Timothy Ridout on his 450-Year-Old Viola's return to Gut Strings // TRAIN BRAIN

Timothy Ridout on his 450-Year-Old Viola's return to Gut Strings

“It’s a kind of homecoming for the viola.”
Violist Timothy Ridout joins the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Sir Simon Rattle for Berlioz’s Harold in Italy — performing for the first time on a full set of gut strings.
Playing a remarkable viola built by Peregrino di Zanetto around 1565–1575, Timothy reflects on returning the instrument to the sound world it would have known for the first three centuries of its life, and on the raw colours and expressive possibilities that gut strings bring to Berlioz’s music.
Hear the OAE perform Berlioz’s Harold in Italy and Symphonie Fantastique with Sir Simon Rattle on 10 June at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall: https://oae.co.uk/event/symphonie-fantastique/
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Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Ok, it’s a not very snappy name, so we tend to call ourselves the OAE. The OAE is probably one of the top ‘period instrument’ Orchestras in the world. What does this mean? Well, over the years instruments and techniques have changed. We try to be authenti...

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