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Antoine Tamestit plays the Walton Viola Concerto
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AndrewH
Sacramento, California
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March 20, 2019 - 12:41 am
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This is probably the best performance of the Walton concerto on YouTube overall, with a convincing interpretation by both soloist and orchestra and excellent balance.

One interesting tidbit for those interested in equipment: unusually among modern-day soloists, Tamestit uses gut C and G strings, but his viola still has no trouble projecting in a large hall. His string set is Pirastro Passione C and G, Larsen D and A. Among prominent violists active today, only he and James Dunham use gut strings at all.

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bocaholly
Boca Raton, Florida
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March 20, 2019 - 10:24 am
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Just a cultural tidbit: The "HR Sinfonie Orchester" is a full time operation within the rather small regional TV station located in Frankfurt. When I left Germany 10 years ago, there were something like 16 regional TV stations and at least 12 had in-house synphony orchestras... and that's on top of the city-sponsored philharmonic hall resident orchestras. Just saying, the density and availability of classical music over there is mind boggling. 

Love Tamestit's playing... keep getting distracted by the white piping on his suit (count on me to stay focused on the essentials :-)

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BillyG
Brora, North-east Scotland
March 20, 2019 - 1:18 pm
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Nice post, thank you @AndrewH - not my "playing" preference/style/genre - but truly MUCH appreciated to listen to here, thanks again for the link !  thumbs-up

I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh - guntohead.JPG

Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)

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Irv
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March 20, 2019 - 6:13 pm
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Another Tertis pattern viola?  I see a trend developing.

Success is the progressive realisation of a worthy ideal. —Earl Nightingale.

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AndrewH
Sacramento, California
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March 20, 2019 - 7:10 pm
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Irv said
Another Tertis pattern viola?  I see a trend developing.  

Nope. That's the "Mahler" Stradivari viola. It's the earliest surviving Strad viola, and an exception in that it resembles the Brescian wide-pattern violas more than the pattern that Stradivari used later on.

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Irv
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March 20, 2019 - 7:47 pm
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That makes sense.  He is working much harder for less sound than Mari Adachi.  I thought it was due to the gut strings.

I see a lot of boxwood accessories on viola.  Is this an acoustic consideration, an effort to avoid weight on a large instrument, or simply tradition?

Success is the progressive realisation of a worthy ideal. —Earl Nightingale.

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AndrewH
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March 20, 2019 - 8:17 pm
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My guess is that the boxwood accessories are there for acoustic reasons, and probably installed relatively recently (within the last 50 years) when seen on old violas. Boxwood fittings have existed for a long time, but my impression is that they have become much more common in recent years. Violists tend to be much more open to innovation and much more willing to replace accessories than violinists are. The violin tends to be seen by violinists as having already reached perfection. Violists know their instruments are acoustically imperfect and don't project well, so go to greater lengths to minimize any damping effects.

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