From an unrelated article in today's Guardian (UK) newspaper:
" ... Andrew Hooker, an antique violin dealer and former auctioneer at Sotheby's, said that "only an imbecile" would buy a precious instrument without playing it first. "The whole point of a violin is how it sounds to the player. At Sotheby's I knew of Stradivariuses that were pronounced to be almost unplayable by well-known virtuosi, only for a different one to come in and buy it. The things are absolutely individual to the buyers and anyone who doesn't understand that really is naive." ..."
" ... Andrew Hooker, an antique violin dealer and former auctioneer at Sotheby's, said that "only an imbecile" would buy a precious instrument without playing it first. "The whole point of a violin is how it sounds to the player. At Sotheby's I knew of Stradivariuses that were pronounced to be almost unplayable by well-known virtuosi, only for a different one to come in and buy it. The things are absolutely individual to the buyers and anyone who doesn't understand that really is naive." ..."
Since Bose has a dip where the Lowthers may tend to peak and 'shout'(psycho-acoustically not a sound idea), I would not at all be surprised if this were the case without any trickery. Bose isn't that bad, and Lowther not that great imho.
vac
You try the test youself:
Double-Blind Violin Test: Can You Pick The Strad? : Deceptive Cadence : NPR
Double-Blind Violin Test: Can You Pick The Strad? : Deceptive Cadence : NPR
I could, listen for the difference on the run up to the high note at about 11 seconds. Difference always seems to be in the highs.
Also, apparently, there is no such thing as an unmodified original Strad. All copies known to exist have had the neck and fingerboard lengthened, the neck mortised, and have modifications to the tailpiece, bridge, pegs, and bass bar. Virtually all truly playable violins with genuine old-school origins were modified during the 18th/19th centuries to make them more usable in the larger symphonies that grew up at the time, in particular to make them louder.
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Salvatore Accardo's reply to the tests
Maybe it is useful to read this great violinist reply (Accardo owns and plays one Guarnieri and one Stradivari). This is a fragment of an interview appeared in the italian newspaper "Repubblica" yesterday (forgive my bad translation):
"It is not right to try violins this way. It is necessary to try them in a concert hall and the judge must be the listener, not the player: it is not the sound near the player's ear to be judged. Violins sound must run and fill the whole hall. When I try a violins I always have a collegue with me......."
Maybe it is useful to read this great violinist reply (Accardo owns and plays one Guarnieri and one Stradivari). This is a fragment of an interview appeared in the italian newspaper "Repubblica" yesterday (forgive my bad translation):
"It is not right to try violins this way. It is necessary to try them in a concert hall and the judge must be the listener, not the player: it is not the sound near the player's ear to be judged. Violins sound must run and fill the whole hall. When I try a violins I always have a collegue with me......."
I don't think it is a matter of scientists again violinists. Accardo only states that the scientists did the wrong experiment: the evaluation of the instruments would have be done by the same violinists involved, but while listening in the middle of a concert hall.
Can you evaluate a loudspeaker with the ear at 3 inches from the drivers?
I suspect Mr Stad has a his ideal of violin as well as other makers.
If things have inproved with age over a few centuries, base it on luck rather planning. He was a few rare people who seems to have the gift for bringing
out the best from a block of wood with his hands and his ear.
Certainly a valid point although one suspects that top notch performers must have some faculty that helps them to interpret the nearfield response of the instrument in their hands as it relates to the sound for the audience. We all have experienced the "connection" that a great performer can make with the audience - it's hard to imagine that the performer is completely lacking active feedback in how the performance sounds out in the hall, otherwise how do they modulate their playing so in tune with the audience?
Violins project beams of sound in different directions. The way these beams reflect from the walls of the hall and reach the listener are important to the tone of a Strad, or any 'good' violin. Hence, the suggestion that only a listener seated in the concert hall can judge a violin properly.
Note how Julia moves as she plays:
Vivaldi - The Four Seasons - Winter, Julia Fischer (HD) - YouTube
Note how Julia moves as she plays:
Vivaldi - The Four Seasons - Winter, Julia Fischer (HD) - YouTube
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