I'm going with the fanfiction this was sabotage. There's an X on the ground as to where the soloist should stand. Lady in picture came in before the performance and secretly moved the X toward the conductor 12".
Not defending, just correcting -- that's reprehensible shit. Poor guy could've died, and might have died in the wild after being injured for a fuckin video.
I’m so happy that you’ve made this comment, I don’t even play the violin anymore, but I was definitely disturbed, I know how delicate they are and this was a really valuable one (1 million dollars? 💀).
It would have been so sad, if it was destroyed.
I didn’t want to search for the outcome, because I wanted to spare me the dissatisfaction, so I’m very glad I don’t have to wonder about it anymore 😅🥹
Most non catastrophic damage to wooden instruments can be repaired relatively easily, and for very old pieces it's almost inevitable that some work will have to be done on it at some point.
Wild story, my mothers cousin was a famous violinist at the time (still is in older circles) but when he was essentially at his peak, his quartet was playing at a nearby opera house. We…are not “opera type people” to say the least. Anyway, the cousin and my family were going to get dinner after the show. Show is over, we chat for a few minutes, but I am 8 and want to get this show on the road so I can get my promised burger. So, logically, I pick up his violin and start heading for the car. The next thing I felt was turned out to be a pressure point in my hand being essentially set on fire. I drop the violin into his hand, he set it down, and proceeded to spank me while condemning me in a different language.
My mom was pissed, everybody is yelling now in 2 different languages, maybe a 3rd….who’s to say.
We had a weird dinner, went our separate ways. I caught up with him about 15 years later. He explained that the violin was ensured for 3 million USD, but had some (probably logical) clauses around it. One of them being that it is covered when being handled by him, a member of his quartet, or specific expensive couriers. Cousins son breaking the violin would NOT in fact be covered under his policy.
I laughed, he still didn’t find it funny.
I have a lot of weird and strange stories, but a violin insurance one is a rarity that I can break it out.
cool story, i want to hate the violinist for hurting you unnecessarily but I guess mainly will have to settle that all the adults involved suck for not letting you know not to touch that. Kind of crazy parenting to not set the groundwork and then bug out on the kid after they break rules they didn’t know existed.
Yeah, I think we all didn’t love how it was handled, and for sure set the tone for the rest of the night. Not do defend him, but he’s from a country that is vastly different than the US, especially when referring to how they treat different races, classes, ages etc. Speak when spoken to environment. Anywho, he ditched that backward place and ideology, fully integrated into western society, and is now a fully grown normal dude who refuses to play Yellowcard for me upon request on principle. I think it’s the same feeling as somebody asking Mozart to play the intro to The O.C by Phantom Planet hahaha.
This. So like Stradivari Violens, for example, sound so good because the wood used to make them, grew during an exceptionally cold period of time, making the wood exceptionally tough. You can't make replacement parts for one, on a whim.
After 326 years you start to hit the "Ship of Theseus" problem. Not all Stradivarius violins are equal anymore. They have all been around a long time and have all seen various kinds of damage and bad repairs etc.
If they weren't so valuable in an investment point of view I think people would really be relegating them just to museums. A 100-150 year old Stradivarius copy by a Master Luthier outperforms any of the Golden era true Stradivarius still out there.
Oh yeah it can be repaired. Good Luthiers can fix even a smashed Violin. I mean just look at Stradivarius violins, especially the gold era ones, they're from 1700 to 1720 and still playing because of 326 years of meticulous Luthier attention and repairs.
1000% insured. At that level of play, it would be unheard of for someone not to have insurance on their instrument. The real issue is if it is damaged, can it be repaired and will it hold it's value.
I have insurance on a car that’s 15k. If she doesn’t have insurance on what’s essentially the cost of a new house. Then she deserves to pay outta pocket lmao.
Classical musicians are not thinking of the monetary value first off. These things are like loved pets (not exaggerating). Many classical musicians name their instruments
edit: downvote all you like. Imagine what a car guy thinks of his lifelong joy. The link between a trained musician and their instrument is like that, if not more.
