Stories and emotions from five centuries of Cremonese violinmaking
There is an indissoluble and ancient connection between Cremona and violinmaking. In 2013 the Museo del Violino (MdV) added a wonderful new page to this long history which, thanks to the insight and generous contribution of the Arvedi Buschini Foundation, provides an important structure for the international community – a museum, auditorium and research centre rolled into one. It is somewhere that not only celebrates the greatness of the past, but also focuses on the present, offering a real journey through time that explores the world of violinmaking right up to its most recent developments. At the MdV visitors can discover five centuries of violinmaking in Cremona through direct contact with the city’s great violinmakers – Amati, Stradivari, Guarneri, Rugeri and Bergonzi – and their masterpieces. Thanks to the collections of the Municipality of Cremona, the Walter Stauffer Foundation and the Arvedi Buschini Foundation, the wonderful objects entrusted to the city through the friends of Stradivari network, and the moulds and original tools donated primarily by Giuseppe Fiorini, visitors can trace the complete history of classical Cremonese violinmaking as they move from room to room.
The twentieth century is represented through an exhibition of the instruments that won the 1937 National Competition and the International “Triennale” Violin Making Competition, known since 1976 as the Violinmaking Olympics. Finally, the museum also devotes a significant amount of space to contemporary master violinmakers from Cremona, whose work ensures violinmaking today is more relevant, alive and vibrant than ever before.
But the museum is not limited to simply displaying precious items – it also offers opportunities to delve further into the subject at various levels, with workshops, conferences and exhibitions organised, and recitals and concerts held in the wonderful Auditorium Giovanni Arvedi, allowing the masterpieces of classical violinmaking to take centre stage. A collection unlike any other anywhere else on Earth, multimedia installations, a wealth of documentary displays and concerts featuring historic instruments promise an exciting and enthralling visit for all, in which instruments, sounds and images converge to give rise to stories, dreams and emotions.
The Antonio Stradivari ‘Stauffer Ex Cristiani’ 1700 cello is currently not on display due to manteinance
