Study finds new violins equal to classics

When the two young stars from the Curtis Institute of Music were summoned to a hotel room, one by one, to try out some high-quality violins, they were met with an odd sight.

The room was divided in two with white sheets, and the violinists were greeted by scientists wearing tinted welder's goggles.

"It was very mysterious and kind of weird," said Nikki Chooi, a student at Curtis since 2007.

Equally weird, by some reckoning, was what happened next.

Chooi, fellow Curtis student Benjamin Beilman, and 19 others were asked to compare the sound of three modern violins with that from three made by the Italian masters: two by Antonio Stradivari and one by Guarneri del Gesu. Not only did the modern violins hold their own, but most of the musicians were unable to tell if their favorite instrument of the six was new or old.

The findings, published this month in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, have provoked a minor uproar in the rarefied world of classical musicianship. Some have questioned the validity of the study, which required participants to evaluate the instruments after a fairly brief exposure, whereas others are happy to see modern violin-makers - luthiers - get more respect.

The study represents one of several examples in which science has been brought to bear on various realms of artistic expertise - wine-tasting and painting, to name a couple. Expertise, it turns out, is not perfect.

Beilman, for one, said the exercise was long overdue.

"It really kind of shines the light on the discrepancy in perception," he said. "Yes, the old Italian instruments are incredible. They're magical. They in some ways have their own souls. But for so long, modern makers have been brushed under the rug as second-rate solutions."

The study was conducted in 2010 at the prestigious International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, at which Beilman earned a bronze medal.

The study participants were approached at the competition and asked if they would go a hotel to test some violins. They then donned tinted goggles so they could not distinguish the violins by sight. Researchers wore such goggles for the same reason, so that their behavior would not inadvertently tip off the musicians as to which instruments were which, as they were handed out from behind the sheet.