Bravo Lakko

It was the best concert I heard since years. I am quite sure I will not hear or see anything like that anywhere soon. One could be moved to tears by what the performers did even before they touched the strings or sung. Of course, baroque! Of course, lute! For many reasons...
Atelier Lakko.

Early Baroque Violins in Monteverdi's Vespers

The CD where La Petite Bande used the four Early Baroque Violins from my studio can be heard on Amazon.com

I do not claim that the violins used therein are The Correct Monteverdi violins and making The Correct violins was not my purpose. For this we have those who do not mistake in first place, and those who will built upon our experience in the future.

However, these violins do question the dominance of the post-cremonese tradition, as artistically there was no need in making violins around the mold, no more than there was a need in making cast-iron frames in industrial pianos some 200 years later. For the sound of these early baroque violins listen to tracks 11, 16, 18, 22, 27, 29. The CD can be purchased from your local CD shop.

Baroque violin is not a wooden box. It is a philosophy.

Click on the picture to launch my new Video-Audio player just added to the String Arts Studio website. Select from the available playlists to see my instruments and hear their sound.

Baroque violin is not a wooden box. It is a philosophy. "Badiarov Violins" mean a Complete Service regardless whether or not you play a violin made by me. That means setting up the instrument, selecting the right strings, artistic advice on various styles in playing baroque violin, advice on the technical side of baroque violin playing, helping musicians to find their creative selves with baroque violins. This is what musicians from across Europe travelled for to visit my studio in Brussels almost daily for years.
Living in Japan? Visit my monthly workshops for the players interested in Baroque music.
Not living in Japan? Call or email.

Updates on the website

My website got updated, fortunately, with the help of a fan who will also clean up the messy site-map and translate it in Japanese.

Violoncello da spalla: an interview with Sigiswald Kuijken

An interview with Sigiswald Kuijken (in Dutch).
This is the second violoncello da spalla I made for Sigiswald roughly a year ago. The instrument can be heard on this CD.

Badiarov Baroque Violin Workshops 2009

http://violoncellodaspalla.blogspot.com/2009/06/blog-post_14.html

A treatise on similarities between Japan and shipwrecks

Shipwreck. Three survivors make their way through the waves, and crawl to the safety of an inhabitable island. One woman, two men.
If the men are Italian, they will live in piece with one woman.
If the men are German, they will talk about the meaning of life and philosophical foundations of marriage.
If the men are Japanese, they will take out their mobile-phones and call their companies' bosses to ask what to do.

I heard this nice anecdote from a Japanese woman two days ago. Like all good anecdotes, this one too is based on truth, if so let me tell another anecdote.

The next day after I heard the above joke, a young guy said he wanted to study violin-making with me. He is getting employed by one of those huge but low-paying oriental style violin-repair shops. That's said, he would work there Monday to Saturday from early morning to deep night and study with me on weekends. All that would be fine, however Bushido ethics suppose he must discuss with his Boss about his rights on weekends: would it be OK with the Boss if the poor creature dedicates his weekends to his girlfriend, read books, watches movies or studies violin-making, and the Boss said a definitive "NO! You should only work at my company and forget about studying violin-making with Mr Badiarov. Else you will never become an able craftsman!"
The Boss is obviously a violin-maker.

to be continued :)))

Monsters: single or not?

This morning I finished preparatory sketches of various baroque monsters which will adorn the fingerboard and the tailpiece of the next baroque violin. I have not yet decided if the designs will be independent one from another or will be parts of a single story, such as the witches in Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas or other stories.

Today there is the second concert at Baroque je t'aime Club which I plan to attend.

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Dmitry Badiarov - luthier-creator

Ornamented violins

Today the body of the next violin was finished in white. The violin shall be decorated with various ornaments. Subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to receive news about this instrument as well as pictures.

Light, Music for violoncello da spalla, Contemporary dance

Baroque music, contemporary dance and light.

Working with the dancer Yuri Tanaka is a specially exciting experience. As soon as performance dates are fixed, they will be published on this blog and my website Dmitry Badiarov & Alla Moderna.

We really regret that due to geographic condition we can not at this moment collaborate with the Paris-based light designer Nagasue Ako whom we met in Tokyo last December and discussed the project in some detail in a cosy coffee shop in Jimbocho area - the area famous for its antique book shops.

The original intention was to perform the program in an art gallery, however apparently it shall take place at Omi Gakudo at Tokyo Opera City - an ideal place for this kind of re-creation.

Photograph by D.Badiarov

Recommended website on art (reviews of books and exhibitions).

Recommended website on art, reviews of books and exhibitions etc.

Kukai 空海（７７４−８３５）

"Do not try to find the footprints of the ancestors, search for what they were searching for" -- Matsuo Basho, 17th century. Really? Basho?　

