Italian violin maker Guarneri. Violin makers: Antonio Stradivari, Nicolo Amati, Giuseppe Guarneri and others

K:Wikipedia:Articles without images (type: not specified)

Bartolomeo Giuseppe Antonio Guarneri(nicknamed del Gesù, August 21 - October 17) - Italian master of bowed instruments.

Biography

Write a review of the article "Guarneri, Giuseppe"

Literature

• Hill William Henry. The Violin Makers of the Guarneri Family: Their Life and Work. - London: W.E. Hill & Sons, 1932.

Links

• (English)

Excerpt characterizing Guarneri, Giuseppe

The sound of the melody is comparable to a gentle stream, which flows melodiously into the listener’s ear. For many people, music is perceived as a guide to spiritual mood and a mirror of reality. The subject of embodiment of these experiences is an ancient musical instrument - violin.

This is a high register bowed string musical instrument. Perhaps no other instrument has such a combination of technical agility, beauty and expressiveness of sound. The higher quality the instrument is made, the better this will affect the playing process, as well as the perception of the musical composition.

However, today what causes greater amazement is not the playing of the instrument itself, but its price. The cost of some instruments today is estimated at several million dollars, because elite art costs a lot of money.

So what instrument has the honor of being called “ most expensive violin in the world" Introducing our top 5.

5th place - Linzy Stoppard's musical instruments - $2.2 million

Linzie Stoppard is a famous musician, daughter of Sir Tom Stoppard, an Oscar-winning writer. The girl's new instruments are entirely made from 24-karat gold by designer Theo Fennell. The instruments are decorated with precious stones - diamonds, sapphires and rubies.

The black and white instruments, custom made by Lenzie Stoppard, cost $4.4 million together, that's $2.2 million each! According to their owner, art costs money, and elite art requires a lot of money, or is completely priceless.

In essence, the instruments are no different from their cheap counterparts, but their price is clearly visible. These goddesses of melody are adorned with fifty thousand Swarovski crystals.

The world's first gold violins, decorated with diamonds, rubies and sapphires, were entrusted to the creation of British jeweler Theo Fennelly.

The uniqueness of these tools is as follows:

• 1. It took nine months to create them.
• 2. The base of the instruments was made of carbon and Kevlar - very strong and light materials, in order to compensate for the weight of the metal.
• 3. The base was covered with gold and decorated with precious stones.
• 4. To create them, it was necessary to develop almost all the details from scratch and experiment with electronics to make the gold sound.
• 5. The cost of one instrument was $2.2 million.

4th place – musical instrument Niccolo Paganini – $5 million

The price of this musical instrument by the famous Italian composer and musician remained a secret for a long time, because the anonymous buyer did not want the information even that such an instrument existed to be disclosed! However, after some time, the secret was revealed, and the world learned that the price of this ancient exhibit was 5 million dollars!

This is quite surprising, because the price is more than twice as high as the price of previous sounding brothers.

This instrument was Niccolo Paganini's favorite. It was created by Carlo Bergonzi, a student of the great master. His son Achilles sold the musical instrument after the virtuoso's death. As a result, its owners at various times were musicians and aristocrats.

For more than 35 years it was owned by John Corigliano, who was a member of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. After the death of the maestro, the family put the instrument up at Sothebys, where it was sold. Currently, the instrument is stored in a special bank premises under certain climatic conditions and under heavy security; it is insured for $4.5 million.

3rd place – Guarneri musical instrument – ​​$7 million

The third place is confidently taken by the Guarneri musical instrument, which was made by an unsurpassed master. He is considered the best along with the famous Stradivarius!

This miracle was made in 1741, which testifies to the antiquity and value of the instrument. Maxim Viktorov, a Russian entrepreneur, bought it for $3,540,000 in 2008, but experts have assessed it and claim that the current price of this instrument is more than $7 million, which earned it third place on our list.

The high value is not only for antiques, but also for pets and even ordinary aquarium fish. Although it’s hard to call fish ordinary, they are common only for millionaires.

2nd place – “Lady Blunt” by Antonio Stradivari – $15.89 million

Auction house Tarisio last June sold the Stradivarius Lady Blunt for a record price by today's standards - $15.89 million. It was purchased by an anonymous buyer. But that’s not all, all the proceeds from the sale were sent to help those affected by the tsunami and earthquake in Japan.

