Li Fan, an expert in baroque and early music, recently returned to playing the modern violin. It was a bigger adjustment than she expected, especially given her dynamic career in violin before taking up early music, and the experience prompted her to consider many things about the change of pace in music, culture, and life over the course of history.
“The development of civilization can be seen in the changes in our instruments,” she said.
In a wide-ranging interview, Li spoke of the development of the violin from its fiddle ancestors to the modern violin (her own by contemporary luthier Jörg Wunderlich), an evolution that mirrors the changes in language and in culture. In the past few years, her career has in a way come full circle, her artistry deepened by a renewed understanding of tradition and faith….