Stradivari's Genius (Page 60-80)

Title: Stradivari’s Genius-Five Violins, One Cello, and Three Centuries of Enduring Perfection
Author: Toby Faber
Page 60-80

Summary
The narrator starts describing the very first violinist that owns the Lipinski. He was called Giuseppe Tartini. His most famous opus is “The Devil’s Sonata.” According to Tartini, his most famous composition grew from a mysterious dream. He recalled he saw the devil and sold his soul in order to produce a beautiful melody from his violin. The melody intrigued Tartini so much that he wrote it down. Still, his imitation of the song remained inferior compare to the one in his dream. Tartini is the one of most influential violinists in the 18th century that made the violin more popular. His contribution led to teaching Geatano Pugnani- a pupil of his. Later on, Pugnani was the teacher of Giovanni Battista Viotti in the late 1700’s. Viotti is the reason the Stradivari violin became a big success in the entire world. His recitals in Paris, France made the forgotten Strads famous. Remember, Antonio Stradivari died, therefore most people forgot about his superb craftsmanship in Europe. The French audience was so satisfied of Viotti’s performances that most people wanted to imitate him. In order to do that, the Strads were required. There are many theories how Giovanni Viotti gained the Viotti. The most romantic theory would be he was the lover of the Russian empress Catherine. The love token was the violin to make him stay in Russia, but his adventurous spirit could no longer stay with her. Other theories are he found it in his European tours or in his native Italy. The puzzling mystery of how Viotti found his Strad.

Quote
“He had brought the craft of violin-making to a peak which no predecessor could have imagined, and in doing so had gained the recognition of archbishops, dukes, and king across Europe” (Faber 66).

Reaction
The structure of book goes chronologically. The smooth transition from the death of Stradivari to the success of his forgotten violins has been amazing. Faber makes every chapter more intriguing by telling the reader of a famous violinist to an even greater virtuoso. It is really spectacular the format Faber does to connect people’s roles to develop the high reputation the Strads still have today. The quote above gives a brief summary of how Stradivari eradicated the uncertain ideas the people thoughts toward violins. Notice, Faber states his contributions made the royal class acknowledge the scandalous violin, even though the Roman Catholic Church opposed it. The storyline had been fine so far.