estebanana -> RE: Bach Cello Suites Compared (Feb. 1 2013 22:31:43)
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GJ, I hope you did not take that I was disparaging the great Yo Yo Ma, but the truth of the matter is for every Yo Yo Ma there are 50 other cellists who are just as good who are not able to have high profile international concert careers. The principal cellist of any major orchestra has to have the abilities to play the hardest concertos as a soloist. As far as Yo Yo he is a great among the greats without doubt, and I would take any opportunity to see him if I could. I think YoYo's playing is more generally romantic than baroque, although he did switch to baroque cello for two years around 1999 and 2000 to make some recordings in Europe on a period instrument. I choose not to use him as a contrast to Bylsma because I feel so many other great cellists are not known outside those who follow cellists. It's like saying Vicente Amigo is the only guitarist without hearing Antonio Rey. Or vice versa. I like YoYo Ma's recording's of chamber music a whole lot. I like the recordings Ma made playing with Issac Stern a bunch and listen to them often. I also like his performances of the big concertos, especially the Elgar, which, many will say is still owned lock stock and barrel by Jacqueline du Pre's seminal recording...well I like his too. I could not say enough about the things I like about Mr. YoYo. And I have a set of his recordings of the suites which I listen to at the moment more than Fournier or Casals or Rostropovich. But envy no, I can't be envious of a person like that, I can wish I had a better childhood where my talents were nurtured instead of overlooked. Where a safe space was created for me to practice, but that did not happen. But I have nothing but respect for those who were lucky to have been able to take a natural aptitude and develop it. I woulda coulda shoulda been a great cellist, but I'm not. End of Story. The cello I'm happy to report is at the end of a process of being tuned up. Three months ago I removed the top to treat the back seam which was open and would not be glued back unless it was accessible from the inside. It had been open for some time and I first did a triage job of rubbing some glue into it and getting it to stick. It was always apparent that the top would have to come off and the seam be treated properly. After I got the top off I could see why there were woody buzzes here and there, the linings were a complete shambles. The worker who assembled the cello did not even take time to bend the lining correctly and jammed them in around the C bouts breaking them in several places!~ I patched as best I could and pared back splintered lining wood; I was able to consolidate the shards in some cases and now at least all the broken pieces are not moving. It was not in the cards to totally replace them as it was just too much work for the moment. At some point there are diminishing returns. The bass bar has been reshaped, it had a funny peak in it like a ski mountain and it was really fat. I planed a bit off the top to give it a good curved profile and sweep from end to end and thinned it slightly. While I had the top off I took the graduations and thought about them and the weight/flexibility of the top. After some of deliberation I decided to regraduate the top. Top it turned out was made of Pine instead of Spruce, which makes sense now because whenever some violin snob would look at it they would tell me it was plywood. I would argue back that it was solid wood, enough of that....the top was really thick, and heavy. In some places on the outer areas of the bouts the top was 7 mm thick! Really beefy and the top is made of strong wood heavier than spruce. I felt at ease bringing those areas down to 3.5 to 4-mm where they really needed to be. Most importantly I reset the neck and carefully reworked the neck relief, which was humpty-dumpy up under the A string. The neck is in almost perfect position giving a fingerboard projection of 80 mm to bridge, 81 mm one being ideal here. Before that it was about 75mm which is woefully too low and was causing the A string to be way to high with a normal height bridge. So this is very exciting now, I'm thinking to fit it with a new Belgian style bridge instead of a French bridge to see if I can get it to brighten up and project more. I think with the bass bar trimming and graduations a new light well cut bridge will make it play better then ever. I also made a carbon fiber end pin and discarded the steel end pin and choose a lighter tail piece. Those heavier tailpieces keep the bridge in check and don't allow as much free movement of the bridge. So as soon as I get the whole thing together I'll see if I can practice enough to show how it sounds. But I'll always be grateful to you GJ because the day you gave me the cello was a great day which sparked off a new interest in my first love.
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