LONDON: One of the most valuable violins in the world, crafted three centuries ago and once owned by composer Niccolo Paganini, is to be played at a top UK classical music festival.
The violin, known as the Carrodus, is one of only around 150 made by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu known to have survived down the centuries, and was acquired by a philanthropic group for $20 million in June.
It was crafted in 1743 in Cremonia, northern Italy, and will be played for the first time as part of the BBC Proms by South Korean violinist Inmo Yang.
The violin once owned by Italian virtuoso Paganini will be seen on August 28 at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
“I can’t believe how lucky I am to have this instrument. This is easily one of the greatest instruments ever made,” Yang, who is also making his debut at the Proms, told AFP.
“I feel a duty to take good care of the instrument and make a beautiful sound, so that people know that it’s worth playing these instruments rather than having them in a vault in a museum.”
The Stretton Society, a network of philanthropists, patrons and sponsors that has loaned the violin to Yang, seeks to acquire rare and valuable instruments to lend to the world’s leading musicians.
Guarneri was one of the most important violin makers of all time, alongside Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari, said the society’s co-founder Stephan Jansen.
Whereas Stradivari made instruments for the Church and the nobility, Guarneri’s violins were made for musicians, and they became renowned for their deep and sonorous tones, Jansen said.
“Inmo is one of the finest musicians of his generation,” Jansen told AFP.
“When he came to my house and I showed him the fiddle, it was clear from the very first second that this is a match,” he said. “Because in the end, it’s also about chemistry, you know?“
Yang will perform Pablo de Sarasate’s “Carmen Fantasy,” which he described as “a virtuoso piece for the violin.”
The broad palette of the violin adds the “strong, at times flirty character of the Carmen character,” said Yang.
The instrument’s sound is also “quite unpredictable,” he said, and “this kind of capricious nature really gives more liveliness to the piece.”
“Thinking that Paganini used this instrument is kind of spiritual, and I think people also want to hear Paganini’s music played on his own violin,” Yang added.
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One of the most valuable violins in the world, crafted by an Italian maker three centuries ago and once owned by composer Niccolo Paganini, is to be played at a top UK classical music festival.
The violin, known as the Carrodus, is one of only around 150 made by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu known to have survived down the centuries, and was acquired by a philanthropic group for $20 million in June.
It was crafted in 1743 in Cremonia, northern Italy, and will be played for the first time as part of the BBC Proms by South Korean violinist Inmo Yang.
The violin once owned by famed Italian composer and violin virtuoso Niccolo Paganini will be seen on August 28 at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
“I can’t believe how lucky I am to have this instrument. This is easily one of the greatest instruments ever made,” Yang, who is also making his debut at the Proms, told AFP.
“I feel a duty to take good care of the instrument and make a beautiful sound, so that people know that it’s worth playing these instruments rather than having them in a vault in a museum.”
The Stretton Society, a network of philanthropists, patrons and sponsors that has loaned the violin to Yang, seeks to acquire rare and valuable instruments to lend to the world’s leading musicians.
Guarneri was one of the most important violin makers of all time, alongside Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari, said the society’s co-founder Stephan Jansen.
Whereas Stradivari made instruments for the Church and the nobility, Guarneri’s violins were made for musicians, and they became renowned for their deep and sonorous tones, Jansen said.
“Inmo is one of the finest musicians of his generation,” Jansen told AFP.
“When he came to my house and I showed him the fiddle, it was clear from the very first second that this is a match,” he said. “Because in the end, it’s also about chemistry, you know?“
Yang will perform Pablo de Sarasate’s “Carmen Fantasy,” which he described as “a virtuoso piece for the violin.”
The broad palette of the violin adds the “strong, at times flirty character of the Carmen character,” said Yang.
The instrument’s sound is also “quite unpredictable,” he said, and “this kind of capricious nature really gives more liveliness to the piece.”
“Thinking that Paganini used this instrument is kind of spiritual, and I think people also want to hear Paganini’s music played on his own violin,” Yang added.
300-year-old violin to star at UK music festival
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300-year-old violin to star at UK music festival
- The violin, known as the Carrodus, is one of only around 150 made by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu
- Guarneri was one of the most important violin makers of all time, alongside Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari
59-kilogram monster fish catches eyes at Nigerian fishing festival
- Over the decades, the festival grew into one of Nigeria’s biggest cultural events, drawing international visitors, before insecurity and funding shortages reduced it to an occasional celebration
ARGUNGU: Local fisherman Abubakar Usman’s 59-kilogram monster catch was the major highlight of the UNESCO-listed Argungu fishing festival, which returned after a six-year hiatus because of the insecurity in northwestern Nigeria’s Kebbi state.
Thousands of people, including a handful of women and children, defied the blistering 39-degree heat to take part. Fishermen from Nigeria’s West African neighbors Niger, Chad, and Togo also came to compete.
The fishing festival was first staged in 1934 by the then traditional ruler of Argungu, Mohammed Sama. It was held to mark an end to a century-old history of hostility and distrust between his people and the region’s most powerful ruler, the Sultan of Sokoto, then Hassan Dan-Mu’azu.
FASTFACT
The festival has grown into one of Nigeria’s biggest cultural events, drawing international visitors, before insecurity and funding shortages reduced it to an occasional celebration.
Over the decades, the festival grew into one of Nigeria’s biggest cultural events, drawing international visitors, before insecurity and funding shortages reduced it to an occasional celebration. The last full edition was held six years ago, say organizers.
On Saturday, fishermen floated on brown, round gourds as they hunted for the biggest catch in Matan Fada river, using only their hands and nets in the river’s murky waters.
Thousands of spectators lined the riverbank cheering loudly.
For the Emir of Argungu, Al-Hajji Samaila Mohammed Mera, hosting the festival this year was a victory of some sort.
Parts of Kebbi state have seen sporadic militant attacks in recent years, with analysts blaming the Lakurawa terror group for the deadly violence.
“I came back to have a fuller experience,” said Adeniyi Olugbemii, 56, who is attending the festival a second time from neighboring Sokoto state.
Outside the arena that sits on the edge of the Matan Fada, chants, drumbeats, and cultural displays added to the atmosphere, highlighting the heritage that has turned Argungu into a global tourism draw.
Rukaya Ismaila, 23, said she had traveled from Kogi state, some 850 kilometers away, to attend the festival for the first time.
“The famous Argungu that we’ve been told about since primary school,” she said.
“It is worth all the excitement,” she added, praising the way the competing fishermen helped each other out.
Days of activities preceded the fishing competition, including a motor rally from Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, a Durbar procession, and a variety of cultural events.
Abubakar Usman’s hefty catch earned him two new saloon cars and 1-million-naira cash prize (about $739).
Hundreds of much smaller catches ended up at a makeshift market set up on the adjoining streets to the arena.
The event was overshadowed by a prominent political campaign for the re-election of President Tinubu and Kebbi Gov. Mohammed Nasir Idris.
Billboards and posters of both men lined the streets leading to the river arena.
Supporters in blue t-shirts emblazoned with their images drummed and danced, drawing crowds of their own, while songs eulogising the visiting president blared through speakers inside the main arena.
Earlier in the day, a false start around midday had forced the already anxious contestants to plunge into the river. They had defied the scorching sun to wait for the arrival of President Bola Tinubu.
The president arrived more than two hours later, after which the contest was restarted.