The sale of the Lady Blunt generated enormous interest among collectors who wished to take advantage of this unique opportunity to purchase the historic instrument. It was owned by the granddaughter of the poet Lord Byron, Lady Anna Blunt, for 30 years. Other hosts included Parisian master Jean Baptiste Vuillaume, Baron Knoop, collector Richard Bennett, Sam Bloomfield and the Nippon Music Foundation. Surprisingly, the instrument is in excellent condition, just as when it was created.

"Lady Blunt" is the closest to its original condition, meaning it retains most of its original features and is still largely intact in its varnish finish.

The instrument was made in 1721 by Antonio Stradivari. He also made cellos and violas in Cremona (Italy). Approximately 600 of his instruments survive today. All of them are in excellent demand among knowledgeable collectors and the world's leading performers. Especially prized is Lady Blunt, which sold for $15.89 million.

1st place – “Vietan” Guarneri del Gesu – $18 million

Only great violinists could appreciate the true uniqueness of this instrument. It was on Vietane that Niccolo Paganini played at one time. They say that the true value of Vie Tan is not calculated in monetary terms. Peter Quint, who has carried this instrument at concerts, claims that it has incredible power in terms of sound quality. Vietang is capable of a wide sound palette, which allows for the expression of a wider range of emotions.

But we are still talking about the most expensive violin. Vietan was purchased for a mind-boggling sum - $18 million. Its owner was the Belgian Eugene Ysaye, who became the owner of the most valuable musical instrument.

How much does it cost to eat not just deliciously, but with a sense of self-worth and superiority? Our high-cost article will tell you about this. Just think, spending 681,205 rubles on lunch at one time!

Video: perfect violins (part 2)

Andrea Guarneri(1626--1698) - Italian violin maker and founder of the Guarneri dynasty of masters.

It is believed that Andrea Guarneri was born in 1626 in Cremona, then part of the Duchy of Milan, into the family of Bartolomo Guarneri. Little is known about the origins of the Guarneri family. There are records of a woodcarver named Giovanni Battista Guerine - which may be another spelling of the Guarneri family name - living near the house of Nicolo Amati in Cremona in 1632, and possibly a relative of the Guarneri family. In 1641, young Andrea lived with Nicolo Amati and learned the art of violin making, perhaps working alongside Francesco Ruggeri and Antonio Stradivari, who were also apprentices at the time. In 1652, while still living with Amati, Andrea married Anna Maria Orcelli, daughter of Orazio Orcelli. The young family finally left Amati's house in 1654 and Andrea probably left Amati's workshop as well as his patronage. They moved into the house of Guarneri's father-in-law, Casa Orcelli, which later became Casa Guarneri, "Guarneri's house". Anna Maria soon gave birth to a daughter, Angela Teresa, and a year later to a son, Pietro Giovanni, who later became a violin maker following his father.

In 1655, for the first time there is an indication that Andrea finally left Amati's workshop: in the text of the violin mark dated 1655 it is written “ex Allumnis Nicolai Amati” (“former student of Nicolai Amati”) In all previous marks “Alumnus” is written without the prefix “ ex". However, it is believed that after some time, both Andrea Guarneri and Francesco Ruggeri left Amati's workshop, they occasionally made instruments for their former master, and they bore the Amati mark.

By the mid-1660s, two more sons were added to the family of Andrea and Anna Maria, Eusebio Amati, born in 1658, and Giovanni Batista, in 1666. Despite the fact that Eusebio received a middle name in honor of Amati and, probably, he was his godfather; Andrea's third son was the only one of his sons who did not become a violin maker. No other information is available about Eusebio. Analyzing the craftsmanship of Guarneri violins, it is assumed that between 1670 and 1675, at least Pietro's eldest son Giovanni (later known as Pietro of Mantua) began working in his father's workshop. Some instruments are becoming lighter and the influence of Stradivarius can be seen. Over time, instruments appear, entirely made by the hand of Pietro Giovanni, but bearing the mark of Andrea Guarneri. However, the collaboration between father and son did not last long. In 1679, Pietro, then 24 years old, appears for the last time in the census in the lists of those living in his father's house. He soon moves to Mantua and becomes known under his own name.

One of the most reputable companies involved in the sale of musical instruments has put up for auction a Guarneri violin made in 1741. The instrument is notable not only for its record price, but also for its history: great 20th-century performers Yehudi Menuhin, Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zuckerman played this violin. Such auctions happen infrequently and always attract public attention, which the instrument as such is usually undeservedly deprived of. After all, people who turn to classical music first of all choose what to listen to, sometimes by whose performance, but they extremely rarely pay attention to what instrument the musician plays.

