Mathias Albani (16211673) was a

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

maker from Botzen (now Bolzano in

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous area, Autonomous Provinces of Italy, province , image_skyline = ...

Biography

He was born in Botzen and became one of

Jacob Stainer Jacob Stainer (–1683) was the earliest and best known Austrian and Germanic luthier. His violins were sought after by famous 17th- and 18th-century musicians and composers including Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and . Stainer w ...

's best pupils. The tone of his violins, which are generally very high in the

belly Belly may refer to: Anatomy * The abdomen, the part of the body between the pelvis and the thorax; or the stomach ** A beer belly, an overhang of fat above the waist, presumed to be caused by regular beer drinking ** Belly dance * The fleshy, cen ...

and have a dark red, almost brown, varnish, is more remarkable for power than for quality. His son, also named Mathias, was at first a pupil of his father, afterwards of the

Amati Amati (, ) is the last name of a family of Italian violin makers who lived at Cremona from about 1538 to 1740. Their importance is considered equal to those of the Bergonzi, Guarneri, and Stradivari families. Today, violins created by Nicolò ...

s at Cremona, and finally settled at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. His best violins, which by some connoisseurs are considered hardly inferior to those of the Amatis, are dated at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century. A third Albani, whose given name is not known, lived during the 17th century at Palermo. He also made good violins, which resemble those of the old German makers.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Albani, Mathias Italian luthiers People from Bolzano 1621 births 1673 deaths People from the Holy Roman Empire