R. Hopfner: Jacob StainerSturdy soft cover, 215pp.


Richly illustrated catalogue of the 2003 exhibition in Ambras Castle near Innsbruck (Austria). The excellent color photographs feature not only 14 instruments by Stainer (table and back), but also more than 15 instruments by his contemporaries and by those violin makers in German-speaking regions who incorporated important elements of Stainers style into their own. All exhibited items (including the individual instruments) are described, explained and characterized in the accompanying text. The additional essays, by R. Hopfner, Benjamin Schröder, Beatrix Darmstädter and others, cover many important aspects such as tools and styles of violin making in Stainers day, his own biography, the heresy trial, and recent dendrochronological and laser vibrometer measurements made on Stainer violins. Text in German (with short English summaries in an appendix).