LUIS CLAUDIO MANFIO on Violinist.com

The latest 16 inches viola I have made, 'Alma Mahler'

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:21:43 GMT

This is the latest viola I have made, & quot;Alma Mahler & quot;, a comission from a player of our State Orchestra.

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NYC viola trip

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:54:16 GMT

I`m just back from my annual NYC viola trip. I`m very tired...� It was too busy, but I managed to see the Kandinsky special exhibition at the Gugenheim, as well as James Ensor`s exhibition on MOMA. But had no time to visit San Zygmuntowicz and other makers this time.��

I met Sue Gingold, of the� NYC Opera, she knew Sacconi and was a friend of the Wurlitzer's for many years. She studied with Brunno Giuranna in Accademia Chigiana in Siena. Now my viola "Fiammetta" will be in the hands of Sue Gingold on the pit of the David H. Koch Theater, on the Lincoln Center, NY. Sue reserved the "Fanny Meldelssohn" viola for a former student, who got it without seing it in person, only based on Sue`s impressions. Here Sue Gingold and I:

We went to a concert on Bagermusic, a floating barge at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, on the Hudson River, that was transformed in a chamber music room, with the Amerigo Trio, with Glenn Dicterow (violin), Karen Dreyfus (viola) and Inbal Segev. Nice players, nice repertoire, but the barge moved a bit...

I met again violists of the NYP, here� with Vivek Kamath and Keneth Mirkin, on the Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center:

I met also some students at Julliard, here with Crista Kende, a high octane player:

Here Nardo Poy (Metropolitan Opera and Orpheus):

Here with Daniel Panner,� at Mannes College:

I� also met Patty Kopec,� Zukerman's� assistant in the Manhattam School of music, on her� lovely private studio. She spent an hour with us. One of Patth`s student,� Tali Kravitz, from Israel, was there too, Tali is a very fine player Patty Kopec is a fantastic person and told me she would like to see one of my violins, perhaps I`ll make one for the next year.�

Here Patty Kopec and I, on her studio at the Manhattam School of Music:

Here Tali Kravitz test driving my violas:

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I also met Karen Dreyfus on her apartment very near the Lincoln Center. She asked me to leave my violas with her for a day to test them.

Tony Finley (who got one of my violas too) invited us to a private concert in a mansion near the Morgan Library, with top players, a violinist, a cellist and a pianist. A very interesting program including Bartok`s sonata for solo violin, Britten`s sonata for solo cello, Beethoven`s Kreutzer, Sarasate`s Introduction and Tarantella. The violinist played the� Strad "Lord Norton" (on loan) a very late Strad that I had seen last year with a dealer. The audience was of about ....� 20 persons.... very posh!!!.� Here a photo of the music room:

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Can't see the blogs anymore

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 17:36:07 GMT

Hi! I can't see the blogs anymore.... is there a problem with the site?

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My newest instrument "Fanny Mendelsohn", a 16 inches viola

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:46:55 GMT

Hi! This is my latest instrument, a 16 inches viola which I named & quot;Fanny Mendelsohn & quot;, Felix's sister, she was also a fine composer. Thanks again to Andr & egrave;s Lepage for the photos and for test driving the instrument.

I'll take this viola and two more to my NYC viola trip from September 9 to 19.

Here we go:

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Carving a scroll - step by step - part XVIII

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:12:46 GMT

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This is the front view of the pegbox near the nut. Notice that just the outer side of the pegbox walls are chamfered, the inner parts remain not chamfered. The & quot;floor & quot; of the pegbox is finished with a chisel used as a scraper.
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While working in the the neck, take care to avoid ebony dust reaching the maple because it will stain the maple, mainly if you are using sandpaper.

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And finally, here the photo of the real McCoy and my new scroll:

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My daughter Dora painting the inside of the pegbox with spirit varnish and Terra di Siena Brucciata:

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And now the finished scroll, covered with my oil varnish:

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Carving a scroll - step by step - part XVII

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:36:32 GMT

I still will have to make some refinishing on my scroll but now I'll work on the neck. Here I worked with an aggressive rasp till the final thickness of the neck, 18.5 and 20, I'll remove the wood betwen these points:

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You may have noticed that my workshop is a mess....

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Here I wrapped a coarse sandpaper in a round chisel handle to work in this region:

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Here I'm cutting the neck root with my Japanese saw:

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Working in the neck with a rasp:

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Now I will shape the neck and fingerboard. I'll divide the side of the fingerboard in 3 parts:

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First I'll round the two external thirds, preserving the central one that will correspond to the widest part of the neck:
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Here a straight edge over the side of the fingerboard showing the central third as the widest part of the fingerboard:

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On the part of the fingerboard that is not glued to the neck just the upper third will be rounded:
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Here a shaped scraper is used for finishing the inside hollowing of the fingerboard:

I use my thumb's nail to guide me shaping this area (here not finished yet):
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Carving a scroll - step by step - part XVI

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:50:21 GMT

Hi! We are back again with our tutoria.

Here I'm using a knife for cutting till the centerline:

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When cutting the fluthing near the throat, the gouge may scape and hurt the front part of the pegbox's walls, so I protect them with a small piece of thick leather:

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Again cutting the throat region with a knife:

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Here using a knife to cut till the chamfer. The channell was made with the gouge, the knife will just cut the small remaining part till the line of the chamfer, I find it gives more precision than the gouge, the gouge can "invade" the chamfer, but many makers will use just the gouge:

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Here I'm using a round file to take off some marks left by the gouge:

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Photos of my latest 16 inches viola 'Tullia d'Aragona'

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:50:14 GMT

Hi! This is my latest & nbsp; 16 inches viola, which I named & quot;Tullia d & quot;Aragona & quot; (a Renassance Italian courtesan).

The model is inspired in Andrea Guarneri, it's not all that ellegant (a fat courtesan!) but it works in terms of sound.

Thanks to Andr & egrave;s Lepage for the photos!

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Carving a Scroll - step by step - part XV

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:36:21 GMT

Notice again the position of my hands hands. The scroll is a bit fragile in this point so you have to support it with your other hand while cutting the channel:

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Here a view of the fluting of the front part of the scroll. I put a piece of sandpaper on the back to give contrast:

Here Im� working in the fluting in the throat region with a knife:

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Carvinga a scroll - step by step - part XIV

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:07:10 GMT

As I've mentioned before, I'll mention something about scroll's styles here.�� Maestro Carlo Vettori, from Florence, published a quite interesting book called "Linee Classiche della Liuteria Italiana". If you happen to visit Florence go to visit him in his workshop on Via Guelfa, he is an expert in the Florentine School. He works with restoration and make many new instruments as well. I'll quote some parts of the above mentioned book regarding the scroll, and attach a pic of the book's page:

"Fig. 31 represents the front view of a scroll. This is the sort described as "aggressive" since the narrowest part of the chanelling (visible in fig 32) is moved forward by two centimetres from the centre. From this change of position comes the predominance of two curved lines (see the dotted lines in fig. 31). Many of the greatest Italian makers have employed this type of scroll not least among whom are certainly the members of the Amati family." (Carlo Vettori, "Linee Classiche della Liuteria Italiana", Giardini Editori e Stampatori in Pisa, 1980, pages 66, 67, 70 and 71).

I'll quote again the Maestro Carlo Vettori:

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Just when I'm totally satisfied with the side views, front, skew, front, back, all views; and when I find that the two lines of the chamfer are running parallel� I will start carving the channels:

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Notice the position of my hands:

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Here I'm using a shaped scraper again:

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Again, notice� the position of my hands, some will get these positions intuitively, others not, and�it's a quite important: thing in violin making:

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