To Save the Sound of a Stradivarius, a Whole City Must Keep Quiet

[demmiblue]

CREMONA, Italy — Florencia Rastelli was mortified. As an expert barista, she had never spilled a single cup of coffee, she said. But last Monday, as she wiped the counter at Chiave di Bacco, the cafe where she works, she knocked over a glass and it shattered loudly on the floor.

The customers all stood still, petrified, Ms. Rastelli recalled. “I was like: Of all days, this one,” she said. “Even a police officer popped in and asked me to keep it down. I was so embarrassed.”

The people of Cremona are unusually sensitive to noise right now. The police have cordoned off streets in the usually bustling city center and traffic has been diverted. During a recent news conference, the city’s mayor, Gianluca Galimberti, implored Cremona’s citizens to avoid any sudden and unnecessary sounds.

Cremona is home to the workshops of some of the world’s finest instrument makers, including Antonio Stradivari, who in the 17th and 18th centuries produced some of the finest violins and cellos ever made. The city is getting behind an ambitious project to digitally record the sounds of the Stradivarius instruments for posterity, as well as others by Amati and Guarneri del Gesù, two other famous Cremona craftsmen. And that means being quiet.

A Stradivarius violin, viola or cello represents the pinnacle of sound engineering, and nobody has been able to replicate their unique tones.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/arts/music/stradivarius-sound-bank-recording-cremona.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimesarts

[Perseus]

1. A must read article

Anyone who loves music, doesn't have to be classical, will love this story.

[yonder]

2. K&R

[2naSalit]

3. K&R

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. A marvelous read.

Thank you so much for this, dem.........

[dalton99a]

5. Kick

[Haggis for Breakfast]

6. Calling all violinists, fans of the violin AND those who love a good mystery.

Gerald Elias writes wonderful mysteries set in the world of classical music. His protagonist is Daniel Jacobus, an aspiring violinist who, on the moment of his introduction to the world as a prodigy, loses his eyesight to faveomacular degeneration. Jacobus turns teacher and ends up solving mysteries in the dark underbelly of the classical world that people rarely ever see.

Mr. Elias was a Boston Symphony Orchestra violinist, and currently is the Associate Concertmaster of the Utah Symphony (since 1988), an Adjunct Professor of Music at the University of Utah, the First Violinist of the Abramyan String Quartet and Music Director of the delightful Vivaldi Candlelight Concert Series. He incorporates classical music into all of his plots and beautiful classical music pieces are the titles of his many of his mysteries:

The Devil's Trill (2009)
Danse Macabre (2010)
Death and the Maiden (2011)
Death and Transfiguration (2012
Playing With Fire (2016)
Spring Break (2017)

"Playing With Fire" is all about violin forgeries: Strads, Guarneris, Amatis, Rugeris and others. In it, Jacobus even travels to Cremora.

If you love mysteries and classical music and violins, I cannot recommend Elias's books enough. They are a romp and rollicking good mystery. Jacobus is a weary curmudgeon you can't help falling in love with.