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Riportiamo il testo originale dell'intervista di Catherine Payne a Alberto per the Strad magazine.
I have been based in this workshop for 20 years, and it was also my firsthome with my wife Patrizia with wich I work since then. We moved here after I completed my apprenticeship in Cremona.
Eventually we bought the flat next door and expanded into it, so now I have a bigger workshop, a lounge area where musicians can try out instruments, and a shop downstairs. It sounds crazy but despite all the extra room I actually still work in the same four square metres, at the deskon the right of the picture. I do almost everything here, from makinginstruments to writing articles.
The other benches are useful for heavierwork, but they are mostly used by my two assistants. The cello mould on the wall above my desk was decorated by a friend of mine. There are some Egyptian hieroglyphics and a skull painted onto it.
I like to have paintings and pictures to look at for inspiration. In themiddle of the room there is apparently a painting of a balcony framed by curtains at night. This is actually a painted door that leads to a storeroom – it’s designed to deceive the eye. On the right is a reproduction of aMadonna and child painting.
It isn’t known whether this is the work ofRaffaello or of his father. On the pinboard above my desk is a Strad poster of the Viotti Stradivari.Over the last ten years I have focused almost entirely on making Guarnerimodels, mainly based on the Cannone, as I am an assistant curator of thisfamous instrument. This has informed my making style a lot: I like to usethe fewest tools possible, in the spirit of Guarneri. Making a Strad modelis a completely different process and when I saw this poster I thought itwas time I tried to make one.
The instruments hanging in front of the poster are mostly 20th centuryinstruments that are in the workshop for some restoration or maintenancework. The cello in front of the desk is one that I’m currently making. I wasat the final stages of inserting the neck when the picture was taken. I madethe cello stand that it’s in myself.
In the middle of my desk is my laptop, which I use primarily for storingimages. I have a photo archive on my computer of images of famousinstruments, which helps with making copies as you can examine detailsclose-up.
Also I use it for email and storing photos of my own instruments. Above the computer you can see a long, blue plaque. This was made by anartist friend of mine who was working on a late Renaissance-style ceiling.It was a proof copy that he was throwing away so I rescued it for myworkshop. The writing on it is a quote from Inferno from Dante's DivineComedy: ‘You were born not to live like brutes, but to pursue virtue andknowledge.’
I decided to put it up in front of my desk as a bit of a joke. The black and white photos, just visible on the right, are of some bluesand jazz players I like: Charlie Christian, West Montgomery and RobertJohnson. I keep a metronome on my desk, and an amp underneath it, as I comehere at the weekends to practise guitar.
The amp, a Fender Super Reverb, was made in 1966 but itstill works. I don’t think I’ll ever leave this workshop. I’ve done so much here: madeand sold perhaps 120 instruments and written books and articles. I lovebeing in such an old building.
It is medieval but was transformed during theRenaissance and made into a coach house, hence the high, arched ceilings.The workshops of Giuseppe Rocca, Cesare Candi and Eugenio Praga were just afew steps away. I love the vibrations of a place like this: you can touchthe old stones and feel the ghosts of the master violin makers who used tobe here.
[click on the picture to enlarge]