I played a Strad today!

I woke up this morning and thought to myself, "I'm going to play a Strad today." And I did! What I wasn't counting on was that it would play me as well.

So, I went along to the luthier's shop and was allowed to play for about 20 minutes. They left me in a small hall and put the violin on the desk. It was a beautiful long model Strad from the early 1690s. And no, I wasn't allowed to take pictures :(

I started playing Bach and this weird thing happened--as I placed my fingertips on the strings, it was like the violin was giving back to me. I'm telling you, that thing had a life of its own. It was like riding a wild horse. My vibrato was bouncing back into my body with mysterious force, through my fingertips and into my arm.

Then I tried some Tchaikovsky and the sound just brightened up. This violin likes Tchaikovsky. It likes Wieniawski and Paganini, Ravel and Barber. It likes sharp keys. It didn't like Beethoven or Brahms so much. Mozart, some. I would guess it has been well loved by a violinist who specializes in virtuoso showpieces.

My friend who was listening pointed out that I could use less bow pressure and she was right. The less I did, the more the violin opened up. On some notes the resonance was so rich the notes kept ringing long after I'd stopped bowing, even without vibrato.

It wasn't 10 times better than my 1990 violin (which I love, by the way). Or 100 times. It was about 10,000 times better.

There were no weak spots, no wolf notes; it had power on the G string and way up on the E string. Chords just went "ping!"--I hardly had to do anything.

On the question of aura, it really is true what they say. Playing this violin was like dancing with a person who has their own inclination and taste, style and personality, and who has been dancing really really well for 300+ years.

The luthier was kind of secretive about its provenance, history, and value --all he would say was that it belonged to a Tchaikovsky Competition winner within the last 20 years--because it is apparently up for sale. I'm off to buy a lottery ticket.