Some time I found this citation in a French article about music. It was attributed to Matsuo Basho, a Japanese poet, and I wondered where exactly he said these words. Mr. Abiko, an ex-temple builder and now a luthier and assistant to much of my work at my studio was able to find out the origin of this phrase. Actually the words belong to the Japanese philosopher Kukai (774-835) (空海774-835). Similar ideas were expressed by many artists during European Renaissance some 600-700 years later.

The phrase itself can be found in his book Henjo Hokki Shoryoshu also known as Shoryoshu (遍照発揮性霊集).

Thank you, Mr. Abiko!

Carlos Albuisech - violoncellist da spalla in Spain

Carlos Albuisech just informed me that his concert on violoncello da spalla attracted attention of the national television and other media. Congratulations, Carlos! I was sure for your success!

Review in Spanish 1
& 2

New student's violin

Yesterday another student of mine finished the varnishing of his first violin. Of course, the sound improved considerably after varnishing. I played a few sounds on it and some students from the studio next door thought the instrument was strung with gut-strings - so much it sounded like gut. However, it was strung with plastic and steel.

Stunning wood for violins

A truly stunning wood for new violins has arrived this morning from my studio. The wood is so beautiful that it could be locked up in a display case for everyone's admiration. What the Nature can only a few human hands could ever approach. Lanfranco's commentary on his fellow luthiers-creators are the bench mark for my own work.

Baroque Violin No 62

This is the first of the two recently finished violins. Baroque violin no 62. 新しい楽器no62

Visit this blog for the pictures of the two baroque violins now in construction. Ready by the end of this month and before my concert tour in Mexico in April.


Scroll down or click here to see the violin 63 and read about violin-making.

Baroque violin no 63

The new baroque violin. No. 63. 新しい楽器です。本当のバロック・ヨロパの楽器は何でしょうか。それについてお話です。

"Do not try to find the footprints of the ancestors, search for what they were searching for" - according to my Japanese assistant who undertook the research to find the provenance of the citation Matsuo Basho was quoting from one of the Buddhist priests in the 17th century Japan. In Europe, similar ideas were expressed by Leonardo da Vinci, Petrarch, Juan Vives and many other Renaissance and Baroque artists.

I do not copy the master violins of the past. Why should I? I know what ideas inspired the artists in the Renaissance and Baroque periods and any luthier living in thosе periods, given one had just a bit of curiosity was able to draw from the same source.

My motivation and aesthetic basis can be impossible to understand for the "serious" philharmonic musicians who does not and cannot create anything fresh. At least, this is not on their priority list and they rarely have deep interest in art or at least aesthetics of baroque music and instruments. Luckily, among the "baroque" musicians artists are less rare than among the players with serious conservatoire backgrounds... though, of course, even among the baroqueurs there are many copyists.

I am not sure I could not be the source of inspiration for Guarneris or Testores or Amatis or Andrea Guarneri of Mantua - the concertmaster of the court orchestra and the maker of instruments for the court. I am not sure you, the reader, cannot be the source of inspiration for anyone. But if you are sure you can't, then immitating your favourites isn't too bad as an option, but I feel it is a waste.

Violin is a "story". Violins reveal their creator's personality, his depth of knowledge in music, his ideas on art and his basic attitudes to the life and profession. If it is a story, let it be an inspiring one - for those with heart to sense and ears to listen.

One of the musicians remarked on the beauty of the wood of this violin as well as on the "nice antique imitation". However, there is no imitation. The instrument looks what it looks thanks to the Nature of the wood, and it sounds what is sounds because I avoid using any modern techniques of making instruments. This maybe an empty sound for the major part of population living on this planet, but if you live in that tiny area called Europe - then you know what the Baroque wood-carving looks and feels like. If you do not - go to church and have a close look on the carved altar-piece. Maybe it will take you looking a dozen of altar-pieces and maybe a few years of looking, and perhaps a bit of reading and listening to baroque music performed in a baroque way - but understanding will come one day.

String Arts Studio - Badiarov Violins

Carlos Albuisech - violoncellist da spalla in Spain

Madrid -- Carlos Albuisech, a professor of viola in Madrid and the pioneer of violoncello da spalla in Spain gives a debut concert on the violoncello da spalla built by me approximately one year ago [picture].

The program includes music by Bach, Telemann, Vivaldi and Bononcini.

The concert takes place on the 14th of March in Trillo Guadalajara.
Click on the poster for more information.

