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Thank you Matthew! You are correct! This violin was custom-made for me by the renowned Italian luthier, Vittorio Villa, in 2015, Cremona. Notably, the piece was performed in its entirety with the utilization of a mute.

​@@yi-wenjiang835 As I recall, La fille aux cheveux de lin is also muted. Nice effect. Of course, that leads to the agony of mute selection! It's a beautiful violin to look at as well as to hear. Did he make the pegs as well?

@@matthewcheever5719 When determining fingering in order to achieve the best vocal performance quality, I always prioritize staying on a single string for as long as possible, thereby reducing string crossing and ensuring a smoother, more refined and polished tone.

Vittorio is a truly exceptional individual, with an unparalleled capacity for selecting premium wood and a keen ear for the intricacies of violin music. Furthermore, he is an accomplished violinist in his own regard.

​@@yi-wenjiang835 It's a beautiful sound. Your approach to fingering makes sense, but requires an instrument that sounds equally well everywhere. I suspect that strings and bridge are also factors, but it's the player that matters most. Milstein was known for playing different fingerings during concerts. I've always been amazed that players of yore who likely used gut still sounded fantastic in venues all over the world, long before modern climate control. It's quite rewarding to watch (and hear) someone who knows exactly what to do - and why.

Yes. Very rare. Glad you appreciate it! 🤝🎻

@jliu380: Thank you bro! 🤝

The second violin in the picture wrote the piece.

​@@yi-wenjiang835 Neat. I often think of the talented violinists who wrote for themselves: Paganini, Sarasate, Wieniawski, Vieuxtemps, Kreisler, and many more. It's amazing enough to play that well. Inventing it, often with orchestration, is almost magical. There's a recording on CZcams of Prihoda playing Ziguenerweisen, about 1925 or so. The slow movement is all double stops. The finale goes like the wind. How wonderful for all of us to enjoy the benefits of 'technology'.

Thank you 🙏

Glazunov had a fascination with scales and arpeggios, which is evident in almost all of his violin works, including his concerto and the other piece I played, 'The Grand Adagio.' I have a deep affection for his music.

@@yi-wenjiang835 Isn't it neat that there is so much wonderful music? Same notes for hundreds of years, but an infinite variety. Many composers have a 'signature'. I think we all display preferences. Perhaps more surprising are the exceptions: Gershwin's gorgeous 'Lullabye' or Wagner's 'Siegfried Idyll', Shostakovich's Waltzes or the magical slow movement of Prokofiev's concerto. Kreisler certainly explored the violin, playing the major concertos as well as writing quite a variety of his own. I love his treatment of the Paganini concerto. There's something for everyone

Thank you, Eric, for your kind words.

Thank you Matthew for understanding and appreciating my musical preferences.

Thank you for listening and appreciating my musical preferences.🙏🎻

Grateful for your thoughtful input, Matthew. This gem is dear to me.

Thanks, bro! Your appreciation of my viola playing means a lot to me!

Thank you my dear friend! When are we going to get together?

Gracias mi amigo por tus amables palabras! 🤝🎻

Thank you Matthew! The viola is an essential complement to my violin, with its deep and expressive mezzo-soprano range allowing for a wide range of musical expressions.

Thank you!

Thank you for the insightful comment! 🎻

Thank you Matthew! Love this little charming jewel. Today is his 163 birthday.

Lovely charming piece from another century filled with charm and beautifully played. Eric Shumsky

Thank you for listening and leaving your kind comments! I am glad you enjoyed the music making.

Thanks, bro, for acknowledging my sincere work in music-making.🙏🤝

Merci Eric pour votre écoute et appréciez toujours vos commentaires poétiques. Salut à Monsieur Debussy!

Thank you Matthew! This one is for you.

?

Yes, truly a giant in every sense!

Missed fire? Are you kidding??

Thank you!

Water music.

​@@yi-wenjiang835 Music is certainly the universal language. We like to categorize, so we assign names: impressionist, programmatic, fantasy, etc. Handel was pretty practical. He was hired to write music to be performed on a barge in the river or for a fireworks display. Debussy tried to depict the sensation. Grofé gave us mules in the trail. Dukas unintentionally made Mickey Mouse famous with a little help from Stowkowski, but he created magic when he woke La Péri. John Williams put a fiddler on the roof and melted our heart with a love scene in the sky. Copland made his 'watermark' with a dancing boatman and made a different kind of splash when he excerpted part of a symphony as a tribute to the common man. It's incredible: 12 tones, fairly standard instruments and voices and we seem to have an unlimited capacity. I love it!

More and more people play it nowadays. Surely it’s a special kind of haunting piece by "The Tsar of the Violin”. Thank you Matthew!

Thank you for listening. 🙏

Thank you William!

Thank you Matthew! I love this piece.

Thanks! It sure is a fun encore piece.

Thank you for the kind comment!

Masquerade is a drama written by Russian writer Michail Lermontov. Aram Khachaturian is a Armenian 🇦🇲 composer.

Thank you for the insightful comment.

I love the White Christmas arrangement. But still unsuccessful with finding the sheet music.

​@@yi-wenjiang835 I would assume that he also wrote the orchestral accompaniment, an even more daunting task. I was first struck with this kind of talent when I got Kreisler's Paganini recording. Imagine putting that together - as well as playing it. Ole Bull did the same - and, of course, Paganini, himself. I'm sure there are others. In several cases - again, Heifetz being one - there was an equivalent virtuosity on piano. Amazing.

It’s from his Stimmungsbilder, Op.9. Five short pieces. Heifetz arranged one of them, but not this one.

​@@yi-wenjiang835 Thanks