We caught up with Pierre Colombet from Quatuor Ébene who described the experience of performing on a fine instrument:

“Thanks to the generous patron and J & A Beare, I was given the opportunity and privilege of playing the amazing, 1717 ‘Piatti’ Stradivari violin.

I remember my first few hours at Beares with the instrument, the incredible warmth, depth, resonance, power and yet a penetrating brightness Everything blended so perfectly, something I have never experienced before.

The more I played on this magical violin, the more inspired I felt. Somehow, the last thirty years spent on sound quality, colours, different technical and musical ways to express feelings, rhythms and forms, suddenly all became a reality and possible in new and exciting ways through this amazing voice. 

I came to the realisation that this profoundly inspiring instrument allows me a direct path from imagination to reality, proof of how much I’ve been struggling on lesser instruments for all these years. 

Quite simply, it made me burst into tears. 

The emotional impact of playing and working on the Piatti for several months, the sheer pleasure of every second I spend with this extraordinary instrument, the gift of exploration for even further musical development and new discovery, is something I cannot easily put into words.”