Preface: Roy Leonard, the author recommends renting "The Red Violin", a film 
that give you an insight into the power of a musical instrument. In the tale, a 
17th-century Cremonese violin maker creates his finest work in anticipation 
of the birth of his first child. We then follow the instrument over the next 
three centuries. It's a beautiful film about a beautiful instrument.

Available at Blockbuster..Foreign section. 
Italian,French, German and Chinese dialogue.
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VIOLIN MAKERS TAKE A BOW IN CREMONA, 
STRADIVARI'S HOMETOWN

Roy Leonard, "Going Places" 
Chicago Daily Herald
August 20, 2001

Reading in a guidebook that the small, Northern Italian town of Cremona is 
best known for the development of the violin wouldn't exactly make me put it 
on my 'must see' list. That would be a mistake. 

During a brief stop on our recent tour of Italy's Lombardy region, we not 
only met a violin maker, but we also heard a master violinist actually play a 
classic Stradivarius.

Antonio Stradivari was born in Cremona in 1644 and made more than 1,100 
violins that are universally accepted as the world's finest and never have 
been equaled. Six hundred of them survive.

The history of the instrument goes back to 1556 when Andrea Amati perfected 
the first violin. This instrument soon became popular with the royal courts 
in Europe because of the superior sound to the medieval fiddle. Stradivari 
was a pupil of Andrea's grandson Niccolo before he embarked on his own family 
business.

For our tour, a visit to a local violin maker and a brief concert had been 
pre-arranged. The small shop off the town's main square had room for perhaps 
a half dozen people. Here the craftsman began an explanation of how he made a 
violin. Spruce and maple are the primary woods used; the material must be 
seasoned for a number of years. He demonstrated the tedious task of shaping 
and forming the wood, explained the use of hide glue and showed how various 
tools are used. This craftsman makes about 10 violins a year, many by special 
order (they start at about $7,000 each). Bows, incidentally, can cost as much 
as $3,000 - and the best come from Paris, not Italy.

It was just before noon on this warm July morning when we left the violin 
maker's shop and walked across the street to the Palazzo del Commune. We were 
escorted up a long set of stone stairs that led to what looked like a 
conference room. There were guards all over the place, some with side arms, 
and our tickets were checked carefully.

As we sat quietly, we could hear a violin being played in an adjoining room. 
After a few minutes, a distinguished-looking gentlemen, violin in hand, 
walked into our room, took a position by the door and began to play. Glorious 
sound filled the air with a clarity and tone I can't remember hearing before. 
The performance lasted only 15 minutes before our concert master retreated 
back behind the closed doors.

After a few moments we were allowed into that mysterious room, which turned 
out to be a small museum containing not only the instrument we had just 
heard, but a selection of great violins created by other master Cremonese 
violin makers. The concert violin was back in its glass case and turned out 
to be a Stradivarius made in 1715. 

There also was an Andrea Amati commissioned by Charles IX of France in 1566 
and a 1658 violin created by Andrea's grandson, Niccolo, who taught 
Stradivari. There also was a Guarneri crafted in 1689.

I tried to get our guide to put a price on some of these instruments. He 
finally came up with a figure of around $4 million for the Stradivarius.

There's not a lot to see in Cremona, other than a few other violin museums. 
However, the main square is dominated by the tallest medieval tower in Italy, 
known as the Torrazzo and the Duomo, featuring a magnificent astrological 
clock. There also is a 12th-century baptistery.

If you'd like to see what Cremona looks like, rent the 1999 film 'The Red 
Violin.' It will give you an insight into the power of a musical instrument. 
In the tale, a 17th-century violin maker creates his finest work in 
anticipation of the birth of his first child. When mother and child die 
during the birth, he finishes the violin in a state of profound grief. We 
then follow the instrument over the next three centuries. It's a beautiful 
film about a beautiful instrument.