| E-mails that I have received recently |
From: Kent Smith [smithkent@mac.com] Hi Brian, I finally got to Boston to pick up the viola. It is a beautiful instrument physically and musically. The spruce front is quite a unique piece of wood. I have been playing it constantly for the last week, and am getting it "broken in". The C and G strings were wonderful at the start, and I'm finding the D and A strings changing their character almost every day. They (especially the A string) seemed a bit muffled in the beginning, but are getting a rounder voice with play. I have never played such a new instrument (my current viola is a Mittenwald student instrument from 1951). I can even notice a faint fragrance from the varnish- I'm not sure how long that lasts. One thing I wondered- what strings did you put on the viola? Thanks again for the chance to own one of your instruments! I may need a matching new bow- do you have any available? Kent
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From: Brown, Michael J. [brown@ryanlaw.com] From: Kenneth Koransky [TENORONE@MSN.COM] Dear Brian,
I writing to give you an update on my new violin, which a you know was
strung up for the first time on February 2nd this year, which makes it
barely four months old. From the very first note played on this instrument,
I knew you had in fact created a true masterpiece, a concert violin, with a
world-class sound. Now just a few short months later, this violin never
ceases to thrill and amaze me. I play it almost every day and its sound has
grown not only in size, but in warmth, roundness and sonority. It's a joy to
play and on the few occasions that I've had other violinists play it, it's
even more wonderful to listen to. The G string is dark, woody and sounds
like a true concert Italian violin a few hundred years old. The other
strings soar with brilliance and beauty. I recently had Ivan Simonovic, who
works with Rene Morel and is regarded a one of the world's leading violin
and sound experts examine the violin. Simonovic has worked on many concert
Stradivaris, Del Jesu's, including the Isaac Stern's Panette, as well as
Menuhin's Guarnerius. He is tremendously highly regarded in the world of
leading soloists who trust him to make sure the set-ups on their violins is
optimum, so I was eager to have him see my violin. He held the violin for
quire a few minutes, turning it this way and that. After about ten minutes,
he was highly complimentary about your masterful craftsmanship and perfect
workmanship He was very impressed with the precision and execution, and said
that is among the best of all contemporary violins he has examined. "Now
it's time to hear it!" he said. First he played and then I played. He
absolutely loved the tone. He said if there was one area that modern violins
cannot compete with the old Italians it was high up on the G string. Well,
La Zingara did not disappoint. The clarity and beauty of that violin's G
string even in the extreme high notes, amazed him as well as me. "Excellent,
most unusual for a brand new violin!" he exclaimed. Another fabulous
violinist who studied with Heifetz played it and felt it would mature into a
world class concert instrument. So what more can I say other than thank you
for this magnificent violin. You cannot imagine how I am enjoying it and
love playing it. It's so responsive and I am thrilled with it's daily
growth. I hope you will be in the States soon, so you will be able to hear
for yourself how much it has matured and opened up since you strung it up.
I'm also hoping to have Elmar Oliveira who I know personally, play it later
this summer. He enjoys contemporary violins, and I'm sure he's going to be
very impressed with my glorious violin.
Best wishes,
Kenneth Koransky
This past week my Tse Yun has shown me more of it's incredible versatility in
tonal colour and texture and ease of playing! In the past I've resolutely
focused on my technical development (being a late starter and overzealous).
While I remain dissatisfied with my many shortcomings, I discovered that there's
so much more to making music than just the technical ability to master an
instrument. Heaven knows there are innumerable technically impressive recordings
out there, (e.g. Pagannini caprices played at warp speed) that leave a listener
feeling un-fulfilled. I was practicing some Back solo sonata's and partita's and
suddenly discovered a "voice". I mean, as I was trying to work out the
intricacies of the individual notes I suddenly heard a message in the music, as
if from a singer vocalizing lyrics. As I replayed the movement with my focus
bent on discovering more of these messages (non-technical phrasing I guess is
what it is) the Tse Yun allowed me so much room for experimentation. Oh my
goodness it's like I never truly played the violin before. What a great thing I
have in my possession. Thank you again for your wonderful creation. From: matthews@uiuc.edu [mailto:matthews@uiuc.edu] Hi Brian, it's really good to hear from you! The violin is still looking and sounding great. The surface of the varnish has hardened very nicely, very nice and shiny, but with a lot of texture.Still in love with the look too. I've showed it to William Harris Lee, he was very much impressed with the workmanship and "tasteful" antiquing (actually, that's what everybody says!). I need to have the violin insured and he suggested that I just get a letter from you with the replacement value of the violin, then he can write me a letter for the insurance company. Hope you're doing well. Are there any new developments for the quartet project? Hope this finds you well. All the best. Jan
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