Carlo Giuseppe Testore

Violin label from Paolo Antonio Testore and Carlo Giuseppe Testore

Carlo Giuseppe Testore (c. 1665–1738) was an Italian luthier who worked in his later life in Milan.

Biography

Testore was born at Novara. A student of Giovanni Grancino's, he went to Milan in 1687 and set up his workshop at the Sign of the Eagle ('all'aquila') on the Contrada Larga in Milan. His two sons, Carlo Antonio Testore (1688-after 1764) and Paolo Antonio Testore (1690-after 1760), students of their father, also worked as luthiers in Milan. Giovanni, son of Carlo, and (?Genn)-aro, son of Paolo, continued the workshop in Milan during the 1760s.[1]

Carlo Giuseppe Testore is noted in particular for his double basses. One of his basses was owned and played by noted bassist Giovanni Bottesini. Currently, Russian violist Yuri Bashmet plays a Paolo Antonio Testore instrument. National Arts Centre Orchestra principal cellist Amanda Forsyth uses a Testore cello manufactured in 1699, as does solo cellist Jacob Shaw, the cello date unknown belonging to the Royal Danish Academy of Music collection. Clifford Sphor, principle emeritus in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra double bass section, currently owns and uses a double bass made by Carlo Giuseppe Testore. The instrument was made in Milan in the year of the maker's death. It has five strings plus a low C extension by Winterhalter, giving it a greater than normal range.[2][3]

References

  1. ↑ Willibald Leo Freiherr von Lütgendorff, Die Geigen und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (2 volumes) (Frankfurt 1922), II, p.508-09.
  2. ↑ Cozio.com. "Carlo Giuseppe Testore". Retrieved 2006-11-03.
  3. ↑ Krattenmacher, Stefan. "The Master's Voice". Retrieved 2006-11-03.