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New Strings Pirastro is producing several new types of strings this year. The synthetic, multifilament-core Obligato strings, intended for use as a durable and reliable substitute for gut (see Market Report, December 1998), are now available for the viola. The Flexocor string, a rope-core steel string with a sound that imitates gut, is now available for cello. And the new rope-core Permanent string for double bass is designed for bassists who play classical, modern, and jazz. For more information, go to www.pirastro.com. Lassen Loop Is your neck crunched from pinning your violin or viola between your chin and your shoulder? Consider the Lassen Loop. Invented by Karen Lassen, a violinist and professional body worker, the first Loops were cobbled together from coat-hanger wire and plastic tubing for Lassen and her friends. The new Lassen Loop is available for $30 (shipping included) and consists of an oval pad of heavy black fabric that drapes over the shoulder, with a pocket in front that holds the corner of the violin or viola shoulder rest. An attached strap crosses the player’s back and can be clipped to the waistband—although on some garment fabrics, the velvet backing simply sticks. The result is that the instrument stays in the correct position without the player resorting to physical contortions. For more information, write to Lassen at 3856 High St., Oakland, CA 94619, or call (510) 530-1537. eBay Buys Butterfields’ Butterfield & Butterfield, one of the world’s major auction houses, was acquired in April by the popular on-line auction Web site eBay for $260 million. eBay chief executive Meg Whitman said that the purchase will allow eBay "to accelerate our entry into the mid-tier market," according to CNET News.com. Butterfields’, which entered the arena of fine musical-instrument sales last year, will continue to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary but also will work to develop a new, upscale, on-line marketplace on eBay for goods priced above $500. Butterfields’ appraisal and authentication services—and reputation—should help eBay’s efforts to move upmarket. "We believe this will enable a whole new generation of users to safely trade unique, high-end items on eBay," said Butterfields’ president, John Gallo. New Bow-Making School The new Bow Making School of America will open its doors in September 1999. The premises will be close to but separate from the Violin Making School of America in Salt Lake City. Approximately seven students will be accepted each year for the two-year course in French bow-making techniques, theory, history, and violin, viola, or cello playing. The new school’s founders are Director Peter Paul Prier, Codirector and Headmaster Benoit Rolland, and Administrator Paul S. Prier. For more information, call (801) 364-3651, fax (801) 364-3652, or e-mail karen.prier@aros.net. Sotheby’s Remodels The venerable English auction house Sotheby’s has opened a newly expanded and modernized "saleroom complex" in London, in order to accommodate the growth of its "Collectors" departments, which include musical instruments. The renovated building has been renamed The Grosvenor Galleries. This name, explains Tim Ingles, head of Sotheby’s Musical Instruments department, harks back to the period of 1877–90, "when the building, then the Grosvenor Gallery, was one of London’s leading galleries." Later, renamed the Aeolian Hall, it served as a concert hall and a BBC recording studio. Sales are now held in the main Grosvenor Gallery on the ground floor. "This is a major improvement on our previous situation," says Ingles, "principally because of the vastly improved lighting, both natural and artificial. This allows viewers to see instruments and bows in much better detail. The gallery is also close to our new department, which makes it easy for musicians to try out instruments from the sale in the department’s practice rooms." The building also has a small, "beautifully restored" gallery on the second floor. "It has a wonderfully bright, airy atmosphere, and it doubles as a chamber concert hall." A recital was held there on July 8, 1999; another is planned for the fall. U.K. Ends Classical Subsidy Does classical music require financial subsidy in order to thrive? That is the question at the heart of a controversy surrounding the U.K.’s Performing Right Society, Ltd., which recently decided to phase out a subsidy to classical composers for live performance royalties. PRS collects and distributes revenue from public performances of music of all genres in the U.K., much as ASCAP and BMI do in the U.S. In 1996 the Mergers and Monopolies Commission, a government body similar to the antitrust division of the U.S. Justice Department, expressed concerns about PRS’ "monopoly situation" and whether "the distribution of royalties was carried out equitably." In response, PRS undertook a two-year review of its distribution practices and came up with the new "straight-line system," which does not subsidize any particular musical genre. Additionally, PRS launched a new £1-million initiative to benefit "contemporary-music creators across all genres." Some nonclassical composers praise the policy change, while many classical composers are demanding that PRS rethink its decision. Opponents of the three-year phase-out calculate that a performance of a major