By Robert Beck
Lukas Violins is a West End showroom and repair shop for fine stringed instruments. It has the ornate texture of a Victorian parlor or maybe a Roma caravan. Rich amber woods play against the greens and blues in the rugs, and the atmosphere is warm and receiving. Violins rest on the sofa, on tables, in racks, and in cabinets. I counted nearly a hundred, in addition to the cellos and a bass. There is music wherever you look.
On top of a cabinet is the violin that captured me when I went to the website: one of Lukas Wronski’s custom designs, commemorating the Centennial of Oklahoma Statehood. He is an artist as well as a world-class craftsman. Lukas studied drawing, painting, and sculpture, along with violin-making. In addition to building and repairing them in the classical tradition, he sometimes uses the instrument as a creative medium. Many of these violins have carved heads at the top above the tuning pins.
Lukas chose a Cherokee Native American’s head for his Oklahoma violin. It looks so right there. These heads remind me of Bernini’s terracotta sculptures with their use of broad planes and deep relief to describe form.
The violin he made to honor Bartholdi’s Liberty Enlightening the World—the Statue of Liberty—has her head with the pointed rays, along with other creative details such as hints of tarnished copper in the stain. He caught her nose. The body shapes of the custom instruments are equally extraordinary, often asymmetrical. Lukas has crafted exquisite non-traditional violins that celebrate the Venus de Milo and other romantic subjects, using art to communicate in a language greater than words. Plus, they all play beautifully.
When I arrived at Lukas Violins, the virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor Mark Peskanov was playing in the salon area. It was as if I had walked into a secret room at Carnegie Hall. Peskanov brought his violin for adjustment and was taking other instruments, some very old, for test drives while waiting. He swung and swayed, attacked and caressed, taking the measure of each. The music was superb. He was pleased by one in particular. “It is very good,” he said.
I mentioned the Oklahoma violin, and Peskanov played it for me. His fingers moved along the neck in a blur. At times, the music washed over me, and at others, a resonance rose from the center of my body, lifting, lifting. It was impossible to be unmoved.
Lukas handed him a special violin to try. Peskanov began to play, then stopped. He asked to have the post adjusted: a piece of wood located inside the violin under the bridge, between the top and back, having a significant effect on intonation. It is held in place by the string pressure alone. Lukas reached through the f-hole with a long metal tool and moved the post the tiniest bit.
Peskanov plucked the strings lightly and placed the violin under his chin.He paused for a moment before pouncing on the instrument, sending an emphatic passage thundering out into the room. Fortissimo! Then he pulled the music up onto its toes, holding us in suspension. Peskanov smiled and nodded. “Good”, he said, “It was in pain; now it’s free.”
A violin is improbable to begin with. The instrument weighs next to nothing: the whole thing a pound or less. It seems too insubstantial to endure what is asked of it, yet many of them have done duty for hundreds of years. It’s hard to fathom, like when you hear a booming song come from a bird the size of your thumb. How does that even happen?
I’m glad to have had this opportunity before Lukas Violins (lukasviolins.com) relocates to Harlem. These experiences are more than a memory; they move me forward. The virtuoso musician and the master violin maker’s shop were a gift, a call challenging me to depict that place and moment to my best ability. The three of us and what we love amid centuries of ghosts.
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On Tuesday, April 21st, at 6 p.m., Robert Beck will be giving a Zoom talk for Landmark West about the stories and techniques behind his West Side Canvas paintings. To sign up, go to Landmarkwest.org.
And if you have a connection to an archetypical UWS place or event that would make a good West Side Canvas subject, please let him know. Thank you!
Note: Lukas Violins will be moving to Ray Harlem (125th & 5th Avenue) in the near future. Visit the website at www.lukasviolins.com.
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