Carlo Giuseppe Testore (c. 1665–1738) 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 ...

, who worked in his later life in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Biography

Testore was born in

Novara Novara (; Novarese Lombard, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous ...

. A student of

Giovanni Grancino Giovanni Grancino (1637–1709), son of Andrea Grancino, was one of the early Milanese luthiers, and may have worked with his brother, Francesco. Giovanni was the most prominent member of the family of luthiers . Other members included Andrea Gra ...

, he went to Milan in 1687 and set up his workshop at the Sign of the Eagle ("All'aquila") in the Contrada Larga in Milan. His two sons,

Carlo Antonio Testore Carlo Antonio Testore (1687–1765) was a Milanese luthier. Life and career Carlo Antonio Testore was born in Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area a ...

(1688after 1764) and

Paolo Antonio Testore Paolo Antonio Testore (born 1700 - died 1767) was a Milanese luthier. He was born in Milan, the second son of Carlo Giuseppe Testore, also a noted luthier, and worked out of the family's workshop under the "Sign of the Eagle" on Contrada Larga i ...

(1690after 1760), students of their father, also worked as luthiers in Milan. Giovanni, son of Carlo, and (?Genn)-aro, son of Paolo, continued the workshop in Milan during the 1760s.

Testore instruments today

Carlo Giuseppe Testore is especially valued for his

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

es. Currently, Russian violist

Yuri Bashmet Yuri Abramovich Bashmet (born 24 January 1953) is a Russian conductor, violinist, and violist. Biography Yuri Bashmet was born on 24 January 1953 in Rostov-on-Don in the family of Abram Borisovich Bashmet and Maya Zinovyeva Bashmet (née Kri ...

plays a

instrument.

National Arts Centre Orchestra The National Arts Centre Orchestra (NAC Orchestra) is a Canadian orchestra based in Ottawa, Ontario. The NAC Orchestra's primary concert venue is Southam Hall at the National Arts Centre. Since its inception, the Orchestra has commissioned more ...

's former principal

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

Amanda Forsyth Amanda Forsyth (born 12 October 1966) is a Canadian cellist and the former principal cellist of the National Arts Centre Orchestra. The daughter of composer Malcolm Forsyth, Forsyth came to Canada from South Africa at age 2 and began playing t ...

uses a Testore cello, manufactured in 1699, as does solo

Jacob Shaw with a cello of unknown date, belonging to the Royal Danish Academy of Music collection. Clifford Spohr, principal emeritus of the

Dallas Symphony Orchestra The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Dallas, Texas. Its principal performing venue is the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District, Dallas, Arts District of downtown Dallas. History The orchestra tr ...

double bass section, currently owns and uses a double bass made by Carlo Giuseppe Testore; this instrument was built in Milan in the year of the maker's death; it has five strings, plus a low C extension by Winterhalter, giving it a range greater than normal.

References

1660s births 1738 deaths People from Novara Italian luthiers Businesspeople from Milan {{Italy-music-bio-stub