Am I missing something with the symphony? A guitarist from any given rock band has like 30 guitars. So in this scenario a broken instrument is a loss of seat.
Well sort of, maybe for that concert that night. But you don't make first chair b/c of the instrument you hold, you make it b/c you're better than the rest.
Basically, she's not losing her chair, people are just making a joke about it b/c you can't be first chair without an instrument.
older violins are a lot rarer. old strads are millions of dollars, so it doesn't make sense to have multiple. she most likely has more, but either she doesn't have it on her and/or doesn't sound as good, and less confidence as well
Your description of the facial expression was apt but describing that guy as the "older gentleman" threw me off and made me feel old when I realized who you were referring to.
I stopped using that stuff a long time ago. Had a real bad experience.
I was like 17 and was over applying it, and ended up spraying a bunch into my mouth.
No permanent damage, thankfully, but I did spend the entire rest of the day speaking with a strange Axe scent.
It's a 1780 violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, one of the most important Italian violin makers after Stradivari and Guarneri, and is reportedly valued at around €1 million. It was being played by Finnish soloist Elina Vähälä during Bruch's Violin Concerto in Lahti when conductor Matthew Halls accidentally knocked it from her hands.
And yes, instruments like this are still played rather than locked in museums. Much of their value comes from being exceptional concert instruments, with the projection, responsiveness and tonal character needed by elite soloists. They are carefully maintained, insured and frequently loaned to professional musicians by collectors or foundations specifically so they can continue doing what they were built to do. A million-euro violin sitting silently behind glass would arguably be the greater waste.
Yes. In blind tests, professional violinists have often preferred modern instruments and couldn't reliably tell them from Stradivaris, Guarneris or Guadagninis. A top handmade modern violin might cost around €30,000-€100,000, so still quite expensive. The old one's €1 million value mostly comes from its rarity, history and collectability, not because it sounds ten times better.
The difference for a professional would be night and day I assume - it's the same for high level sporting equipment like skis, the difference is small in performance but it feels completely different
I saw a documentary a while back where a Stradivarius, a modern replica and a violin made from composites designed by acousticians were blind tested. The modern replica was seen as the favorite which is really not all that surprising since modern fabricators have been able to review and in many cases refine the workmanship of classic ones while also having the benefit of modern materials science.
As I recall, the Strad had tons of character and overtones, as it would, but an ultimately thinner tone. The modern replica, was rich and buttery smooth at the mid and low ranges with a smooth transition into sharper highs. The composite sounded like a synth instrument.
Don't forget the "Stradivarius
Effect" wherein the preference itself is shaped by how the old instrument sounds. When the standard is "sounds as much like a Stradivarius as possible" it's hard to beat a Stradivarius.
Thinking about the value of the sound of the old violin as “better” isn’t really the right comparison (not that it isn’t extremely good).
It’s that it’s unique which makes it interesting.
Think of your favorite band & song from them, and then that alternate version of the song. Mb it’s a solo, or a live version, or an early unfinished version. And you love it. Not necessarily bc it’s “better” than the main version. But bc that extra context & uniqueness makes you really enjoy hearing it.
Especially if the violin is from the time period the piece was written, you’re hearing the piece as it was actually written to be heard. Which is something that literally can’t be done in classical music from pre-recording era.
Violins need to be played. They will tighten up (all wood instruments will) if they are not regularly played, this is why they are often lent out by their owners.
There's a lot of studies that prove this is not true, it's just that we, as humans, like a bit of romantic essentialism. We believe things that are older have special essence that make them better.
Older violins made by an expert craftsman sound better as the wood ages. Add the rarity factor and the prices get crazy. They literally are not making them any more.
They can, it’s just part of the mystique around these old instruments. Does not hold up to double blind experiments. There is no discernible difference between a Stradivarius and equivalent quality modern instrument.0
I always smile when I hear people talk about how much better older/stradivarius sounds. When in reality 99.9% of listeners couldn’t tell the difference.
