Gaudenzio Ferrari in Varallo Sesia

Some more iconography!

Daniela Gaidano & A. Visintini

Feb 3

Following on our little break in San Giulio d’Orta last December

Violoncello da Spalla

A big orchestra of angels on an organ loft

Last week we enjoyed one day in Orta. Lake Orta is a lake in Piedmont, north of Italy, lesser known than Lake Maggiore or Lake of Como, but, quite surprisingly, in an area dense with art treasures…

3 months ago · 2 likes · Daniela Gaidano & A. Visintini

and to the traces of the Renaissance artist Gaudenzio Ferrari.

Violoncello da Spalla

The biggest orchestra of angels ever frescoed

At the beginning of December, we took the chance to visit Santa Maria dei Miracoli in Saronno. We long postponed this visit, even though Saronno is on the road when we go to Rivolta to buy our woods. That sort of recurring “oh, we are right here… but we’re in a rush today, let’s do it next time, we’ll be back soon…

3 months ago · 1 like · Daniela Gaidano & A. Visintini

We also visited Varallo Sesia, a closeby small town where the Renaissance artist Gaudenzio Ferrari was born and active. We saw the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, which is never mentioned in the works about Gaudenzio Ferrari musical instruments. However, we found there a complete architrave frescoed with angels and instruments. They are tiny but right in the middle of the transept, one of his most famous and early works, dated 1513.

In the Pinacoteca, they have two putti playing the viol and a harp, and a group of musician angels that was detached from one of the chapels in the Sacro Monte above.

Updates from our workshop

This week I completed the ribs of my next cello da Spalla. I like it when things are taking shape!

Alessandro went to Pozza Tonewoods to buy some great spruce tops for Violoncello da Spalla

Luca is also a violist in the orchestra of Arena di Verona and the creator of MusiCubo, soundboxes for your smartphone made with the best Tonewoods spruce and noble woods from Italy. Alessandro bought one, so we can now listen to opera while making directly from our iPhones!

My A-case arrived back with all the modifications that I asked for! Feet, handle and more padding. It’s great! Thanks to the staff at A-case, we now have an incredibly light and compact case, super safe and comfortable!

Want to know more about this fantastic professional case?

Violoncello da Spalla

Carbon-fiber custom case for Violoncello da Spalla!

I never spent so much for a case before. The fact that it’s not only for myself but mainly to be able to provide our customers with the best they can have, only partially compensated for the anxiety and anticipation. Coming home we found this big box at the door. “The ca…

3 months ago · Daniela Gaidano & A. Visintini

Featured video of the week

One of my favourite pieces ever, played by one of my favourite violinists! There were quite a lot of talks about playing position recently. Yun Kim’s position is relaxed and effective. I find all of her videos, no matter if she is playing Violoncello da Spalla or violin (played in different position according to the period of the music played), very inspiring.

I am attracted by the clarity of intonation and sound given by frets. I admit I didn’t dare to try yet, despite her suggestion to install them correctly. I am a bit scared about shifting of position (but she told me she got used to that quite fast). Up to now, all the instruments I played were technically on sale, so I didn’t want to risk marks on the side of the fretboard due to frets. Now that I have two of my own (one is the Wagner and the other the one that I made in 2022), I should really try…

Do you have experience with frets? Suggestions, pros and cons? Please post in the comments!