When you think of your ideal violin sound – one you would be happy to be stranded on a desert island with for all eternity – what comes to your mind’s ear? I was brought up on the golden caramel of Itzhak Perlman and the brassy perfection of Jascha Heifetz. Later I discovered the more fragile beauty of Fritz Kreisler and Joseph Szigeti. In recent years, it seems that sound worlds have become more diverse and even extreme, with airier, delicate colours and textures at one end and sustained intensity at the other. How have these developments come about and what are the implications?
Perhaps the greatest influence has been the period performance movement, as violinist and pedagogue Antje Weithaas explains: ‘It started to change with historically informed players and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. You could hear how it was possible to play in a different way that was more fitting to the style. It gives us so many more colours and possibilities of expression. Every composer needs a different sound, a different approach. Our job is
