Soundcheck
The Rise and Fall of Instruments
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
The ukulele is up, the pipe organ is down. So what moves the market of musical instruments? We'll find out what brings certain strings and drums into fashion and what condemns others to obscurity. Also, the life and the controversy behind Stradivari’s violins. And: the hip and young Calder String Quartet.
Stradivari's Secrets
Antonio Stradivari made over a thousand violins, cellos and violas. More than two hundred fifty years after his death, about six hundred survive. What makes these instruments so special? We talk with Toby Faber, author of the new book, "Stradivari's Genius."
» Tony Faber's talk at the CUNY Grad Center
Banjos up, Organs down.
Laurence Libin, musical instrument research curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, joins us to explain the market for musical instruments.
Calder String Quartet
Named for the modernist sculptor, the Calder String Quartet take an up-to-date approach to classical repertoire.
» Calder Quartet website
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