Violin, Carlo Radrizzani, 1942 Vevey (Switzerland)
Radrizzani家の製作を辿るうえで興味深いのが、近代ヴェネツィア派を築いたDegani家とのつながりです。AlessandroはヴェネツィアでEugenio Deganiに学んだことが記録され、AngeloについてもDeganiのもとで研鑽を積んだとされています。こうした北イタリアで培われた製作の伝統は、その後スイスへと移ったRadrizzani家の作品にも受け継がれていきました。
今回ご紹介するヴァイオリンは、1942年にCarlo Radrizzaniによって製作された一挺です。
現在当工房にある1907年製Giulio Deganiのヴァイオリンと実際に比較すると、その歴史的なつながりを思わせる興味深い共通点を見ることができます。モデルの構成をはじめ、アーチングの考え方、エッジ周辺の造形、そしてスクロールの作りなど、随所にDeganiの製作を想起させる特徴が認められます。
もちろんCarloは単に先人のスタイルを模倣したのではなく、一族から受け継いだ製作伝統を自身の作品として発展させています。DeganiからRadrizzani家へとつながる製作の系譜と、イタリアの伝統がスイスへ渡り次世代へ受け継がれていく過程を、実際の楽器から感じ取ることのできる興味深い作品です。
Giulio Ettore Degani (1875–1959) was one of the leading makers of the modern Venetian school. Trained from an early age in the workshop of his father, Eugenio Degani, a key figure in the revival of Venetian violin making, Giulio took over the family workshop following Eugenio’s death in 1901.
While continuing his father’s tradition, Giulio gradually developed a distinctive personal style, characterized by refined edgework and scroll carving, individual models, and richly coloured varnish. His work is considered to have reached its peak during the early twentieth century, before his emigration to the United States in 1915, where he later worked for Wurlitzer in New York and Cincinnati.
The violin presented here was made in Venice in 1907, during this important period of Degani’s career and several years before his departure for America.
The two-piece maple back displays strong, attractive figure, complemented by a warm varnish ranging from orange-red to golden brown. Particularly characteristic is the five-ply purfling, composed of three black and two white strips. With a back length of approximately 360 mm, the violin has a slightly generous model and combines Degani’s highly individual craftsmanship with the distinctive tradition of the Venetian school.
