Scrollavezza & Zanrè deals in fine instruments made by both contemporary and antique authors. Of course the principal activity of Elisa Scrollavezza and Andrea Zanrè is the making of concert instruments, in prosecution of a family tradition dating back to 1955. It is in this prospect of continuity with the Italian violin-making history that we look at our profession. For us it is like a prosecution and a slow innovation of the work of some great maestros of the 20th century in Emilia and Lombardy: Gaetano Sgarabotto, Leandro Bisiach, Giuseppe Ornati and Ferdinando Garimberti, all authors to whom Renato Scrollavezza has in turn inspired himself.
However, to study the classical working methods and above all in order to reach the ideal sound we aim at, it is necessary to go back in time, as far as the golden age of violin-making, during which a perfect balance was attained between all the elements contributing to sound.
Unfortunately, the knowledge of wood, shapes, arching, thicknesses, varnishing methods are elements which have not been handed down to us from the 17th and 18th centuries. However, we can luckily rely on more and more accessible means thanks to modern methods of investigation and to the exchange of information between the community of violin-makers. Today we can obtain exact projections of profiles and arching, reproduce the thickness of the finest instruments, even know the density and the acoustic characteristics of the materials employed and discover some elements revealing the composition of ground coats and varnishes.
At S&Z’s classical fine instruments are documented and studied and in some instances faithful copies are made reproducing the choice of the materials, the construction procedure in every minimum detail, the varnish and even the wear and tear and the ageing; of course also the sound may reflect the salient characteristics of a certain author
Scrollavezza & Zanrè offer fine instruments both antique and contemporary, at different price ranges for the exigencies of advanced students and professional musicians. |
