#23 ‘Gabriel’

In a lifetime of playing the violin, the search for the right instrument, a 'partner in sound', is a quite demanding and sometimes nerve-wracking experience.

I remember the years I spent being unhappy about the type of sound that would come out of the various violins that passed through my hands. I was trying to make them sound different than what they were meant to and I didn’t have the talent to adapt or to make a compromise. Then, at some point, I got a beautiful violin to use, with the sound of butter, ultimately comfortable to touch. When the time came to return it, I was left with a feeling of tremendous loss.

Playing the violin for me was never a matter of sound only, but rather the physical feeling of what would be the dance and the limit where you touch the bottom of it. It is difficult to explain, but I never looked for the resonant, brilliant violinistic sound. I looked for something that even if you had no hearing you could feel. My ultimate goal was playing one note and make you deeply touched to tears.