de Miruna Ghițescu

 

You have won an important prize at the Cremona competition. Which were the phases of this contest?

At first, I signed up to enter the competition; afterwards I sent the instrument to the pre-selection that gathered 480 fiddle makers from around the world. The first part of the competition was represented by the technical analysis of the instrument, carried out by a commission formed of five world class fiddle makers. They assessed each instrument individually according to the given technical criteria and to the chosen material, the way in which the technical guidelines were followed, the shape and the finishing of the instrument, the lacquer and the final touches that were applied, the final mounting of the accessories. The second part was the acoustic that included only the instruments that received over 300 points at the technical selection. The assessment of the acoustics and the easiness to play that instrument was carried out by five world famous musicians.

What is so special at the instrument that made you win?

My aim is that all the instruments I create have a high level of quality. The instrument I sent to the competition represents the experience I have gathered in my eighteen years of work in this field.

How does an instrument succeed in influencing a violinist?

The pleasure of playing is given by the instrument. The sound qualities of the instrument mostly succeeds in influencing the personality of the musician in the performance he has on the scene. The artist, by his united relationship with the instrument, manages to surpass his level. This is the difference between instrument and acoustic setups.

Can a violinist, in his turn, influence a violin?

Yes, but only when the violin is very well worked out; only then, the artist can influence and develop in time the sound of the instrument.

Could the sound of Enescu`s violin be recognizable if it were played by another violinist?

The artists like Enescu fall in the geniuses’ category, they are difficult to match. Someone who wants to recognize the sound of Enescu`s violin should have a wide musical culture

and, added to that, should have experience in recognizing the tone color of the valuable instruments produced by the famous fiddle makers, like Guarnieri for example.

In a recent experiment, ten violin players have played six instruments, two of which were made by Stradivarius, and none of them was able to recognize the famous violin. Could this be about marketing, a placebo effect?

It`s about both, but more important than this I believe it is the way in which the other instruments were built, the way in which the mathematical building parameters were followed and the sound effect of the violins built according the Stradivarius models.

Is there a violin that fascinates you in particular?

The model that fills me up with joy whenever I hear its sound is Il Cremonese 1715 Stradivari (the one belonging to Joseph Joachim).

At what moment in the production cycle of a violin do you become aware of its sound? Or is it a surprise each time?

The moment when the body is completely glued, by knocking the head of the violin with the finger – at that moment I have an idea about the sound of the future instrument and it all becomes more clear after the final mounting, the moment when the cords vibrate at their full strength. But there are always pleasant surprises.