The international luthier's school is in Cremona, Italy is along the very same street where Antonio Stradivari's run-down house is located.

The school is housed in a shabby 15th century palace, devoted to reviving the lost art of violin making. Its inspiration is the design and craftmanship of Stradivari's creations.

The graduates from more than 50 countris have spread across the globe, setting up workshops from Beijing to Boston. Many graduates - about 150 have stayed in Cremona, where they lovingly craft violins, violas and chellos.
Mr. Salvadori's workshop is no bigger than a walk - in closet where the walls are covered with framed awards for his creations. he is passionate about the details and makes only 5 violins a year.

Today the school is led by Mirelva Mondini, a former high school teacher who doesn't make or play violins herself but is devoted to keep the school going.

"The design of the violin hasn't changed because Stradivari was the best," says Giorgio Scolari, a "maestro" master instructor, who has taught at the school since the 1920's.

Restoration is where the real work is. In the hands of top musicians, violins must work hard. Musicians travel constantly. Concerts are played in hot, humid conditions one day, dry conditions the next. The wood expands and contracts. The strings put pressure on the bridge, the finger-board and the scroll. Some of the average violin's 75 parts have to be replaced every few years. Making, restoring and repairing violins has given Cremona a new lease on life.

Most of this information is from
The Globe and Mail newspaper,
January 26, 2010

Thank you Inda for posting this very interestig information. I hope that the violin makers in Cremona will continue their ancient and very unique craft.

I have read that there are a lot of Japanese and Chinese clients who will keep the industry in Cremona going, even though we find the world in a somewhat financial crisis.

There is nothing more wonderful and healing than the sound of a beautiful musical instrument.

Love,
Sue

Thank you Inda for posting this information.
I hopr that the string instrument makers will be able to continue their craft.

Sincerely,
Gisele

Thank you for this very interesting post Inda.

I found the article and Mr. Salvadori's picture here

http://www.theglobeandmail.com...ring/article1443629/

Thank you Susan, Gisele and thank you yoko for the website and the picture.

I recently heard Joshua Bell play a 1730's Stradivarius and the sound is undescribably beautiful.

Let us hope that craftsmen in Cremona will continue their incredibly beautiful work.

Thank you for this information. I did not know too much about the Stradivarius violin, so I am happy to look into it.
I also hope that the craftsmen in Cremona will continue their valuable work.

Love,
Vicky

What a harmonious and melodic post dearestest Inda! Thanks!

quote:

From: Ivry Gitlis, The Art of Violin,

I have a violin that was born in 1713. It was alive long before me, and I hope it lives long after me. I don't consider it as my violin. Rather, I am perhaps it's violinist; I am passing through it's life.

quote:

From: Stradavari's Genius, Toby Faber

A workshop serving the courts of Mantua and Ferrara in northern Italy had probably made the crucial breakthroughs, combining the pegbox of the rebec, a lute-like instrument of Moorish origin, with the soundbox of the lira da braccio, itself a development of the Renaissance fiddle. Although he cannot have been the violin's inventor, Andrea Amati's delicacy and awareness of geometric principles established the blueprint for others to follow; everything of the instrument's form and function can be seen in that 1564 violin.
-page 15

Louis XIII's foundation of his famous "Vingt-Quatre Violons du Roi" is indicative; the instrument was taking the position of orchestral workhorse that it still holds today. (Vingt-Quatre Violons du Roi is a court orchestra of 24 string instruments)

-page 22

From his first fourteen years as an independent luthier until about 1680, by which time he was thirty-six, only eighteen violins are now known to exist, along with a viola, a guitar, and a cello that was originally a viol. Some may show the spark of genius, but overall they suffer by comparison with the authoritative instruments emerging at the same time from Nicolo Amati's workshop.
-page 29

King James II of England ordered on set of instruments in 1685.

5 years later Cosimo de Medici bought another.

Thank you Vicky, and thank you Teo for all the added information from Toby Faber's book.
I would like to read this book myself.

The musicians who are fortunate enough to play a Stradivarius really do produce a magnificent sound. One can recognize the Stradivarius immediately.