JAVS Spring 2011

tion especially with the open strings. Even with the dull roar of convention noise, you should be able to make a rea sonable judgment. The sound should be alive and very clean—neither covered nor nasal. Instruments with good, full graduations will usually pass this test. 2. Go to the upper register of the lower strings. There should be no loss of power, no wolf notes, and lots of clean, articu late speed of response. and cello, your friends need to help you establish the present and potential cutting power. A viola with a nice, warm sound that can’t be heard past the first five rows doesn’t do the player many favors. 4. Check the string length, upper bout width, and rib height. If you can’t comfortably reach octaves on the C and G strings, or if you have problems with intonation in the upper regis ters of the A string, you are possibly risking tendonitis and other assorted physical ail ments. 5. Sign out the instrument on trial, take it home, and figure out how the instrument wants to be played and how you can play it. The well-known cellist Bernard Greenhouse of Beaux Arts Trio fame told me that when he acquired his Strad 3. As the viola is invariably in a squeeze play between the violin

cello, it took him two years to figure out how to play it. During that time, he re-fin gered all his concert parts for the Beaux Arts Trio repertoire. If the price is fair and you feel the instrument passes all the crucial tests, it should appreciate in value. As there are always bargains at instrument exhibits, you can probably assume that if the instrument has “IT,” you have found yourself a “sleeper.” Eric Chapman is a founder of the Violin Society of America and a long-time contributor to the Journal of the American Viola Society . The owner of Eric Chapman Violins, Inc. in Chicago, he has been commended for distinction by both the AVS and the VSA.

mandatory: a practical perspective and a lot of patience. Perspective and patience imply that the player looks at each instrument’s propor tions, arching height, and config urations and decides how the instrument needs to be played in order to maximize sound quality and response. All players need to avoid the temptation to pick up an instrument without looking at it, play ten notes, and move on. This approach accomplishes little and provides no perspective. There were some important violas in the congress exhibits, one of the most memorable being a fine Brothers Amati with a sound to match its million-dollar-plus price tag. In a sense, it could be consid ered a “sleeper,” as great classical period Italian violas are very few in number. When they become available, the price usually seems steep, but twenty years down the line, the cost of today will look like a real bargain. The question then becomes: How do you find a quality viola at something of a sleeper price, given the unusual conditions at a congress exhibit? It never hurts to recruit a couple of trusted, knowl edgeable colleagues who are will ing to serve as both listener and player. Then, using the following short checklist, you can begin the search. Just make sure you have some reasonable measure of what you should expect in a particular price range.

1. Listen closely for acoustical liveliness and major reverbera

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