The young Viotti shortly after his arrival in Paris. Private Collection
Viotti Arrives, Viotti departs
Listen: 1.Jacobin or not? 2.Exiles3.An interregnum’s open space…
Viotti as musical director, his ‘bow of cotton’ firmly grasped in his ‘arm of Hercules’. The bow in this picture is not a modern ‘Tourte-model’ but a long earlier type. Perhaps Viotti preferred to not use the Tourtes, with their ‘fini precieux’ for the more risky business of directing. Berlioz recalled Habeneck’s willingness to break his bow in frustration, so perhaps conductors reserved their finer instruments for concertantes.
Viotti-Ranz des Vaches (Peter Sheppard Violin)
Posted on January 8th, 2012 by Peter Sheppard Skaerved