The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912, 1901-05-25
- @ADAME CAMILLA URSO, the
III foremost woman violfnist, will
ho tho Grand opera ho,,Se

Thursday night, and local devotees at
the musical shrine may expect a treat
She has played in courts and musical
circles of the highest culture, but has
also had varied experience in the rough,
new regions where money flowed freely
and music was loved, even if not intelli-
gently appreciated.
The celebrated performer plays in con-
certs on Guarnerius del Jesu which rep
resents the acme of violin making. In
an interview recently published in the
Minneapolis papers she affords a great
deal of information which is not COM
monty known even to good musicians.
In part she said:
THE usual question when the subject
is mentioned is Have you a Cremona?'
and that proves at once that the person
Knows little about violin makers, for Gre
mona is place you know, not fiddle
maker. To be sure the great violin MAX
ers lived there, but their instruments
are known by their own names. not by
the name of the town. When this point
has been explained the QueStiOner
takes a fresh start and says blandy
Then suppose that YOU play Strada-
verius.' Well, I might play Strada-
verius and have done so at times but
even these instruments are not the acme
Of the art for use in concert.
II am the fortunate posseEor of vio-
lin such as every violinist hopes some
day to own, but very few can, for the
number of such instruments is small
and Of those in existence a considerable
proportio are in collections where they
are merely looked at and admired for
the fine preservation Of their rich warn
ish and for the signature Of the maker.
The maker Of this greatest class Of VIC
Inns was Joseph Guarnerius, also Of Gre
mona. There We're two makers of this
name, uncle and nephew, and, in order
to distinguish their instruments, the
elder man put cross beside his sigma
ture. In time, from this circumstance,
they came to be distinguished by name
as the Guarnerius del Jesu violins, and
my concert violin is one Of those precious
del Jesu instruments.
II have had my finest violin about
twenty years and have become SO much
attached to it that nothing could induce
me to part with it. l have had large
offers for it and think it would readily
bring $4,000. However, the instrument
upon which l made my reputation was
a violin made by the younger Guarne-
RUS, dated 1927. This I used for years
in concert and do most Of my practicing
on it. To keep it in the best of condition
violin should have constant use but
only for a limited time each day. l think
two or three hours work Is about right.
''It Is not enough to get genuine
Guarnerius or Stradaverius; one must
know it's date, for violin makers had
their rise and decline. To get the best,
one should have violin made by Guar
nerius, the elder, at his best period, say
between his thirtieth and forty-eighth
year."
"How does it come that the Stradaverii
are better known by reputation than the
Guarnerii?'
1.-The difference is not SO much in quail
ity of tone as in the volume" was the
reply. Formerly that was scarcely
noticeable, but as the halls have grown
to such immense size the Stradaveri
have gradually Jagged behind and the
Guarnerii are the only instruments left
that fully meet the need. Just think
of the strangeness of it, that 200 year:
before there was any need for such vol
ume and resonance it should have beer
supplied. Why, l done suppose violiI
playing of that time brought out half TIN
possibilities of the Instruments, evel
when you leave out the beautiful quail
tiles which mellowing age has given t
the instruments. Even the last twenty
five years has seen wonderful change