The history of an extraordinary instrument First instrument of the viol family to be played under the chin and sustained with the arms, unlike the Viola da Gamba (between the legs), the Baritone violin came to life in the 15th century, in the midst of the great creations of the Renaissance.
Its big size made it a difficult instrument to play and its register prevented luthiers from building smaller models. It disappears gradually to the profit of the smaller viola that appears in the 16th century and the even smaller violin, tuned a full octave higher, in the 17th century. The outstanding virtuoso Paganini was one of the last ones to play it in the 19th century, while Stradivarius considered it as the quintessence of the “Violino da braccio”, or arm violin. Stunned by its register, its warmth and its power, overcoming the viola in its tonal beauty and warmth, the famous luthier built a few “Medicea d’alto” in 1690, due to the special request from the Medicis and particularly the Prince Cosimo de Medicis. It is on one of these instrument that Paganini first played the “Sonata per la Gran’Viola” in London in 1834.
Thanks to the ingenious luthier André Sakellarides, who dared to change the instrument’s classic form into an asymmetrical one, the Baritone is coming back to life in the 21h century. Its new surprising and ergonomic shape allow the performer to play it like a big viola, while keeping the warmth, tone, depth and power necessary for the instrument, thanks to an enlarged body size.
Fascinated by the rebirth of this instrument that combines the virtuosity of the violin, the warmth of the viola and the power of the cello, Stephane Tran Ngoc is among the very few performers to play the Baritone through transcriptions, a classical repertoire and also new works for the instrument including several pieces dedicated to him ("L'Albatros", Suzanne Giraud "Fantaisy",Natanael Mojica).
