Dmitry Gindin: Expert and consultant in fine stringed instruments

  

Giuseppe Pedrazzini

Giuseppe Pedrazzini spent his youth working as a carpenter in his native Pizzighettone - a village in the province of Cremona, some 20km north-east of the city of Cremona in the direction of Milan. In 1903, aged 24, he moved to Milan to work for his uncle, who was a woodworker. He soon began to teach himself violin making with some advice from Romeo Antoniazzi, and in around 1906 set up his own workshop. Like the Antoniazzis, who were from the city of Cremona and proudly advertised so on their labels, Pedrazzini affixed labels that imply that he had also descended from that city, rather than the surrounding province.

Amid Milan's highly competitive market, throughout his career Pedrazzini remained quite independent of more established makers such as Leandro Bisiach, the Antoniazzis and the Monzinos, something that cannot be said of most other makers of his generation.