Television Reviews : A Stradivarius Program Keyed to Aficionados

Hard-core fiddle fanciers may well rejoice in “Stradivarius On Stage” (tonight at 10:10 on Channel 28). The BBC-TV production--basically a concert with an intermission featurette between each movement--is filled with close-ups of eight instruments by the Cremona master.

But the uninitiated should not rely on the program for real information about the luthier or his craft. Narrator Peter Allen waits until the closing credits to deliver a capsule bio, and there is no hint of how a violin is constructed or the exhaustive efforts made to determine the secrets of Stradivarius’ particular achievements.

Many Strads have genealogies more detailed than an English peer, and the program gives glimpses of some recent additions to the lore. Marcelle Hall, widow of violinist Julian Altman, recounts Altman’s deathbed confession last year of how for 51 years he had been playing the “Gibson” Stradivarius, stolen from Bronislaw Huberman. Yo-Yo Ma enthuses over his “Davidov” cello by Stradivarius, which had belonged to Jacqueline DuPre and had not been played for the last 12 years of her life.

The bulk of the program is drawn from a London concert honoring Stradivarius last year on the 250th anniversary of his death. The late Manoug Parikian, British phenom Nigel Kennedy (who plays the Beethoven Concerto Saturday with the Glendale Chamber Orchestra) and the equally young and talented American Daniel Phillips play portions of Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” Concertos.

Accompanying--none too neatly at times--is the English Chamber Orchestra (which will perform at Ambassador Auditorium next week). Yehudi Menuhin presides benignly over the concerto performances, which include cellist Robert Cohen playing the finale of Haydn’s Concerto in C.

Pinchas Zukerman tries to articulate his feelings about Stradivarius’ “Amatise,” and plays the finale of Mozart’s Sonata in B flat, K. 378, in a Cremona recital with pianist Marc Neikrug. Ma plays the Gigue from a Bach Suite.