Giovanni Battista Guadagnini

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Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (also known as J. B. Guadagnini or Giambattista Guadagnini; June 23, 1711 - September 18, 1786) was an Italian musical instrument maker, one of the greatest luthiers (makers of violins and other string instruments) in history. His violins are often referred to as "poor man's Strads" which alludes to the work of Antonio Stradivari, who is generally considered to be the greatest violin maker of all time.

[edit] Biography

Guadagnini was born in Bilegno in Val Tidone (near Piacenza, current Emilia-Romagna).

He made violins (as well as violas, cellos, and probably other string instruments) from about 1729 until his death and his work is divided into four main periods corresponding to and named after the four cities in Italy where he lived and worked: Parma, Piacenza, Milan, and Turin. Of these, the instruments from his last period, Turin, are generally the best and most valuable. In fact, the somewhat disparaging nickname given above, "poor man's Strad," hardly seems applicable in modern times now that some of his instruments have reached sale prices as high as one million dollars. Nevertheless, with sales of Stradivari's violins occasionally topping five million dollars, the comparison is still valid.

Giovanni's father, Lorenzo, his son, Giuseppe, as well as some other members of the Guadagnini family continued in the line of violin making through several generations. Of these, Lorenzo is considered the second best and Giuseppe is the third.

He died in Turin in 1786.

[edit] Performers using Guadagnini instruments

• Violinists
  • American violinist Gregory Fulkerson plays a 1774 Guadagnini.
  • American violinist Tamen Beseke plays a 1780 Guadagnini.
  • German violinist Julia Fischer plays a 1750 Guadagnini.
  • Willy Hess was the owner of a Guadagnini made in the 1740s.
  • David Juritz plays a Guadagnini violin made c. 1748.
  • Ukrainian violinist Mikhail Kopelman owns a 1773 Guadagnini.
  • Austrian violinst Ernst Kovacic plays a 1754 Guadagnini.
  • Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto plays a 1752 Guadagnini violin.
  • Polish violinist Piotr Plawner plays a 1772 Guadagnini.
  • Yugoslavian-born violinist Nemanja Radulovic plays a 1765 Guadagnini.
  • Alaska-based violinist Linda Rosenthal plays a Guadagnini made in Turin in 1772.
  • Canadian-born violinist Lara St. John performs on the 1779 "Salabue" Guadagnini violin, which she calls "the Resurrection."
  • American violinist Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio plays a 1757 Guadagnini.
  • Fijian-born violinist Wilma Smith plays a 1761 Guadagnini.
  • American violinist Livia Sohn plays a 1770 Guadagnini.
  • Australian virtuoso violinist Richard Tognetti plays a 1759 Guadagnini, made in Parma
  • Vanessa-Mae plays a 1761 Guadagnini.
• Violists
  • University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point viola professor Dee Martz performs on the 1773 "Cozio" Guadagnini viola, which is on loan from the Copernicus Cultural Foundation.
  • University of Texas-Austin viola professor Roger Myers performs on a Guadagnini viola made in Parma in 1763.[1]
• Cellists
  • Carter Brey, principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic, plays a Guadagnini cello from 1754.
  • English cellist Natalie Clein plays the "Simpson" Guadagnini cello (1777).
  • Austrian cellist Martin Hornstein plays the "ex van Zweygberg" cello, built in Piacenza in 1743 by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini; his instrument is on loan from the instrument collection of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank.
  • Gilberto Munguia plays a 1748 Guadagnini cello.
  • Maxine Neuman plays a 1772 Guadagnini cello.
  • Jamie Walton plays a Guadagnini cello of 1765.
  • Dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey plays a 1760 Guadagnini cello.
• Double bass players
  • University of North Texas double bass professor Jeff Bradetich plays a double bass that is believed to have been made by Guadagnini in 1767.