle_sold_individually_context":"","bundle_item_grouping":"","bundle_min_size":"","bundle_max_size":"","bundle_price":[],"bundled_items":[],"bundle_sell_ids":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>October 2024 - The Strad Shop<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The current members of the Tak\u00e1cs Quartet discuss the group\u2019s 50th anniversary and we ask whether it\u2019s possible to teach yourself the violin. French violinist R\u00e9gis Pasquier shares some stories from his long career and we examine the career of luthier Amedeo Simonazzi. Plus interviews with Alexander Baillie, Matthew Barley and Alexander Sitkovetsky.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"October 2024 - The Strad Shop\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The current members of the Tak\u00e1cs Quartet discuss the group\u2019s 50th anniversary and we ask whether it\u2019s possible to teach yourself the violin. French violinist R\u00e9gis Pasquier shares some stories from his long career and we examine the career of luthier Amedeo Simonazzi. Plus interviews with Alexander Baillie, Matthew Barley and Alexander Sitkovetsky.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strad Shop\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/The-Strad\/261337077226434\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-10T15:22:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/5_Front-Cover-780x780-1-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@TheStradMag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/\",\"name\":\"October 2024 - The Strad Shop\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/5_Front-Cover-780x780-1-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-22T15:35:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-10T15:22:37+00:00\",\"description\":\"The current members of the Tak\u00e1cs Quartet discuss the group\u2019s 50th anniversary and we ask whether it\u2019s possible to teach yourself the violin. French violinist R\u00e9gis Pasquier shares some stories from his long career and we examine the career of luthier Amedeo Simonazzi. Plus interviews with Alexander Baillie, Matthew Barley and Alexander Sitkovetsky.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/5_Front-Cover-780x780-1-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/5_Front-Cover-780x780-1-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":2560},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Explore our shop\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"October 2024\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/\",\"name\":\"The Strad Shop\",\"description\":\"The Strad\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Strad\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/the-strad-shop-maintenance.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/the-strad-shop-maintenance.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":62,\"caption\":\"The Strad\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/The-Strad\/261337077226434\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheStradMag\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/the_strad_\/\",\"https:\/\/uk.linkedin.com\/company\/the-strad\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"October 2024 - The Strad Shop","description":"The current members of the Tak\u00e1cs Quartet discuss the group\u2019s 50th anniversary and we ask whether it\u2019s possible to teach yourself the violin. French violinist R\u00e9gis Pasquier shares some stories from his long career and we examine the career of luthier Amedeo Simonazzi. Plus interviews with Alexander Baillie, Matthew Barley and Alexander Sitkovetsky.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"October 2024 - The Strad Shop","og_description":"The current members of the Tak\u00e1cs Quartet discuss the group\u2019s 50th anniversary and we ask whether it\u2019s possible to teach yourself the violin. French violinist R\u00e9gis Pasquier shares some stories from his long career and we examine the career of luthier Amedeo Simonazzi. Plus interviews with Alexander Baillie, Matthew Barley and Alexander Sitkovetsky.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/","og_site_name":"The Strad Shop","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/The-Strad\/261337077226434","article_modified_time":"2025-10-10T15:22:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":2560,"url":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/5_Front-Cover-780x780-1-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@TheStradMag","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/","url":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/","name":"October 2024 - The Strad Shop","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/5_Front-Cover-780x780-1-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2024-04-22T15:35:18+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-10T15:22:37+00:00","description":"The current members of the Tak\u00e1cs Quartet discuss the group\u2019s 50th anniversary and we ask whether it\u2019s possible to teach yourself the violin. French violinist R\u00e9gis Pasquier shares some stories from his long career and we examine the career of luthier Amedeo Simonazzi. Plus interviews with Alexander Baillie, Matthew Barley and Alexander Sitkovetsky.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/5_Front-Cover-780x780-1-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/5_Front-Cover-780x780-1-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":2560},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/thestrad\/october-2024\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Explore our shop","item":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"October 2024"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/","name":"The Strad Shop","description":"The Strad","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/#organization","name":"The Strad","url":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/the-strad-shop-maintenance.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/the-strad-shop-maintenance.png","width":300,"height":62,"caption":"The Strad"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/The-Strad\/261337077226434","https:\/\/x.com\/TheStradMag","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/the_strad_\/","https:\/\/uk.linkedin.com\/company\/the-strad"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/4899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4899"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=4899"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=4899"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thestradshop.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=4899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}