This violin, named after the famous 19th-century Belgian violinist and composer Henri Vietun, was made by a Cremonese master three years before his death. Before Vietun, who played it in the last 11 years of his life, the violin was owned by the French master Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, who bought it from a certain Doctor Benziger from Switzerland in 1858. After Vieutang, the violin belonged to the Belgian Eugene Ysaye, then, already in the 20th century, the Englishman Philip Newman played it. The instrument was bought for him by his cousin, businessman and founder of one of the Oxford colleges, Isaac Wolfson. After Newman's death in 1966, the violin was acquired by philanthropist and music connoisseur Ian Stutsker, who still owns it today.

It is easy to be surprised at the price of this particular Guarneri violin, because, such is the stereotype, for any educated person the standard of a violin is the instrument of Anthony Stradivari. It would be foolish to argue that this master was one of the best artisans in Cremona, but experts compare his best violins to vanilla ice cream, while the Guarneri del Gesù instruments are, in culinary terms, closest to good dark chocolate. And the life of Guarneri, who died at 46, was half as long as that of Stradivari, and only about 140 of his violins survive in the world - several times less than the instruments of his more famous competitor.

The dessert comparison quite accurately reflects the difference between the violins of these two famous Italians. If Stradivari is, first of all, a lively, light, articulate sound and capable of the slightest changes in tone, then Guarneri instruments sound, in comparison, deeper and heavier. Maybe that’s why one of the Guarneri violins (perhaps the most famous) was the favorite instrument of Niccolo Paganini, who lived a far from rosy life until his death. Paganini, who, by the way, also owned several Stradivarius violins, also played an important role in popularizing the name of Guarneri, who was practically forgotten after his death.

In one of his letters to Yehudi, Menuhin admitted that he preferred the Vieutang, which he managed to play, to his own Stradivarius violin of 1714. In addition, the maestro owned another Guarneri instrument - the Lord Wilton violin of 1742. The preference of a performer of Menuhin's caliber is an important indication of the true value of a violin, which is not expressed in monetary units at all. Because any outstanding instrument, like an outstanding piece of music, in the hands of the performer is not so much a means that transforms signs into sounds, but, on the contrary, the music itself, for which the performer is only a means. And the nature of the instrument often determines how the performance will turn out.

Of course, in scientific circles there has never been much trust in what cannot be explained, including the presence of meta-content in several pieces of wood glued together and veins stretched over them. Stradivari, Guarneri, Vuillaume, da Salo, an instrument of the 20th century, the 21st century - everything is one, if you approach the issue from a scientific point of view. Since the violin repertoire has become rich enough for the violin to be one of the main solo instruments, sophisticated tests have been carried out to determine whether there is any difference between the instruments. Moreover, these tests, in which musicologists, experts and virtuosos participate, as a rule, end with even the best experts confusing where is a Stradivarius, where is a Guarneri, and where is just a good factory violin.

To justify the uniqueness of a particular instrument, scientists try to explain it with one or another objective argument. The sound of ancient violins, for example, was attributed to the very high density of the wood from which they were made. There are also theories according to which the special sound of violins of the 17th - 18th centuries is given by a special composition of glue, trees from a certain geographical region, clever varnishing, and so on. Scientists prefer to attribute the merits of an instrument to the exceptional skill of its creator as a last resort.

Over the years, more and more new means have become available to prove scientific assumptions: X-rays, dendrochronology, biochemical analysis, laser vibrometers and much more. However, even if the scientists are right and a good violin really does not differ from a good violin, there is another aspect, an aesthetic one. For some reason, he played the violin.

Any excellent instrument produced by one or another master or even a factory has a history of creation; behind it there is always a reputation, and therefore the character of a person or company. Moreover, many well-known manufacturers began making musical instruments when they had not yet acquired their modern appearance, and shaped them with their own hands. This is the only reason why Bluthner pianos will differ from each other, just as, for example, Greg Smallman's guitars will differ from Jose Ramirez's guitars.

Of course, if you wish, it is not difficult to call this myth-making for another, non-scientific reason: the income of the owner of a rare instrument directly depends on the establishment of such differences. (As the well-known accuser of the world of classical music, Norman Lebrecht, would rightly point out here.) Humanly, however, this also means denying the distinction of instruments with different characters, created by people with different characters. Different people will also have to play on them.

Therefore, it will be a great pity if Guarneri’s Viotan, which risks becoming the most expensive musical instrument in the world, is bought not by some music-loving philanthropist, but by a Japanese museum. And for museum visitors, the value of this violin will be reduced to an audio recording in headphones, the $18 million that was once paid for it, and two paragraphs of text on a plaque describing the exhibit.

