"Art is knowing how to transfuse in a painting, in a sculpture, in an architecture, in a music
something of that which does not die in the soul "
Costruzione Restauro strumenti ad arco Violino Viola Violoncello Cremona Cello Geige Bratsche Violinmaker Violin Orchestra Music Luthier Quartetto
I began my musical studies when I was very young. I started playing piano and then moved on to violin and viola, until I obtained the Conservatory Diplomas.
As a violinist and violist I have collaborated with many orchestras and chamber groups also as a soloist in Italy and abroad.
I played with the Petruzzelli Theater Orchestra until the disastrous fire of 1991.
My passion for music and bowed instruments led me to study at the International Violin Making School of Parma, under the expert guidance of Maestro Renato Scrollavezza.
In 2001 I opened my workshop in the city of Cremona.
M° Renato Scrollavezza and I in Genoa.
I'm playing "Il Cannone", Paganini's violin.
My workshop is located in the center of Cremona.
In the birthplace of Claudio Monteverdi.
There I deal with the construction and restoration of stringed instruments.
I was invited to participate with my instruments in exhibitions at the Violin Museum of Cremona, at the National Gallery of Parma. My instruments are in Taiwan, USA, UK, Israel, Germany, Austria, Spain, Czech Republic, China, Italy.
There is an imponderable aspect in the art of violin making which attracts me strongly: making instruments that over time acquire their own "personality" and uniqueness, the sum of the skills of a luthier and a musician who impress their own sound on that instrument. Time adds the fascination that great instruments possess.
The challenge of contemporary lutherie is to deal with a "form", the violin, which has remained almost unchanged since its appearance in the late Renaissance until today, and which has reached such aesthetic perfection that any variation would be inappropriate and inconsistent.
Even today, in the construction of the instruments we use techniques that have been inherited from the classical tradition in the attempt, perhaps, not to break that delicate thread that binds us to the knowledge and wisdom of the past.
By using models inspired by Amati, Stradivari, Guarneri del Gesù etc., and personally preparing varnishes after recipes that were already well known in the sixteenth century, we create instruments that have the patina of the time.The choice of wood is also very important in the search for the "ideal" sound. It has been seasoned for years and selected for both its aesthetic and acoustic qualities.
Knowledge, sensitivity and instinct guide luthiers in their own creative path, to create a violin from small insignificant pieces of wood.
© Giuseppe Arrè