The strict safety protocol of the royal 'stradivarius': no ​​rings, at all times in sight | Culture | EUROtoday

In the room of thetradivarius There are a number of dozen guests who observe 5 empty poll packing containers with virtually the identical curiosity as in the event that they have been full. The stars on this room of the Royal Palace of Madrid can’t be seen, however you’ll be able to hear them when one of many facet doorways is opened for a few seconds. A curious individual pokes his head out and instantly bumps into the safety personnel. On the opposite facet of that door, within the day by day eating room, the Concerto 1700 group and the cellist Marco Testori resurrect the sound of the 5 wood brothers that Antonio Stradivari constructed greater than 300 years in the past. On Wednesday they gave their first live performance collectively in seven years and this Thursday they may play once more at an occasion that has been offered out for months.

The protocol of those 5 stradivarius, the Palatine Quartet and the cello 1700, is rigorous. It was devised by Sonsoles Castillo, conservator and head of transfers at National Heritage, within the 90s and since then, she explains, it has been strictly adopted: “It is the most strict of all the works of art we have. Keep in mind that you are giving them to a musician who is going to continually manipulate them. A painting, no matter how important it is, you don't give it to a person every so often to turn it upside down, face up and touch it. You have to keep in mind that it is a work of art, but also an instrument and if you don't play it, it dies.”

At eight thirty within the morning, earlier than the visits start, Castillo opens every urn with a key to place, with the assistance of a small crew of individuals and below the watchful eye of safety personnel, every instrument in its case. All actions are mirrored in a file and uploaded to a database to maintain every switch below management.

From right here, and solely when ordered by Castillo, they go one after the other to the day by day eating room, a close-by room, ready for the musicians' first rehearsal. But it is going to be in about two hours, so till they arrive, the room will stay locked and below the surveillance of a safety digital camera. In 2022 it is going to be 250 years because the Palatine Quartet arrived on the palace. Stradivari wished to supply them to Philip V when he handed by Cremona, however the supply by no means befell. It was Charles III who ended up shopping for them for his son, Charles IV, an important music fan. “The good treatment they have had over the years is what allows us to say that this quartet and the 1700 cello have an exceptional sound and makes us have unique pieces in heritage,” explains María José Suárez, instrument conservator. National Heritage. She is answerable for opening the instances for the musicians once they arrive in order that they don’t play something aside from the instrument. She asks them to take away any earrings, pendants or rings they’re sporting. There will be nothing prone to contact the stradivarius.

Instruments that reside if touched

“What I have noticed with this violin is that everything works with very little effort. These instruments live if they are played. They are very pretty, but you also have to touch them. Furthermore, every day you notice that he is waking up. I compare it to playing sports, the first day you are not in shape, you need time. They are a little asleep and when you play it for several days you see how the sound opens up,” explains Daniel Pinteño, violinist of Concerto 1700. “Don't put it under your arm,” Castillo warns one of many musicians a number of occasions through the rehearsal. . If he’s not taking part in it, he can solely relaxation the bottom of the instrument on his knee. When the rehearsal is over, they’re put again into the instances, the place they may wait to be transferred to a room subsequent to the column corridor, the place the live performance will happen.

There will likely be a second rehearsal right here shortly earlier than the occasion. Suárez, who’s placing on a microphone for a tv interview, sees motion close to the room the place the 5 devices are and warns: “Don't let anyone touch them until I go!” And so it’s executed. When the curator arrives, she calls the musicians one after the other. Once once more she opens the case herself, removes the protecting cloths and, now, the performer can method to take it. Already in the midst of the final rehearsal, violinist Andrés Murillo desires to examine the acoustics of the room whereas his colleagues play. The time he’ll spend listening is only one minute and the steps he should take from his chair to the middle of the room is not going to attain 20. “Can I carry it in my hand?” he asks. The reply isn’t any. Suárez makes him go away the violin once more within the room the place the instances are ready and are available again for it when he has completed checking the sound to proceed the rehearsal.

An hour later the live performance begins. The 5 s come outtradivarius grabbed by the neck by their respective musicians and take their positions. Breaking the silence is the String Quintet in D main L206 Op.1 No. 5 by Gaetano Brunetti. The quartet is elegant, lovely. All of them with ivory borders on each the soundboard and the again cowl (the back and front elements) and zoomorphic drawings on the rim (the facet a part of the instrument). The 1700 cello, subsequent to those 4 jewels, looks as if only a humble wood instrument. Simple and easy to have a look at. But when it performs, it shines brighter than anybody else as a result of it was conceived to be a soloist. And it’s particularly noticeable within the second piece of the live performance, additionally by Brunetti. You can inform why it’s lacking, as a result of for this work, the String Quartet in G minor L150 Op. 2 No.1, solely 4 s are obligatory.tradivarius.

In the third and final of the items, with the 5 devices collectively once more, is the place it’s perceived that, though the sound of the Palatino Quartet is spectacular, collectively they attain a heavenly stage. The sort of sound that tickles your chest and makes your hair stand on finish. The form that leaves a lump within the throat. And much more so if what sounds in them is the music of Luigi Boccherini. “One of the greatest composers in history,” says Pinteño in a quick intervention midway by the live performance. And every part that sounds, he additionally feedback, was almost definitely performed within the 18th century by these devices.

At the top of the live performance, a luthier loosens the strings in order that the stress doesn’t harm them, examines them for harm, cleans them of sweat and resin and places them within the instances to take them to the show instances the place they may sleep in sight of the performers once more. guests. And there they may watch for the fingers of a musician to make them sound once more.

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