Comment from the forum http://www.classicalforum.ru/index.php?topic=3329.0

After all, the violins of the great masters were distinguished by some common properties that arose under the hands of a particular master, as well as by the individuality of the “voice”: it was not for nothing that the masters themselves gave the most outstanding instruments individual names!

When the master had previously developed strategic considerations regarding the general musical and mechanical parameters of the instrument being created, it all began with the selection of material and its preparation for creating the parts of the violin and then, after turning and adjusting all the components to each other, ended with the fine tuning of the assembled instrument through modification small mechanical and geometric parameters with accompanying sound control, after which the instrument was coated with a special varnish, the secret of which was also a special secret.

A few words about Stradivari...

The world's most famous violin maker, Antonio Stradivari, was born in 1644 in Cremona. It is known that already at the age of thirteen he began to study violin making. By 1667, he had completed his apprenticeship with the famous bowed instrument maker Andrea Amati.

Stradivari made his first violin in 1666, but for more than 30 years he searched for his own model. Only in the early 1700s did the master construct his own, still unsurpassed, violin. It was elongated in shape and had kinks and irregularities inside the body, due to which the sound was enriched due to the appearance of a large number of high overtones.

Stradivarius made about 2,500 instruments

From that time on, Antonio no longer made fundamental deviations from the developed model, but experimented until the end of his long life. Stradivari died in 1737, but his violins are still highly valued; they practically do not age and do not change their “voice.”

During his life, Antonio Stradivari made about 2,500 instruments, of which 732 are undoubtedly authentic (including 632 violins, 63 cellos and 19 violas). In addition to bows, he also made one harp and two guitars.

It is generally accepted that his best instruments were made from 1698 to 1725 (and the best in 1715). They are especially rare and therefore highly prized by both musicians and collectors.

Many Stradivarius instruments are in rich private collections. There are about two dozen Stradivarius violins in Russia: several violins are in the State Collection of Musical Instruments, one is in the Glinka Museum (where it was given by the widow of David Oistrakh, who, in turn, received it as a gift from Queen Elizabeth of England) and several more - in private ownership.

Scientists and musicians around the world are trying to unravel the mystery of how Stradivarius violins were created. Even during his lifetime, the masters said that he sold his soul to the devil; they even said that the wood from which several of the most famous violins were made were the fragments of Noah’s Ark. There is an opinion that Stradivarius violins are so good because a real instrument begins to sound truly good only after two or three hundred years.

Many scientists have conducted hundreds of studies on violins using the latest technologies, but they have not yet been able to unravel the secret of Stradivarius violins. It is known that the master soaked the wood in sea water and exposed it to complex chemical compounds of plant origin.

At one time it was believed that Stradivari's secret was in the shape of the instrument; later, great importance was attached to the material, which is constant for Stradivarius violins: spruce for the top, maple for the bottom. They even believed that it was all about the varnishes; The elastic varnish covering Stradivarius violins allows the soundboards to resonate and “breathe.” This gives the timbre a characteristic “big” sound.

According to legend, Cremonese craftsmen prepared their mixtures from the resins of some trees that grew in those days in the Tyrolean forests and were soon completely cut down. The exact composition of those varnishes has not been established to this day - even the most sophisticated chemical analysis was powerless here.

In 2001, biochemist Joseph Nigiware of the University of Texas announced that he had unraveled the secret of Stradivarius. The scientist came to the conclusion that the special sound of the bowed strings was the result of the master’s efforts to protect them from the woodworm.

Nigiwara found out that when the master created violins, wooden blanks were often affected by woodworm, and Stradivari resorted to borax to protect the unique musical instruments. This substance seemed to solder the molecules of the wood, changing the overall sound of the violin.

When Stradivari died, the victory over the woodworm in Northern Italy had already been won, and subsequently the borax was no longer used to protect the tree. Thus, according to Nigiwara, the master took the secret with him to the grave.

Science and Stradivarius

Colin Gough

______________________________________________

____________________________________________________

Names for eternity
In the 16th and 17th centuries, large schools of violin makers formed in several European countries. Representatives of the Italian violin school were the famous Amati, Guarneri and Stradivari families from Cremona.
Cremona
The city of Cremona is located in Northern Italy, in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River. This city has been known since the 10th century as a center for the production of pianos and bows. Cremona officially holds the title of the world capital of stringed musical instrument production. Nowadays, more than one hundred violin makers work in Cremona, and their products are highly valued among professionals. In 1937, the year of the bicentenary of Stradivari's death, a school of violin making, now widely known, was founded in the city. It has 500 students from all over the world.

