News
Monteverdi’s violins brought back to life 27.10.05
A pair of historical violins built especially for our Monteverdi Vespers
Gabrieli violinists Catherine Martin and Oliver Webber commissioned luthier George Stoppani, with the help of a loan from the Gabrieli Trust, to build a pair of violins from models Claudio Monteverdi would have known and used. Oliver Webber said
"We have always gone to great lengths within the Gabrieli stable to ensure that we play on instruments as closely matched to historical models as possible. This is not for the sake of ‘authenticity’ or ‘correctness’, but because we have always found that when we do so the music speaks that much more strongly to us, and the idioms and expression of the period come more naturally to our fingers."
These new (old!) instruments were first used in concert at Christ Church, Spitalfields, London for performances of Monteverdi’s Vespers 1610 which was subsequently recorded for Deutsche Gramophon and is due for release in the Autumn of 2006. For more information about this special project please see the special website dedicated to the Monteverdi violins. http://www.themonteverdiviolins.org