cello

In 2003, violin maker Daniël Royé was given the unique opportunity to study Heinrich Schiff’s cello: the beautifully clear and velvety-sounding Mara Stradivarius from 1711. “To get the best possible sense of its sound, I first spent a lot of time listening closely to Schiff playing the cello during rehearsals and concerts. After that, I was allowed to examine the instrument in minute detail—its weight, shape, curves, and the thickness of the wood at every point. I measured everything.” Using the notes from that time, Daniël is now building this cello. It is now the fourteenth Mara he has made in this way. “No two instruments are the same. Each is carved from different wood, has its own personality, its own soul. And I’m always terribly curious: are there any recognizable traits of Schiff’s marvelous Mara Strad?”
Andrej van Brakel was the first to play the instrument, followed by Mathias Schwaiger. Currently, Joshua Hassler-Forest is the lucky one.