Surrounded by thousands of violins hanging from the ceiling or lined up on shelves, Vasile Gliga has been a luthier for more than 30 years at Reghin, the “
Romanian Cremona
” with know-how applauded the world over.
But like his colleagues, he fears competition from China and fears, more than anything, to see his profession die out for lack of succession, in a country plagued by massive emigration.
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The craftsman made his first two violins in a storage room in his apartment in 1988, at the age of 29.
Since then, he has seen hundreds of thousands of bowed instruments come to life in his workshop, which has become the largest in town.
In the adjacent dark warehouse, carefully stacked planks are reminiscent of building materials.
But in the hands of these wood virtuosos, the pieces come alive to become graceful violins, cellos and other double basses.
"
A maestro violin incorporates 300 hours of work spread over a year, and this after allowing the wood to dry for three to five years
", relates Vasile Gliga.
In the last year alone, it sold around 50,000 pieces, of which only 2% on the Romanian market, the vast majority being exported, notably to the United States.
The secret of a good instrument?
"
Put a little of your soul into it
", blows the luthier.
In this village of 30,000 inhabitants in central Romania, "
almost every street houses one or two workshops,
" says Virgil Bandila, who received AFP in more than modest premises.
He runs a small business of eight artisans, who fashioned 25 violins in 2020, sold as far as China and Japan.
A woman prepares guitars for varnishing at the "Hora" musical instrument factory in Reghin, January 22, 2021. DANIEL MIHAILESCU / AFP
Century-old maples
If the pandemic has had only a minor impact on his sales, he is also worried about not finding apprentices.
"
We were all born in the 1970s and after us there is no one,
" he says, regretting to see "
young people turning to computers
".
“
Of course, it's not an easy job, especially when you can find a less difficult job abroad
”.
Four million Romanians have left in recent years in search of a better life.
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Reghin owes its fame to the hundred-year-old maple trees found in the neighboring woods, the so-called “
Italian
”
valley
.
According to legend, the best luthiers on the peninsula used to come here to get them.
“
The most prized trees are the flamed maples, which grow wildly, whipped by the wind,
” explains one of Vasile Gliga's employees, Cristian Pop.
This essence is coveted by Chinese craftsmen, who buy it from local intermediaries and increase the value of their instruments by affixing the label "
European wood
".
Enough to feed the grievances of Romanian luthiers against their peers from the Asian country, the world's leading exporter of musical instruments, including violins sometimes sold for 30 euros, against several hundred to thousands of euros for those of Reghin.
A recent specialization
Romania has nevertheless fared well: it is the country of the European Union that sells the most violins outside the Old Continent, according to Eurostat figures for 2018. The history of violin making in this country began in 1951, when the communist regime decided to establish a factory in Reghin to take advantage of the local tradition of woodworking.
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This historic site, which still exists and can boast of producing the only harpsichords, lires or ukuleles in the country, "
has had its ups and downs
", remembers Nicolae Bâzgan, its director for 54 years and an engineer by training.
All his life is in a small notebook where he meticulously noted the number of instruments made: 37 in 1951, 99,000 in 1980, 60,000 in 2019. And barely 37,000 last year, because of three months of closure linked to the health crisis.
Over the years, he has passed on his know-how to thousands of workers.
The best of them opened their own factories, like Vasile Gliga or Virgil Bandila ... or emigrated.
In his tight studio, the latter does not let himself be discouraged: "
My hope is that my son, who studies violin making in Newark, Great Britain, will one day come back to Reghin to take over
."