Dmitry Gindin: Expert and consultant in fine stringed instruments

  

The Antoniazzi Brothers

Riccardo Antoniazzi, the elder violin-making son of Gaetano, was born in Cremona. His childhood and early youth were marked by the family's constant moves, no doubt precipitated by the financial hardships facing Gaetano, a fine violin maker who was nevertheless forced by circumstances to undertake odd jobs in woodworking. Romeo Antoniazzi, nine years Riccardo's junior and last of Gaetano's eight children, was also born in Cremona. In 1870, after stays in Mantua and Genoa, the Antoniazzis finally settled in Milan and thus became unwittingly responsible for the transfer of the Cremonese tradition to that city. When the Antoniazzis arrived in Milan, Riccardo, by then 17, would already have been helping the family make ends meet, and would have been familiar with carpentry as well as violin making.