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| Source: phys.org |
By Seth Borenstein, Apr. 7, 2014, Phys.org
Ten world-class soloists put costly Stradivarius violins and
new, cheaper ones to a blind scientific test. The results may seem off-key to
musicians and collectors, but the new instruments won handily.
When the lights were dimmed and the musicians donned dark
glasses, the soloists' top choice out of a dozen old and new violins tested was
by far a new one. So was the second choice, according to a study published
Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Of the six old violins tested, five were by made by the
famous Stradivari family in the 17th and 18th centuries. The newer violins were
about 100 times cheaper, said study co-author Joseph Curtin, a Michigan violin
maker. But the Strads and other older Italian violins have long been considered
superior, even almost magical.
The idea was to unlock "the secrets of Stradivari,"
the study said.
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