On Monday at Ohio’s Columbus Museum of Art, “Two gloved museum employees lifted a protective display case [and] Bruce Carlson—conservator of the ‘Il Cannone’ violin once owned by legendary virtuoso Niccolo Paganini— removed the instrument, changed the strings and tuned it,” writes Ken Gordon in Monday’s (5/13) Columbus Dispatch (OH). “Then, he handed it to [Joanna] Frankel, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra concertmaster. Frankel raised her bow and played some scales. She stopped and asked Carlson if it was OK if she tuned it. ‘Absolutely,’ he answered…. ‘You can do whatever you normally do.’ … Frankel tucked her chin, and the violin’s rich, full sound soon filled the small space…. She will perform on the violin that is on loan from its home in Genoa, Italy, during a Wednesday concert at the Ohio Theatre, and this was her sole opportunity to rehearse on it…. ‘It was breathtaking,’ she said of her first experience with the famous instrument…. Frankel will solo during five pieces at the concert Wednesday, including on two Paganini works: Cantabile and Caprice No. 11. Columbus Symphony Music Director Rossen Milanov said … he is excited for the Columbus audience to hear what he calls ‘a voice coming from centuries ago.’ ”
Posted May 15, 2019