Updates

1. Updated the concerts' page on my homepage.
2. Updated the page about Baroque je t'aime club.
3. The past baroque violin workshop participants wish the next workshop be dedicated to the same topic. The date, in the beginning of April to be confirmed.



untitled - picture by D.Badiarov

Latest Badiarov Violins

• Violin No 63　
  
• Violin No 62
  
• Violin No 61
  
• Violin No 60
  
• The 2nd violoncello da spalla for Sigiswald Kuijken ＊クイケン
• Violoncellos da spalla for Carlos and Diana
• Four early baroque geigen for La Petite Bande＊ラ・プティット・バンド

Testimonies - コメント

The sound of Badiarov Violins and Violoncellos da spalla can be heard on these CDs
バディアロフの楽器の音がこのCDで聞けます

• La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken (new type of baroque violins by Dmitry Badiarov)
• La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken (Badiarov spalla, Sara Kuijken (Badiarov violin), Dmitry Badiarov (Badiarov violin and spalla)
• Bach Collegium Japan - list of CDs (all of these CDs are world-premieres. Badiarov violins and violoncellos da spalla performed by various soloists).
• Blai Justo CDs nos 29 & 35 (number of Badiarov instruments)
  

Baroque music is a story

A shot by a fan from "Baroque je t'aime" rendez-vous on the 22nd of February, Tokyo, with the cello suites by J.S.Bach and the talk about the suites, the differences between renaissance, baroque and romantic music, and even about the reasons why do I live in Japan for the time being... that was a good question.

One of my listeners asked why does my style of playing resembles human speech - the question was particularly glad to hear. Baroque music is close to speech and the story-telling style is the style I am looking for not only in playing but in making violins too.

The following concerts rendez-vous can be consulted on this page.

Monthly workshops for baroque string players

Yesterday's workshop has been attended by six professionals and a baroque keyboard-instrument maker. Other participants were a bass player, violinists and a keyboard-player.

The topic was roughly the same as at the first workshop: strings, instruments and music. However this time we started with the definition of baroque. What is baroque music and what is the major difference with the renaissance music? After this has been made clear we proceeded on the strings and music. The workshop has been rounded up with a dinner, wine and cheese.

Upon request of the participants the next workshop shall be dedicated to the same topic, however, the next time we shall play some chamber music and work on what's baroque in baroque music. Workshops at String Arts Studio take place on the 1st Sunday of each month, however some deviations may take place.

明日は、１６時からBaroque Violinのワークショップをします。

Tomorrow, the second workshop for baroque string players. What is Baroque? What is baroque violin? What did it sound like? What it did not sound like?

明日は、１６時からワークショップをします。前回より講義を少なくし、より多く演奏をしたいそうですので、可能でしたら楽器をお持ち下さい。沢山演奏しましたらまた食事に致します。
コーカサス地方のピラフを作る予定です。餅米にチキン、人参、ガーリックが入っています。今回は人数が少ないため、持ち寄りではありません。

それから、今家の前を１７時ごろまで下水工事をしています。
（今日は１６時ごろ終わっていましたが・・）角には、ショベルカーが停まっているので、工事が終わっていたとしても１台分しか停めれないと思います。

停めれない場合、野猿街道からサイゼリアの横を入って突き当たりを右（野猿から３本目）に行った所で停めれます。突き当たりが森の中の神社で、反対側が公園です。道路もわりと広く車通りがすくないので、私も工事期間は停めたりしています。地図では、○が列んでいろ所です。左上の○一つの家がうちです.

Creating a model on the fly

Yesterday one of my students was going to make a violin scroll but there was no suitable model because I forgot to bring my own. It was a good moment to put into practice the "vague" influence of various European traditions on early violin-making (that is the violin-making prior to the French revolution). I took out a sheet of paper and the model for the scroll was drawn before the student finished his cigarette. Since it came out really good, I asked my student to make a photocopy for me... a joke, of course. It takes a few more cigarettes to draw an entire violin (pictures: some time later; or download my almost 10-years old art-magazine article... my methods might have changed, but the basic idea remains unchanged - only polished by more experience).

The French revolution and the following collapse of the previous culture effectively put an end to instrument making as art. Soon after the revolution musicians were not able to make music. They were trained to re-produce objectively and faithfully the printed text, without alterations of rhythm, let alone adding notes or dynamics (rarely written in Baroque music anyway). That influenza spread to all areas of art and violin-making suffered together with all the rest.

Violin-makers were expected to produce copies of the examples selected by the romantics to the tenths of millimeters (because the examples, like the notes, were created by "Geniuses"). Luthiers lost the ability to produce their models or even understand the nature of ideas that once created them. Today instruments are made from photographs cut out from glossy magazines such as The Strad (check your local luthier's shop).

The next workshop for baroque violin players: 03.03.2009, 16:00-23:00+

03.03.2009 - そろそろ - the monthly workshop for baroque string players at String Arts Studio (ひな祭りの日)！１６：００から...
Topic: what did baroque violin sound like,
What did it never sound like etc.
Practical workshop.