A special event was held at the Auditorium Fondazione Cariplo in Milan to celebrate Italian violin-making. Renato Meucci, organologist, and Virginia Villa, director of the Fondazione Antonio Stradivari, introduced the evening, speaking of the importance of the violin-maker’s craft: a profession which has found its highest expression in Italy with Amati, Stradivari, Bergonzi and Guarneri del Gesù, and which still produces great masters and prestigious institutions.
Organised by the Cologni Foundation for the Métiers d’Art together with laVerdi of Milan and the Fondazione Stradivari of Cremona, the evening was a tribute to the craft, art and skill of masters who, for centuries, have made Italy (and Cremona in particular) one of the capitals of the finest violin-making.
Luca Santaniello, first violin in the laVerdi Orchestra (who played a precious Antonio Stradivari violin from the “Friends of Stradivari” collection), and Elena Piva, harpist in the laVerdi Orchestra, played music by Bach, Massenet and Mascagni. The event culminated with a special performance by the Orchestra Sinfonica Giuseppe Verdi.