new work may earn its composer as little as £50 (about $83). PRS claims that only 11 percent of the total subsidy is paid to living composers, with the remainder going to music publishers and the estates of deceased composers. This is disputed by Ruth Orchard, general director of the Britten Estate, who says that composers’ estates and publishers underwrite the creation of a great deal of new music. She expresses concern about the lack of consultation with the classical community by PRS when it made its decision. Stressing her interest in "how best to have an equitable system," Orchard notes that the subsidy, which has been in place for 50 years, makes up for the low concert tariffs (gross percentage of revenue)—3.2 to 3.3 percent in the U.K. but 6 percent elsewhere in Europe. In the U.S., tariff rates are closer to 1 percent, but the U.S. market is large and U.S. licensing groups, such as ASCAP, use a different royalty formula that takes into account the fact that classical composers must compete with a vast body of music in the public domain. In response to the controversy, a Parliamentary committee began an inquiry into the PRS and the abolition of the classical-music subsidy at the end of May. —Inge Kjemtrup Rocchi Honored To mark the 50th anniversary of the foundation of their club, the members of the Rotary of Reggio Emilia in Italy organized a tribute this spring to noteworthy personalities of their town, including violin maker Sesto Rocchi (1909–1991). Rocchi’s work contributed to the rebirth of violin making in the region after the difficult times of World War II. A panel was organized with violin makers Roland Baumgartner, an expert from Basel; Giancarlo Guicciardi, a close friend of Rocchi’s; Gualtiero Nicolini, president of ALI (Associazione Liutaria Italiana), a teacher at the Cremona School of Violin Making, and an author of books on lutherie; and Gianfranco Boretti, author of a book on Rocchi, A Life for Violin Making. "Sesto Rocchi’s inborn capacities, his personal involvement, the passion that inhabited him, but mostly the teachings that he received from Sgarabotto in Parma and Leandro Bisiach in Milan helped him become one of the best Italian contemporary makers," recalled Nicolini. "His curious mind was always on alert, and his receptive attitude toward young people interested in violin making was remarkable." Baumgartner was also impressed by Rocchi’s passion for violin making. "I feel proud to have had him as a colleague and then as a friend. The legacy left by Rocchi demonstrates that even in the 20th century, it is possible to conduct the activities of a violin maker with nobility." After the talks, a concert took place in the beautiful Romolo Valli Theater in Reggio Emilia. Violinist Giovanni Angeleri of Padua, the 26-year-old winner of the Paganini Competition in Genoa, played on a Rocchi instrument made in 1945. Accompanied by his father at the piano, Angeleri performed works by Veracini, Beethoven, Paganini, Martucci, and Saint-Saens. "I found the instrument easy to play, with a well-defined personality in the tone like that of antique instruments," declared Angeleri. "Playing it in this beautiful setting has been really rewarding." To open the concert, actor Raul Grassilli read excerpts of Rocchi’s diary from the period in the early 1930s when Rocchi was accepted to work with Leandro Bisiach in Milan. Two quartets of instruments made by Rocchi were on display in the theater foyer, loaned by members of the Rocchi family: they are known as the "Canto del Cigno" (which won third prize in the Liege competition for instrument making in 1965) and "Mon Amour." Information on Rocchi’s life can be found in Boretti’s Life for Violin Making and in 1860–1960, A Century of Italian Violin Making: Emilia Romagna Region, by Eric Blot (both available from Turris Editrice in Cremona; fax [39] 0372 41 30 84). —Patricia Kaden Make It Mondomusica Mondomusica, Italy’s annual tradeshow for musical-instrument makers, returns to Cremona October 8–10, 1999. This year there will be an exhibition devoted to the great maker Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, as well as a concert performed on his instruments. An exhibition on the double bass has been designed to draw attention to the competition for young bass players to be held October 1–10, 1999, in the nearby town of Crema. This year’s show boasts more exhibit space and improved lighting. For more information, write to the Cremona Tourist Office at Piazza del Comune 5, Cremona, Italy 26100; call (39) 0372-21722; or e-mail info.apt@rccr.cremona.it. Comings and Goings Robert Copelan, maker of acoustic and electric violins and violas, has moved from Lilburn, Georgia, to 2258 Bright Water Dr., Snellville, GA 30078; telephone (770) 736-1197. Dominic Excell, a violin maker and restorer in England, has relocated to larger premises in Swaffham. He now offers a larger selection of older instruments, including small-size student instruments, and more accessories. In addition, violin and viola lessons are being offered by his partner, Julia Waugh, who became his wife on June 10, 1999. The pair is now doing business as Anglian Strings and can be found at First Floor, 19B Market Place, Swaffham, Norfolk PE37 7LA, England; telephone (44) 1760-725588; e-mail DXLViolins@aol.com.
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Sesto
Rocchi in his workshop.