Talent
Andrej van Brakel
plays a
cello bow
from C. Jochen Schmidt
from C. Jochen Schmidt
New
Royé Cello
for Young
Cello Talents
New
Royé Cello
for Young
Cello Talents
December 2018. On Daniël Royé’s workbench, two pristine white cello parts lie waiting to be joined. After months of bending, planing, scraping, cutting, inlaying, and endless measuring, the moment is almost here: gluing the top to the rim and the back. Assembling the cello—a solemn moment. Three months later: for Andrej van Brakel (14), a wondrous new world of sound opens up. He has embraced the Royé cello with all his heart and soul.
News
3 April 2019
by Katrien Kloos
Mara Stradivari
In 2003, violin maker Daniël Royé was given the unique opportunity to study Heinrich Schiff’s cello: the beautifully clear and velvety-sounding Mara Stradivari from 1711. “To get the best possible sense of its sound, I listened intently to Schiff playing the cello during rehearsals and concerts. Afterward, I was allowed to examine the instrument in minute detail—its weight, its shape, its curves, and the thickness of the wood in every part.” Using the notes he took back then, Daniël built this cello. It is the fourteenth Mara he has crafted in this way. “Each instrument is carved from different wood; it has its own personality, its own soul. And time and again, I’m terribly curious: are there any recognizable traits of Schiff’s marvelous Mara Strad?”
Play
One of the first cellists to have the privilege of breaking in Royé’s new Mara was Joachim Eijlander. Royé: “First, I always keep a new instrument to myself for a few days, to play it in the privacy of my workshop. Then I ask renowned cellists to come by. That’s always very exciting. Joachim was very enthusiastic about the sound. He immediately recommended his student, Andrej.”
Talent
Andrej van Brakel is just fourteen years old. He began playing the cello at the age of four and took lessons from Lenian Benjamins. Since 2016, he has been studying at the Young Talent Academy in Rotterdam with Joachim Eijlander. In 2017, he won the Encouragement Prize at the Princess Christina Competition. He performed as a soloist with the Young Talent Orchestra under the direction of Mikhail Zemtsov. “He is a great talent. He’s doing very well,” says Eijlander. “He gave a brilliant intermediate exam performance of Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto and participated in a cello masterclass at Codarts. The cello he was playing had been holding him back in his development for a while. It’s fantastic that he can now play such a beautiful instrument and continue to develop his eagerness to learn and enthusiasm even further and faster.”
Andrej and Mara
Andrej and his Mara have been together for two months now. Shortly after they met, we saw them on YouTube performing a beautiful rendition of “Chant du Ménestrel” by Alexander Glazunov and “Tarantella” by David Popper, accompanied on the piano by Anastasia Safonova. We’ve been receiving enthusiastic and loving messages. “I’m absolutely happy with Mara, and I’ll take good care of her.” We’ll keep following you, Andrej—all the best to you both!
