Giovanni Battista Guadagnini

Guadagnini family tree

Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (often shortened to G. B. Guadagnini; 23 June 1711 – 18 September 1786) was an Italian luthier, regarded as one of the finest craftsmen of string instruments in history.<ref name=Doring>Template:Cite book Reprint with new introduction by Stewart Pollins, Dover Books, 2012. Template:ISBN</ref> The Guadagnini family was known for their violins, guitars and mandolins.<ref name="tarisio2"/>

Biography

Giovanni Battista Guadagnini was born on 23 June 1711, in the hamlet of Bilegno, in what is now the Province of Piacenza in Northern Italy. Both his life and his career can be divided into four distinct periods, which correspond to the four cities in which he would live and work, Piacenza, Milan, Parma, and Turin.

Almost nothing is known about his early years until he moved to the nearby city of Piacenza in 1738.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1742, his first violins start to appear. It is unclear from whom or where he learned his trade. Since he joined the woodworking guild, it is likely that he underwent an apprenticeship with a local woodworker; however, there is no evidence of any local instrument makers in Piacenza at the time.<ref name="parma2011b">Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1749 Guadagnini moved to Milan, where he continued to make instruments. The reason for his move is unknown, but was perhaps economically motivated as Milan was a much larger city with a larger and more active music scene. During this time a few of his instruments bear labels implying a relationship to Cremona—the home of the renowned violin makers Amati, Stradivari, and Guarneri—however no evidence exists that Guadagnini ever lived in Cremona.<ref name="parma2011b" />

In 1758 Guadagnini moved again, this time to Parma. He may have been drawn to the city by the recent appointment of Carlo Ferarri, a close musician friend from his time in Piacenza, to a position with the Ducal Court.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During his time in Parma Guadagnini was also closely connected to the court, and in particular to the musical patronage of the Prime Minister Guillaume du Tillot. In his later years in Parma Guadagnini even received a direct salary from the court. In 1771, with the Court's financial fortunes in decline, Guadagnini asked to be allowed to leave.<ref name="parma2011b" />

He next moved to Turin. Two years later, in 1773, he began his historically important relationship with notable violin collector Count Cozio. Cozio purchased most, if not all, of Guadagnini's output during this time, and also supplied him with most of his wood and other materials. His business partnership with Cozio ended in 1777, though they continued to have dealings with each other.<ref name="parma2011b" /> The Count is likely responsible for Guadagnini's marked shift to a more Stradivari-like style during this time, both by pressuring Guadagnini to more closely copy Stradivari and by providing Guadagnini with access to examples of Stradivari's work.<ref name="parma2011kass">Template:Cite book</ref>

Giovanni Battista Guadagnini died in Turin on 18 September 1786.<ref name="bio1" />

Violin maker

Guadagnini's work is divided into four distinct periods, which correspond to the four cities in which he worked over the span of his career, Piacenza, Milan, Parma, and Turin. His work in each new city changed in response to the availability of materials, the needs of the local musicians, and finally in Turin, his relationship with Count Cozio. Stylistically Guadagnini's work is generally less refined and polished than that of makers such as the Amatis or Stradivari, however with the same focus on tonal success.<ref name="parma2011kass" /> He is generally considered to be the last of the great historical makers, ranking just behind Stradivari and Guarneri.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He is also possibly the last of historical makers to have used a varnish similar to what was used by classical Cremonese makers.<ref name="parma2011kass" />

His instruments have sold for over $2,000,000 at auction.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Performers with Guadagnini instruments

