When you first enter the Violin Room at Cardiff Violins you find yourself in a wondrous Aladdin’s cave of violins, the walls lined from floor to ceiling with row upon row of instruments, and there is the feeling that surely you will find “that special violin” here. There is a warm welcome to settle you in with reviving cups of tea to brace yourself for the task ahead, and Chris is on hand to tell you about the different instruments and their histories. They also have a violinist available to play for you, so that you can hear how your selection sounds from a distance, and how well it projects. When you need a break there are plenty of little cafes nearby where you can sit and discuss and mull over the decisions you might make.
Maddie fell in love with a wonderful old English violin, and I was also so inspired by one of the instruments (sadly beyond our price range) that I decided to start to play the violin again. Cecile and Chris were able to find me a lovely old instrument that suited my hands. So now Maddie and I play duets together!
The next fun task is choosing a violin case. Choosing a violin case is easy with such a variety of cases to choose from – once again one is spoilt for choice – from the simply sumptuous to the functional. Seeing your violin in a beautiful case that sets off the wood is inspiring and just makes you want it to pick it up and start playing.
So although we set out to purchase one violin and ended up with two, we went through an amazing journey of discovery, our lives are the richer and our music-making enhanced! Thank you Cardiff Violins!