Two museum’s tenor violas
…with original necks!
Not many words this week, but a pic comparison of two tenor violas currently in museum’s collections. They both have their original neck.
One is in the Wien Welt Museum, part of of the Kunsthistorisches Museum’s collection. It’s made by Johann Michael Alban, Graz 1707, catalogue SAM 1041. Johann Michael (Bolzano 1677- Graz 1730) was the second son of Matthias Alban I from Kaltern, a place famous for old wineries at 20 km from where we live. In about 1700 he moved to Graz. This tenor viola is in original condition.
The second one is from Nürnberg Germanisches Nationalmuseum, also a tenor viola, made from Leopold Widhalm, Nürnberg, 1757, catalogue 313. This is not only in original conditions, but it appears as never played, as if like it got out of the workshop this morning. The curator says this is because it doesn’t play well.
So far we didn’t have the possibility to measure any of them, but I think it would be the object of an interesting trip.
Updates from our workshop
This week we are under cameras! We decided to record the aria from Bach’s Cantata BWV 115, as it is the only one for flute and cello piccolo.
Since Monday we have with us my old friend and film director Lorenzo Vignando, alias Ukulollo. We did many shots in our workshop and in our neighborhood, including of course the little XI cent. church on the hill in front of our home. In that church there is a wooden altar dated 1609 with an angel playing a big viola da braccio depicted on it, and the shield of the Hafner family, from which I took my logo.
Further readings:
Featured video of the week
A joyful Gigue from The Fernandez violons!