Panorama of Cremona 1782

Cremona has many historical buildings and architectural monuments, but the Stradivarius Museum is perhaps the most interesting attraction in Cremona. The Museum has three departments dedicated to the history of the development of violin making. The first is dedicated to Stradivari himself: some of his violins are kept here, and samples of paper and wood with which the master worked are exhibited. The second section contains works by other violin makers: violins, cellos, double basses, made in the 20th century. The third section talks about the process of making stringed instruments.

The outstanding Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) and the famous Italian stone carver Giovanni Beltrami (1779-1854) were born in Cremona. But most of all, Cremona was glorified by the violin makers Amati, Guarneri and Stradivari.
Unfortunately, while working for the benefit of humanity, the great violin makers did not leave behind their own images, and we, their descendants, do not have the opportunity to see their appearance.

Amati

Amati (Italian: Amati) is a family of Italian bow instrument makers from the ancient Cremonese family of Amati. The name Amati is mentioned in the chronicles of Cremona as early as 1097. The founder of the Amati dynasty, Andrea, was born around 1520, lived and worked in Cremona and died there around 1580.
Two famous contemporaries of Andrea, masters from the city of Brescia, Gasparo da Salo and Giovanni Magini, were also involved in violin making. The Bresci school was the only one that could compete with the famous Cremona school.

Since 1530, Andrea, together with his brother Antonio, opened his own workshop in Cremona, where they began making violas, cellos and violins. The earliest instrument that has come down to us is dated 1546. He still retains some features of the Bresci school. Based on the traditions and technology of making stringed instruments (viols and lutes), Amati was the first among his fellow workers to create a modern type violin.

Amati created violins of two sizes - large (grand Amati) - 35.5 cm in length and smaller - 35.2 cm.
The violins had low sides and a fairly high arch on the sides. The head is large, skillfully carved. Andrea was the first to define the selection of wood characteristic of the Cremonese school: maple (lower soundboards, sides, head), spruce or fir (upper soundboards). On cellos and double basses, the backs were sometimes made of pear and sycamore.

Having achieved a clear, silvery, gentle (but not strong enough) sound, Andrea Amati raised the importance of the violin maker's profession to a high level. The classical type of violin he created (the outline of the model, the processing of the arches of the soundboards) remained largely unchanged. All subsequent improvements made by other masters mainly concerned the strength of sound.

At the age of twenty-six, the talented violin maker Andrea Amati had already “made” a name for himself and put it on the labels attached to the instruments. The rumor about the Italian master quickly spread throughout Europe and reached France. King Charles IX invited Andrea to his place and ordered him to make violins for the court ensemble “24 Violins of the King”. Andrea made 38 instruments, including treble and tenor violins. Some of them have survived.

Andrea Amati had two sons - Andrea Antonio and Girolamo. Both grew up in their father's workshop, were their father's partners all their lives and were probably the most famous violin makers of their time.
The instruments made by Andrea Amati's sons were even more elegant than those of their father, and the sound of their violins was even more delicate. The brothers enlarged the vaults a little, began to make recesses along the edges of the soundboards, lengthened the corners and slightly, just a little, bent the f-holes.

Nicolo Amati

Girolamo's son Nicolo (1596-1684), Andrea's grandson, achieved particular success in violin making. Nicolo Amati created a violin designed for public performances. He brought the form and sound of his grandfather's violin to the highest perfection and adapted it to the requirements of the time.

To do this, he slightly increased the size of the body (“large model”), reduced the bulge of the decks, enlarged the sides and deepened the waist. He improved the deck tuning system and paid special attention to deck impregnation. I selected wood for the violin, focusing on its acoustic properties. In addition, he ensured that the varnish covering the instrument was flexible and transparent, and the color was golden-bronze with a reddish-brown tint.

The design changes made by Nicolo Amati made the violin sound stronger and the sound travel further without losing its beauty. Nicolo Amati was the most famous of the Amati family - partly due to the huge number of instruments he made, partly due to his illustrious name.

All Nicolo's instruments are still valued by violinists. Nicolo Amati created a school of violin makers, among the students were his son Girolamo II (1649 - 1740), Andrea Guarneri, Antonio Stradivari, who later created their own dynasties and schools, and other students. The son of Girolamo II was unable to continue his father’s work, and it died out.

