The “Marquis de Corberon” is a late but pure example of the perfected “B” form Stradivari cello. In fact it is one of the last that was ever constructed on that mould – only the “Romberg” of 1728 follows it. It seems impossible even to imagine an eighty two year-old man, as Antonio Stradivari was at that time, even contemplating the physically demanding task of building a cello. He was however well-supported by his sons Francesco and Omobono by this time.
The most striking aspect of the instrument is the single piece of willow wood, marked with a prominent knot in the centre of the upper bouts, used for the back. While presenting a very plain appearance compared with the luxuriously figured maple more commonly seen, willow is sometimes preferred for the cello, since the slightly softer wood provides a warmer, darker sound. However economy was almost certainly also a factor in the wood selection. Willow has been used for the ribs as well; not an ideal material for the thin and vulnerable sides. It would be even less appropriate for the head and neck, as it is too soft to withstand the constant wear of either the left hand or the tuning pegs. Nevertheless, Stradivari again did not use the conventional maple, but instead chose beech, a very common and inexpensive timber. The front too has a relatively irregular grain structure, and has been winged in the lower bout to bring it to the necessary width. All in all, it is a marked and signifi cant departure from the luxury of previous years.
Although the soft willow has worn away around the edges and corners, the cello is in very fine condition. The varnish was not spared in the application, and still covers the front in particular with a generous thickness of deep orange pigmentation. The scroll is still cleanly defined, and clearly shows the layout points dotted around the centre line of the pegbox. It is carved with the same sure hand and precise flow as those of earlier ‘B’ form cellos.
The Marquis de Corberon himself was a diplomat at the court of Catherine II of France in the latter part of the XVIIIth century. h e only other recorded owner prior to the XXth century was the Parisian cellist M.Loeb, from whom it passed to Hugo Becker, professor of the cello at the Berlin Music School. He sold it in 1907 to the English cellist Elizabeth Chapman, beginning an association with women players. This continued with Audrey Melville, who kept it until 1960, when she presented it to the Royal Academy of Music in London with the express wish that it be for the lifelong use of the american cellist Zara Nelsova. Nelsova used it in her teaching both at the Academy and the Juillard School in New York, but since her death in 2002 it has been played by the prominent English cellist Colin Carr amongst others, while remaining in the possession of the Royal Academy of Music of London.
|
