In Monday’s (10/20) Wall Street Journal, Stuart Isacoff reports from Cremona, Italy, “birthplace of the Amati, Stradivari and Guarneri families, whose 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century instruments still hold a special mystique for violinists everywhere…. So bringing violins to Cremona is roughly the equivalent of taking coal to Newcastle. But at the recent Cremona Mondomusica—an international music fair held at the very end of September—an impressive 238 exhibitors from 28 different countries displayed their handcrafted violins, cellos and guitars, along with woods, strings and bows…. many members of Cremona’s Antonio Stradivari Consortium of Violin Makers were on hand, showing their wares to the exhibit’s 15,000 visitors … ‘We don’t really make money on this music fair,’ [Bianchedi] explained…. ‘But we invest in this event because it is important for our international image. At the same time we are helping the local economy by bringing thousands of people to Cremona. In fact, we believe in this initiative so much that we have set dates for Mondomusica in New York for 2016…. And, if possible, we’d like to organize something in California as well.’ ”
Posted October 24, 2014
