Vibrato Controversy – but not what you think

Finally, a vibrato controversy I can sit back and enjoy:

Performance practice covers countless topics, most of which have been written about extensively, but there’s one issue which I’d like to raise here: orchestral string vibrato.  It has become commonly accepted in the 21st century that until the post-war period string players did not use much vibrato – that wiggle of the fingers on the string which produces a quiver of pitch in the note being played. The evidence for this comes almost exclusively from early recordings from the first decades of the 20th century. There is no doubt that string sections back then did not have the same constant vibrato that we tend to hear in present-day performances.