Matteo Goffriller

Matteo Goffriller (also Gofriller or Goffriler ; * 1659 in Brixen , † 1742 in Venice ) was a Venetian violin maker who, after being long forgotten, first became famous for the outstanding quality of his cellos .

Life

Pablo Casals with a violoncello Goffrillers

Goffriller's birthplace in Bressanone

As we have only known for a relatively short time, Goffriller was born near Brixen (today South Tyrol , Italy ). Nothing is known about his early years until 1685. From 1685 at the latest, he stayed in Venice until his death in 1742. It is possible that he first learned his craft from Matthias Alban in Bozen and later from the Venice-based master Martin Kaiser , who came from Füssen . However, his work shows German influences only in the earliest stages, but later such a deep familiarity with Italian violin making that many analysts assume that Goffriller worked in the workshops of Carlo Bergonzi or Antonio Stradivari before he went into business for himself. In any case, Goffriller married a daughter of Kaiser in 1686, became a Venetian citizen and took over Kaiser's workshop in 1690. The couple had twelve children.

Goffriller apparently continued the business of his father-in-law with success and is now seen together with Domenico Montagnana as a leading representative of the Venetian violin making school. It is believed that Montagnana was his student. Francesco Goffriller, whose instruments are very rare, was long mistaken for Matteo's brother, but could have been his son and also his student. Since 1720 there have been diminishing testimonies about Matteo Goffriller's work and life.

In the course of history, his instruments have often been mistakenly attributed to other Italian violin makers, particularly the Guarneri family , Carlo Bergonzi and Antonio Stradivari.

Ever since Pablo Casals played a Goffriller cello as his main concert instrument for most of his artistic life (from 1913 to his death in 1973), Goffriller was once again perceived by the broader public of the 20th century as one of the greatest of his guild - an assessment, which today also extends to his violins.

User of his instruments

Among the musicians of the past who played Goffriller instruments were the violinists Édouard Lalo , Camillo Sivori and Niccolò Paganini , the violist Walter Trampler , and (next to Pablo Casals ) the cellists Emanuel Feuermann , János Starker , Pierre Fournier , Leonard Rose , Johannes Goritzki. Among today's musicians, Goffriller instruments are or have been played by violinists Martin Mumelter and Jennifer Pike and cellists Yo-Yo Ma , Gautier Capuçon , Anner Bylsma , Daniel Müller-Schott , Valentin Erben , Antonio Meneses and Alban Gerhardt .

Jacqueline du Pré played a cello made by Francesco Goffriller from 1969 to 1970 .

literature

• WL Lütgendorff: The violin and lute makers from the Middle Ages to the present Tutzing 1975 and supplementary volume Tutzing 1990.
• A. Greither: Violins and other string instruments of the 18th century. from Venice Hanau o. J.
• Four Centuries of Violin Making. Fine Instruments from the Sotheby's Archive. 2006 Cozio Publishing.

Web links

• Goffriller at cozio.com