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Avi Avital's version of Beethoven's Adagio with harpsichord in E-flat major kicks off today's Performance Today. A harp subs for harpsichord. https://www.yourclassical.org/episode/2023/06/26/pt

This is a history of early New Orleans jazz that came out in 2008. I'm only a third of the way through it and have some mixed feelings about it overall. It could only have been written by Charters,...

Thanks, Allen. I've got a local luthier who might have just the thing in his parts bin. The price on this one defied inflation—it listed for $200—which is why I couldn't pass it up. Wasn't even...

I think Mike is right on the money. I have a similar one with the same kind of artwork on the back. When it came to me, it lacked a head and the person who had it intended to make a flower pot out of...

That's certainly something I would be interested in. At least the outline of your approach seems sound. The one thing I might question is whether you would really want to pitch it to users who have...

So, in 1921, gauges were much lighter. Structurally, as long as the instrument doesn't have structural issues, it can definitely handle that gauge. I bought an earlier 1910 F-4 that had been strung...

That Courante was really nicely done! The tone of your instrument is very clear. I'm working on this same suite but have a long way to go.

Nice voice on that one!

I think the word "Larson" should be changed to "MacGuffin." In many Hitchcock movies, and other thrillers (and, as Wikipedia points out, the holy grail in Arthurian legend), it's an object or device...

While I've heard reports that reverb.com has had more quality-control issues in recent times, I've had good experiences buying (and selling) on the site. Owned and run by Chicago Music Exchange, it...

I agree with Victor. That headstock shape is characteristic of late-nineteenth- to early-twentieth-century Lyon & Healey models. If memory serves, the alternating rosewood and maple ribs were...

A recording of Avi Avital playing Bach's Sonata in E minor back by harpsichord is featured on the April 3 Performance Today program. For your listening pleasure (click the Hour One link):...

Whew! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_LhXKBSNi8

In my posting, I was going to add "I think Allen Hopkins might be one of very few owners of these instruments (and plays it regularly). Hope he weighs in." Glad you did!

Avi Avital takes on the Chaconne from Bach's Partita no. 2 in the July 18 edition of Performance Today. It's at the end of hour one on the website (some nice playing from guys named Thile and Ma...

BTW, that's not a Gibson L5 Django is sporting. It's a Swedish-made Levin archtop, and went up for auction last May. Not sure of the result, however....

Some interesting reading on the history of music in Boston, highlighting the contributions of Oliver Ditson (only natural, since the book was a product of the Ditson Company, now available for free...

I second Jim on the possible German origins of mandolin no. 1. The binding and pickguard are very similar to many versions made in the Markneukirchen region for several decades in the twentieth...

Oh, so that's what "overall wear" means. No wonder some would rather bid on Bill Monroe's toaster.

Thanks, Martin, for bringing such interesting repertoire to light and always having such high standards.Your work is an inspiration!

No, I'm trying to play the Allemande from Cello Suite no. 3 in that pic. That wasn't the first (or last) grimace!

The guy who refinished mine found two layers before getting to the original finish, which he said had been black. I thought about getting something closer to a restoration than a refinishing, but its...

Perhaps this is a question for a luthier, but do the reasons Jennifer Stumm gives for calling her viola an imperfect instrument apply to the mandola? I love this video and think that I love my...

Here's a pic of me and my 1913 (ser. no. 15250, if I'm reading faint pencil marks correctly) Gibson K-2 mandocello. It had to be refinished, since when it came to me, it had a heavy black lacquer on...

Thanks, Allen! I really appreciate the insight. Yes, 44 ribs.