Violinists

Violinist	Date & place of manufacture	Sobriquet	Comments	Reference
Madeline Adkins	1782	ex-Chardon	On loan from Gabrielle Israelievitch, previously played by Jacques Israelievitch	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Felix Ayo	1744			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Veriko Tchumburidze	1756, Milan		loaned by Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Riccardo Brengola	1747, Piacenza	Contessa Crespi		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Adolf Brodsky	1751, Milan	ex-Brodsky		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Zakhar Bron	1757, Milan			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Chloe Chua	1753, Milan			<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Bartu Elci-Ozsoy	1760	ex-Vidas	Loaned by Conservatoire de Paris. The violin, made by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, was previously owned by Romanian-born violinist Raoul Georges Vidas (1901–1978) and was donated to the Conservatoire de Paris by the late virtuoso's mother Anna Vidas.	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Amaury Coeytaux	1773			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Andrew Dawes, Robert Uchida	1770, Parma	Dawes, de Long Tearse		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Richard Deakin			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Julia Fischer	1742			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Carl Flesch	1750s	ex-Henri Vieuxtemps		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
David Garrett	1772		In December 2007, Garrett fell after a performance and smashed his Guadagnini, which he had purchased four years earlier for US$1 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He now uses it for mainly his outdoor crossover performances.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}Template:CbignoreTemplate:Dead YouTube link</ref>
David Greed	1757		Owned by the Yorkshire Guadagini 1757 Syndicate.	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Arthur Grumiaux	1752	ex-Grumiaux		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
David Halen	1753			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Jascha Heifetz	1741, Piacenza	ex-Heifetz	Provenance – by Rembert Wurlitzer in 1946 and Dario D'Attili in 1991	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Marlene Hemmer	1764			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Chloe Chua	1753		On Loan from the Rin Collection [1]	[2]
Peter Herresthal	1753, Milan			<ref name="Thestrad_Oct2011">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Willy Hess	1740s			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Joseph Joachim	1767, Parma	ex-Joachim		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Ida Kavafian	1751			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
David Kim	1757		On loan from The Philadelphia Orchestra	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Min-Jeong Koh	1767			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Goran Končar	1753, Milan			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Mikhail Kopelman	1773			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Michał Kowalkowski	1753	Gucio
Jan Kubelik	1750	ex-Kubelik		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Pekka Kuusisto	1752		On loan from the Finnish Cultural Foundation	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Manfred Leverkus	1752	ex-Kneisel
Jack Liebeck	1785	ex-Wilhelmj		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Wayne Lin	1779, Turin			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Tasmin Little	1757, Milan			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Mauro Lopes Ferreira				citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Haldon Martinson	1750		Being used in the Boston Symphony Orchestra	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Stefan Milenkovich	1780, Turin			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Viktoria Mullova	1750			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Ludwig Müller	1746
Ginette Neveu			Purchased early spring, 1949. Involved in an air crash later that year, in which Neveu died. Scroll later apparently appeared in Paris, having changed hands several times.	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
David Plantier	1766			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Simone Porter	1745		On loan from The Mandell Collection of Southern California	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
William E. Pynchon	1779, Turin		Purchased 26 March 1957. Played in San Francisco Opera until 1998
Linda Rosenthal	1772, Turin			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Leon Sametini	1751	ex-Sametini		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Mari Samuelsen	1773, Turin		On loan from ASAF (Anders Sveeas Charitable Foundation, Oslo).	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio	1757			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Mayumi Seiler	1740, Piacenza
Ittai Shapira	1745, Piacenza			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Sini-Maaria Simonen	1760		On loan from the Finnish Cultural Foundation	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Roman Simovic	1752		On loan from Jonathan Moulds	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Yvonne Smeulers	1785			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Lara St. John	1779	Salabue	Called "The Resurrection" by St. John	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Lyndon Johnston Taylor	1777			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Henri Temianka	1752		Built based on the Petro Guarnerius model. Certificate of Joseph Vedral, violinmaker, Holland, 28 September 1929
Vanessa-Mae	1761	Gizmo		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Pablo Valetti	1758			citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Pavel Vernikov	1747, Piacenza	ex-Contessa Crespi, ex-Brengola	On loan from Fondazione Pro Canale. Worth $1.5 million in 2016. Stolen in December 2016.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Henri Vieuxtemps	1750s	ex-Henri Vieuxtemps		<ref name="Guadagnini, 175x"/>
Henryk Wieniawski	1750	ex-Wieniawski		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Bob Wills	1784		Described as 157 years old when bought in 1941 for $3,000, Wills later claimed in an interview that he gave it away "to a friend of mine in Tayxas" and bought another for $5,000.	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Eugène Ysaÿe	1774	ex-Eugène Ysaÿe		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Bomsori Kim	1774, Turin
Li Chuan Yun	1784		On loan from the Stradivari Society	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Kai Gleusteen	1781	the tiger		<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Audrey Wright	1753	ex-Alsop	On loan from the Alsop Trust. Previously played by Madeline Adkins<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Violists

• Li-Kuo Chang plays the 'ex-Vieuxtemps' G.B. Guadagnini viola, Parma c.1768.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• Geraldine Walther plays a G.B. Guadagnini viola, Turin 1774.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Cellists

• Nicolas Altstaedt plays a G.B. Guadagnini cello made in 1749 (body size: 70 centimeters)
• Natalie Clein plays the "Simpson" Guadagnini cello (1777).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• Kristina Reiko Cooper plays the "ex-Havemeyer" Guadagnini cello made in 1743.
• David Geringas plays a G.B. Guadagnini cello made in 1761.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• Maxine Neuman plays a 1772 Guadagnini.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• Han-na Chang plays the G.B. Guadagnini cello made in Milan in 1757.
• Gilberto Munguia plays a G.B. Guadagnini cello (1748).
• Saša Večtomov played a G.B. Guadagnini cello made in Milan in 1754.
• Sol Gabetta plays a G.B. Guadagnini cello (1759).
• Carter Brey, principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, plays a Guadagnini made in Milan in 1754.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• David Finckel plays a G.B. Guadagnini cello (1754)

Groups

• Australian String Quartet (ASQ) plays four matched instruments: a violoncello (c.1743), and a violin (1748–49), both made in Piacenza, and a viola (1783) and another violin (1784) made in Turin.<ref name="ASQ">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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See also

• Enrico Marchetti
• Paolo Guadagnini

Bibliography

• Cozio Archive Giovanni Batista Guadagnini.
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External links

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• ""Bach es un horizonte de infinitas posibilidades" . Archived from Diario de Sevilla on 12 Marzo, 2021.