And so ends the day
And the journey ended, as it began, in an icy entry. The trip to visit with the rest of the family began just over a week ago, but our own family Christmas was placed on a back burner to be warmed gently through wintery nights. Now we’ll place a (tinier) tree in the main area, decide whether or not to invite a big bird to the table and begin the long march toward the next solistice. Our day was without event, given the excellent weather and bare pavement.
For the statistically minded, we travelled 875 km in 9 h 11 min of road time. Not fast enough to avoid roadboredom or attract the attention of anyone with a rack (roof or head). We did visit an actual amateur radio store in Whitby; rare wares.
On a completely different note, CBC just carried an interview with James Ehnes, outlining his recent project to record various classical numbers using rare and extremely valuable violins. A full dozen of them, belonging to private collectors. He put it concisely: very few other professions try to use the oldest tools they can borrow. Imagine if your surgeon decided to flay you with a 17th century scalpel. The project has been issued on DVD, allowing a combination of great audio content and a valuable documentary. Something to add to the library, once other obligations have been met.
I’ve not had the opportunity to try anything like a Strad, but the little contact I’ve had with higher class instruments reaffirms a basic tenet. A great instrument will not make a great musician, but a great musician can make a great instrument sing.
