Reviews: Concert

Sweet Stradivari

Classical music fans were awe struck by the sweet sound of the world's finest violins when they swept into Beijing for an unprecedented concert tour this week.

In the quiet of the Forbidden City Concert Hall, five distinguished Chinese and foreign string soloists played some of the rarest and most legendary violins, among them the 1726 Strad "Hubay" (pictured). Crafted in 1726 by the legendary Antonio Stradivari, the instrument was owned by musical geniuses such as Niccolo Paganini and Jeno Hubay.

Strads, as with the other violins on display by Amati and Guarneri of Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, are seen as nonreplicable, for the best violins were produced in an empirical manner, almost directly contradictory to mass reproduction methods advanced by modern technology.

The musicians Xiang Chen, Bin Huang, the Jarvokai brothers and Vlasova Valentina put on a stunning performance that included Tchaikovsky's Andante Cantabile, Paganini's Duet for solo violin, Astor Piazzola's Grand Tango, and Monti's Chardaz.

The sounds of the violins were so sweet, so profound and so enchanting, it was like a whispering sonnet had swept over the hall. The sounds were like a soft breeze on a summer's day, but only more lovely and more temperate.

The concert was part of these violins' first-ever China exhibition tour, which ends on May 12. Leading violin dealers Orfeo Strings Hong Kong and John and Arthur Beare sponsored the event, and introduced a total of 15 renowned string instruments.

China's collection of famous stringed instruments has lagged far behind her rapid economic development and her rising number of music talents, said Vincent Gonthier, a violin maker and restorer with Orfeo Strings.

Hu Yinan

(China Daily 05/09/2007 page20)