Carlo Bergonzi (21 December 1683 – 9 February 1747) was an Italian
luthier
A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments.
Etymology
The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...
and is the first and most prominent member of the Bergonzi family, a distinguished group of
luthiers
A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments.
Etymology
The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...
from
Cremona
Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...
,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, a city with a rich tradition of stringed instrument makers. Today his instruments are highly valued for their workmanship and tone. Although he was historically assumed to have first apprenticed with Hieronymus Amati or
Antonio Stradivari
Antonio Stradivari (, also , ; – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinisation of names, Latinized form of his surname, ''Stradivarius'', a ...
, he is now known to have been the student of Vincenzo Rugeri.
Early life and career
Carlo Bergonzi and his family lived close to the workshop in Cremona of Vincenzo Rugeri and would have been the most obvious place for apprenticeship for Carlo given the social and financial connections between the two families. When comparing the work of Bergonzi with Vincenzo Rugeri, their similarity of work is obvious in the treatment of the scrolls and the working technique of scarfing the linings into the corner blocks at an angle instead of square. The early violins of Carlo's career follow similar outlines as Vincenzo Rugeri's violins as could be expected, however the outlines of later instruments became his own. Antonio Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesu also had an influence upon Carlo Bergonzi's work. Carlo Bergonzi eventually moved into the Casa Stradivari in 1746 after the master's death in 1737 and even completed some of the unfinished violins by Antonio Stradivari.
Violins
Bergonzi's violins are prized for their fine workmanship, tone, quality of materials, and exquisite varnish.
Bergonzi labels vary, but typically record date, name, and location:
In 1740, he created one of his finest violins, the '' Kreisler Bergonzi'', which was subsequently named after violinist
Fritz Kreisler
Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler (February 2, 1875 – January 29, 1962) was an Austrian-born American violinist and composer. One of the most noted violin masters of his day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing, with marked por ...
. It was then owned by Cuban violinist, Angel Reyes. Professor Reyes sold the violin to
Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman (; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist. He has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that have included a state dinner for Elizabeth II at the White House in 2007, and at the First ina ...
. Both Kreisler and Perlman performed and recorded with it.
It is known that many instruments that bear his label are inauthentic. A cello once owned by
Pablo Casals
Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,Matteo Goffriller. In 1881 a sensational court case was held in London over claims that the well-known luthier Georges Chanot III had given a fake Bergonzi label to a violin and then sold it as genuine. His deception was discovered by violin-maker William Ebsworth Hill but Chanot qualified his admission of guilt by claiming that this was common practice in the violin-selling business; the court was unconvinced by his explanation and found him guilty.Chanot biography on the Corilon website /ref>
Bergonzi family of luthiers
* Michele Angelo (ca. 1722–1758), eldest Son of Carlo I.
* Zosimo (ca. 1725–1777), younger Son of Carlo I.
* Carlo II. (1758–1838 Cremona), younger son of Zosimo
* Nicola (ca. 1746–1796) eldest son of Zosimo
Source:Dmitry Gindin: "The Late Cremonese Violin Makers" Edizioni Novecento, 2002