Guarneri.

The Guarneri are a family of Italian bowed instrument makers. The founder of the family, Andrea Guarneri, was born in 1622 (1626) in Cremona, lived, worked there and died in 1698.
He was a student of Nicolo Amati, and created his first violins in the Amati style.
Later, Andrea developed his own model of a violin, in which the f-holes had irregular outlines, the arch of the soundboards was flatter, and the sides were rather low. There were other features of Guarneri violins, in particular their sound.

Andrea Guarneri's sons Pietro and Giuseppe were also major masters of violin making. The elder Pietro (1655 -1720) worked first in Cremona, then in Mantua. He made instruments according to his own model (wide “chest”, convex arches, rounded f-holes, rather wide scroll), but his instruments were close in design and sound to his father’s violins.

Andrea's second son, Giuseppe Guarneri (1666-c. 1739), continued to work in the family workshop and tried to combine the models of Nicolo Amati and his father, but, succumbing to the strong influence of the works of his son (the famous Giuseppe (Joseph) del Gesu) began to imitate him in the development strong and courageous sound.

Giuseppe's eldest son, Pietro Guarneri II (1695-1762), worked in Venice, his youngest son, also Giuseppe (Joseph), nicknamed Guarneri del Gesù, became the largest Italian violin maker.

Guarneri del Gesù (1698-1744) created his own individual type of violin, designed for playing in a large concert hall. The best violins of his work are distinguished by strong voices with thick, full tones, expressiveness and variety of timbre. The first to appreciate the advantages of Guarneri del Gesù violins was Niccolò Paganini.

Guarneri del Gesù violin, 1740, Cremona, inv. No. 31-a

Belonged to Ksenia Ilyinichna Korovaeva.
Entered the State Collection in 1948.
Main dimensions:
case length - 355
width of the upper part - 160
bottom width - 203
smallest width - 108
scale length - 194
neck - 131
head - 107
curl - 40.
Materials:
the lower deck is made of one piece of semi-radial cut sycamore maple,
The sides are made of five parts of sycamore maple, the top is made of two parts of spruce.

Antonio Stradivari

Antonio Stradivarius or Stradivarius is a famous master of stringed and bowed instruments. It is believed that he lived and worked in Cremona because one of his violins is stamped "1666, Cremona". The same mark confirms that Stradivari studied with Nicolo Amati. It is also believed that he was born in 1644, although the exact date of his birth is unknown. The names of his parents are known: Alexandro Stradivari and Anna Moroni.
In Cremona, starting in 1680, Stradivari lived in St. Dominic, there he opened a workshop in which he began making stringed instruments - guitars, violas, cellos and, of course, violins.

Until 1684, Stradivarius built small violins in the Amati style. He diligently reproduced and improved his teacher's violins, trying to find his own style. Gradually, Stradivari freed himself from Amati's influence and created a new type of violin, differing from Amati violins in its timbre richness and powerful sound.

Beginning in 1690, Stradivari began to build larger instruments than the violins of his predecessors. A typical Stradivarius "long violin" is 363 mm long, which is 9.5 mm larger than the Amati violin. Later, the master reduced the length of the instrument to 355.5 mm, at the same time making it somewhat wider and with more curved arches - this is how a model of unsurpassed symmetry and beauty was born, which went down in world history as the “Stradivarius violin”, and the name of the master himself covered with unfading glory.

The most outstanding instruments were made by Antonio Stradivari between 1698 and 1725. All violins from this period are distinguished by their remarkable finishing and excellent sound characteristics - their voices are similar to the ringing and gentle voice of a woman.
Over the course of his life, the master created more than a thousand violins, violas and cellos. About 600 have survived to this day, some of his violins are known under their own names, for example, the “Maximilian” violin, which was played by our contemporary, the outstanding German violinist Michel Schwalbe - the violin was given to him for lifelong use.

Other famous Stradivarius violins include the Betts (1704), housed in the Library of Congress, the Viotti (1709), the Alard (1715), and the Messiah (1716).

In addition to violins, Stradivarius created guitars, violas, cellos, and created at least one harp - according to current estimates, more than 1,100 instruments. The cellos that came from the hands of Stradivarius have a wonderful melodious tone and external beauty.

Stradivari's instruments are distinguished by a characteristic inscription in Latin: Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno in translation - Antonio Stradivari of Cremona made in the year (such and such).
After 1730, some Stradivarius instruments were signed Sotto la Desciplina d'Antonio Stradivari F. in Cremona)