What about a BIZZI violin?
Liuteria BIZZI is born: violins next to harpsichords and fortepianos
At CREMONA MONDOMUSICA, from September 27th to 30th, the great news will be presented: the collection of Bizzi violins, violas and cellos
40 years after the foundation of the “Scuola di Liuteria” in Milan, Guido Bizzi creates Liuteria BIZZI, together with his son Lorenzo and some luthiers coming from the same School. The new activity will be based in the prestigious Villa Bossi, in Bodio Lomnago (VA), together with BIZZI - Historical Keyboard Instruments, leading company in the construction of harpsichords, fortepianos and clavichords.
At Mondomusica BIZZI will also present the exhibition "ITALIAN PIANO EXPERIENCE", inaugurated last May in Beijing: an innovative experience for sharing with the public the philological vocation to the use of historical instruments, which has always been BIZZI trademark.
History
In 1976, in the district called Isola, in Milan, Guido Bizzi and his ensemble of ancient music, after several performances at the Teatro Verdi, decided to deposit all their instruments in the workshop of Leonardo, the carpenter of the district. This was the birth of "IL LABORATORIO di Guido Bizzi" and the beginning of an extraordinary adventure that would lead to the creation of the “Scuola di Liuteria” (School of Instrument Making) in Milan. Together with Virginia Villa, partner of Il Laboratorio, an executive project was elaborated, in collaboration with the Department of Education of the Municipality of Milan. Among the members of the musical group, Marco Tiella became the technical director, Lorenzo Girodo and Claudio Canevari the professors, while the violin makers Renato Scrollavezza and Luca Primon were called to teach the construction of the violin. Leonardo, the carpenter, became a teacher for basic wood work.
In Autumn 1979, the “Scuola di Liuteria” was invited to organize an exhibition with concerts in Tokyo and Kyoto, as an example of innovative cultural operation carried out by the city of Milan. Two years later the Municipality proposed the transformation of the school into the “Scuola Civica di Liuteria di Milano”. Virginia directed the school in the following years, then left for Cremona, where she obtained the prestigious position of Director of the “Museo del Violino”. Later, Il Laboratorio undertook a new path that would lead BIZZI Harpsichord to be a leader in the field of historical keyboard instruments.
Today
Forty years of fascinating experiences, including major restorations, construction of instruments and international projects, have led to the decision to create Liuteria BIZZI, adding the bow instruments to the offer of BIZZI keyboard instruments, known all over the world.
There are the two ways to build quality violins entirely handmade, two ways that should talk and learn from each other: the first is that of the Master Luthier that brings together many skills in his person, from historical studies to manual skill, to the understanding of sound. The second way is the team work in which everyone is dedicated to specific tasks, thus obtaining high quality and efficiency, from the choice of wood, to the carving of the scroll, to the type of varnishing. Liuteria BIZZI at VILLA BOSSI is the home where the wisdom of the Master Luthier merges with the experience of the team work: "One of our most important principles" - says Guido Bizzi - "is to explain with the utmost clarity how our instruments are produced. In today's world, if we want to offer a high quality product at a reasonable price, we need to set a modern and highly efficient production system. "
Four lines of bow instruments will meet the different needs of the market: Cremonese, Vivaldi, Viotti and Maestro. The control of the musical result is entrusted to the teachers of the Conservatories associated with the Accademia Europea Villa Bossi, in order to ensure products up to the expectations of great international musicians.
Italian Piano Experience
On September the 30th, at 1.30 pm, the "Italian Piano Experience" exhibition will be presented at “Area Edizioni Musicali” at Cremona Mondomusica.
The exhibition, inaugurated at the World Arts Center in Beijing last May 16, is an exhibition of keyboard instruments belonging to the Italian tradition, conceived by Cremona Musica in collaboration with BIZZI Historical Keyboard Instruments and coordinated by Claudio Brizi, Guido Bizzi and Lorenzo Bizzi, aiming to celebrate the Italian origins of the piano: one of the protagonists of the history of music, born in Italy in 1699, from an idea by Bartolomeo Cristofori.
The instruments at the exhibition include the ancestors of the modern piano (harpsichords, clavichords, fortepianos, including a copy of the first Cristofori fortepiano) up to the most modern Fazioli, one of the best known brands in the world and always protagonist of "Piano Experience" at Cremona Music.
A unique opportunity to walk through three centuries of evolution of this instrument, thanks to the explanations of Guido Bizzi and the live performances of the harpsichordist and fortepianist Emilia Fadini and the harpsichordist and organist Claudio Brizi, who will let you to "taste" the sound of the different pianos and their cousins.
Information
Liuteria BIZZI
September 27th - 30th – Fiera Cremona Mondomusica – STAND 248
Italian Piano Experience
Presentation: September 30th, 2018 at 1:30 pm in Area Edizioni Musicali - Cremona Mondomusica
Duration: from September 28th to 30th, 2018
Contacts
info@bizzi.com
+39 0332 944882
www.bizzi.com
Pierre Hantaï meets BIZZI harpsichords - the DVD
From the collaboration between Pierre Hantaï and BIZZI a new DVD is born.
Check out the preview video on Youtube
From the booklet: Pierre and Guido
I met Pierre Hantaï many years ago, at an exhibition of musical instruments, in Paris.
Exhibitors always hope to receive a sign of attention by great performers, have their opinion, suggestions, criticism; and this was also my case, of course.
I was lucky because he stopped at my booth and played a double manual.
At the end, I asked him “should I throw it away?” and he replied “Oh yes, but please tell me where and when”.
That’s how our friendship started.
In those days, he was teaching at the Paris Conservatoire and I had the chance to meet several students of his and hear during friendly conversations their talks about him.
A couple of things immediately impressed me; a feeling towards him that is more appropriate to call love than admiration and the fact that they had troubles, not only to repeat what he was doing on a keyboard but even to understand it.
In fact, Pierre never plays twice the same piece in the same way, because his performing is always different, depending on the place where he is or the light or the dress color of the lady sitting in the second row.
Before a concert he takes care of all the smallest details and checks tuning and voicing, all the time. One day, before a concert with a little and unsophisticated audience, after a couple of hours of additional controls, I proposed him to have an ice cream in a very appealing gelateria, nearby.
He looked at me and said that “No, thank you. Don’t forget that the day of the concert, no matter if it is for your friends or in the most prestigious concert hall, that day is always the most important day of my life”.
Another time, in the church of our small village, in front of people who had never seen a harpsichord before, he decided that the program was too poor for that inexperienced audience. So the intermission arrived at 11 pm and the concert was over at midnight.
The audience was just bewitched.
By the way, after the concert, we went home and he started to try all the harpsichords around, till 3 am.
This is Pierre, a great person and a great musician who has inspired my work with his ideas and suggestions, always offered in a humble way, like “I don’t know much about harpsichord construction, I can just tell you some impressions”.
On such impression a maker could build a career.
Guido Bizzi
For more information about the DVD contact us