In Cremona, a town in northern Italy, lutherie workshops are everywhere: 160 for 70,000 inhabitants. Located at the end of a flowery courtyard, where a Japanese man also works, Stefano Conia's has not changed for decades. This 74-year-old Hungarian native is one of the deans of the Cremonian luthiers. He continues to work even though he has been retired for almost ten years. "If I no longer made violins, life for me would be over. I am here every day in the workshop. It is an antidote against old age, " smiles the septuagenarian whose father was himself a luthier in Hungary.
Read also: Music takes all vows
His workbench faces that of his son, on which spread boards, files, clamps, compasses, brushes or small saws. “Choosing violin making was natural. I spent my childhood here at the “ bottega ”, which my father opened at the end of 1972, two months before I was born, ” says his son, Stefano Conia“ the Younger ”. "I played with wood, the musicians came to buy their violins and played ... It was always a special atmosphere, which I liked very much" , continues the one who, from 7-8 years old, started to touch the tools.
At 74, the Hungarian Stefano Conia is one of the oldest luthiers in Cremona. Her son Stefano Jr, 47, followed the same path. Here in their Cremona workshop on June 9, 2020. Miguel MEDINA / AFP
In the footsteps of "the greatest"
Like his father, passion is rooted in the soul. "The instruments are a bit like children, they live thanks to the energy that we give them, it is a part of us that will continue to live after our death" .
The majority of the violin makers of Cremona are also foreigners. Many came to study at the International School of Violin Making and stayed. “The school was born in 1938. The first teachers were foreigners and the students came from all over the world. There is this saying which says: “ No one is a prophet in his country ”. And it's true that we, the Cremonian luthiers, are really few: there are around 30% Italians and 10% Cremonese, " smiles Marco Nolli, 55, who belongs to this rare species.
The Italian master luthier Marco Nolli poses with a cello and a violin in his workshop in the center of Cremona on June 9, 2020. Miguel MEDINA / AFP
Bénédicte Friedmann, a 45-year-old French woman, has lived for twenty years in "the cradle of violin-making". "Coming to Cremona was - it is perhaps a little pretentious to say that - like walking in the footsteps of the biggest, Stradivarius, Guarneri, Amati" , she underlines.
Read also: To immortalize the sound of the Stradivarius, the city of Cremona holds its breath
“Being a luthier here means being able to devote yourself 100% to creating instruments. And the more we do, the better we get , ”she notes. She explains that in France for example, many, to earn a living, make repairs, re-mash bows, or sell accessories, which leaves them little time for their art.
Coronavirus dealt a severe blow
Giorgio Grisales, president of the consortiumFinding customers is not always easy, after the growth recorded in the 1960s, 70s or 80s. "Our market, which is an elite market, has shrunk" , explains Giorgio Grisales, the president of the consortium . There are fewer theaters, less frequent performances, and experienced violinists most often prefer old instruments from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Read also: Requiem for Wolf Musique, institution of European musical life for almost two centuries
While "Cremona lives practically on export only", "the coronavirus has dealt a severe blow" . But even before the epidemic, "the sector was in difficulty due to the relentless competition from China and Eastern Europe" , underlines Giorfio Grisales. China is the leading producer of bowed instruments, with $ 77.8 million in exports in 2019 (for 1.5 million instruments). It's more than half the world market, according to the International Trade Center (ITC).
The violins are on display in the shop and workshop of Giorgio Grisales, master Italian-Colombian luthier and president of the consortium of luthiers Antonio Stradivari from Cremona. Miguel MEDINA / AFP
Italy is in fifth position (4.6% of world exports), behind the United Kingdom and Germany, but ahead of France. Its main customers are Japan and the United States. Italian luthiers face competition from counterfeits, some posing as Cremones instruments made elsewhere, but also and above all cheaper products.
Wavy Maple and Spruce
"Master instruments start at 25,000 euros" , while others, of slightly lower quality but still excellent, are sold around 15,000 euros, details Giorgio Grisales. At the same time, for 200 euros or less, it is possible to have a Chinese violin, a bow and a case. "These are economic instruments, made in series, and intended for those who are starting to study," explains the baroque violinist Fabrizio Longo.
For its part, “Cremona is an important point of reference. The Crémonaise school guarantees clear parameters: choice of wood, care in the making ... But of course the quality depends on each luthier, "he specifies.
Read also: The secret code of Parisian luthiers in the 19th century deciphered
In China, “most often, violins are made in a“ human factory ”: they are handmade, but 10 luthiers work each day on the same parts. It is a chain work and at the end we get an assembly. There is no uniqueness, no authenticity, ” explains Bénédice Friedmann. Here, "to make an instrument, it takes at least 300 hours" , that is between two and three months, explains Giorgio Grisales. The species used are the same as those of the great masters: wavy maple and spruce.
French violin maker Bénédicte Friedmann works on a violin in her Cremona workshop on June 9, 2020. Miguel MEDINA / AFP
Besides foreign competition, which hardly respects the rules in terms of sustainable development (deforestation ...), the difficulty also comes from the large number of luthiers in Cremona, more than 300 officially. "Getting known is a bit laborious," and the search for orders "is an ongoing quest , " says Bénédicte Friedmann. She deplores the unfair competition from colleagues working in the black market, and escaping the taxation of some 60% imposed on artisans.
But "at the same time this large number creates an emulation" , and "when I am asked what is the most beautiful instrument I have made, for me it is always the next ..."