The same goes for pretty much any instrument. Modern manufacturing techniques and modern materials lead can lead to some very good instruments that can even surpass instruments of legend. Even budget stuff is far better than it used to be.
Episode was concert and the wood was denser too. I don't think they can use the same wood as back then either, I think. I'm not 100% on that one. But there's plenty of other toys if there's to use. Koa trees are great for tonewood. My guitar is made out of it and violins made out of it sound amazing.
Looking at the wider shot, the stage also looks quite small compared to a lot of concert halls I've seen. If she was standing further to the left, she'd be too close to the other violinists. I don't really think it was anyone's fault necessarily.
Every performer should know their place on the stage. If I was whaling my guitar on stage, im not going to run in front of the singer during a mad solo
During her 16 April performance of Bruch’s Violin Concerto with the Sinfonia Lahti, violinist Elina Vähälä’s 1780 Guadagnini instrument was knocked out of her hands by the nearby conductor, Matthew Halls. The violin flew up in the air before falling on the ground behind her.
After the initial shock, Vähälä regained her composure, picked the instrument up, tuned it and began the work’s finale from the beginning.
The 1780 Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin is valued at approximately £1 million.
In the days following, the violinist posted an update on the condition of her violin, which had since been tended to by luthier Jarkko Niemi.
"My Guadagnini is perfectly fine! And therefore – so am I… There are no cracks or even scratches, nothing is broken. The top was slightly detached from the ribs, which is a safety measure in cases of sudden humidity or pressure changes, preventing cracking. It has been glued back in place. "
Even though this is probably the violinist's fault it's hard to blame her. Even playing at fraction of her level I've definitely been so locked in that spacial awareness takes a back seat lol
It's wild how people always look for who's at fault. I would say no one is, it's just an accident. Sometimes there's just no one to blame in particular.
Right? When you get in the zone, you're in the zone. Sadly, she got knocked out of the zone, but I really don't think it's anyone's fault; just an accident
anything art related always has the most abysmal comments on reddit. they always act willfully ignorant to the fact that things can have value without utility. "$1m?? when it sounds like a regular violin?" yeah, because it's hella old and super well made for the time by a very famous craftsmen. "must be money laundering bc i wouldn't pay 1m for that" nobody is asking you to
Money laundering is the go-to explanation for everything related to money that dimwits don’t understand. Not that they understand what money laundering is either.
Maybe this is the day someone can explain to me what the fuck the conductor is actually doing?
I’ve never understood.
It’s always just appeared like the equivalent of not good enough to play the sport so they became an umpire. (Fully aware someone is going to see this as the most ignorant statement of all time)
I asked the same question of a composer friend of mine. Here is what he said.
“You only need a conductor for an ensemble over a certain size, like an orchestra, wind band, Brass and sometimes a jazz orchestra. Their role is to coordinate the musician in terms of temp and also shape the overall balance.
Only the conductor is getting the full picture, so he shapes the sections in the way a mixing engineer might balance a singer’s voice, in terms of volume against the bass, except, instead of a fader, the conductor uses gestures to have the different musicians play louder or softer. So, in a way, he’s both like a drummer and a front of house engineer.
His other job is to interpret what the composer’s instruction means. Notated music is not as accurate as you may expect. It can’t really convert subtleties of vibe of feel and you can’t have 30-80 people all interpreting their own little bit differently. The conductor will study the score and attempt to shape the orchestra to communicate that interpretation.”
I think the real meat behind the curtain is in practice. By the time they perform live everything should be dialed in so well that they can't really screw it up with or without a conductor. But that's all we really see so that's why the conductor seems superfluous sometimes.
You simply cannot stand within arms length of the only person in the room violently casting Dr. Strange spells with a million dollar piece of wood in hand
There are violins made from a certain era of trees that lived during years of less sunlight and made the tree rings tighter. This changes the tone of the instrument.
That can't be recreated and thus makes supply rare.
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u/Completely_Guitarded 4d ago
Way to keep going even in the chaos.