They were 89 on the starting line (after a first involuntary selection linked to the travel constraints imposed by the health crisis).
They came from Europe but also from Israel, Slovenia or the United States.
In the end, there are six winners from Germany, France or Italy.
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Mirecourt, the city where luthiers are kings
They were distinguished by a jury made up half of craftsmen and musicians among the best luthiers of today, on the occasion of the first edition of the International Violin Making Competition this weekend at the Philharmonie de Paris, in parallel with its biennial of string quartets.
A first in the guise of an obstacle course:
“Between the health crisis, the question of travel, and the worries of storing instruments, the challenge was as much on the organizational side as among the candidates”
, ironically Stéphane Vaiedelich.
The coronation of the Berliners
The director of the research and restoration laboratory at the Musée de la Musique in Paris is behind this competition, organized with the Talents & Violon'celles association.
“Since the disappearance ten years ago of the Vatelot competition, there was no longer any violin-making competition in Paris, which nevertheless has to deal with new problems,
he explains.
It therefore seemed appropriate to us to take matters into our own hands.”
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Why are the Stradivarius so captivating?
With a double objective. On the one hand, supporting a sector
“weakened by an economic world where the added value of hundreds of hours of work is less and less valued, and increasingly strong ecological constraints. Without forgetting the crisis added by the Covid.
On the other hand,
“bringing together violin-making schools which hardly have the means to communicate. As we celebrate 400 years of the French school of Mirecourt, it seemed urgent to give them a voice.
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If the professional category saw the coronation of the Berliners Mira Gruszow and Gideon Baumblatt and the young Frenchman Alexandre Beaussart (arrival second), the "Talents of tomorrow" will have made it possible to highlight Mirecourt (second place) and the Swiss school of Brianz.
The latter distinguished themselves among seven other schools in an imposed exercise, imagined by the museum: the realization of a copy of the mythical Goffriller of 1710 preserved by the institution.
www.philharmoniedeparis.fr
