Why are we making a copy of a Giulio Degani cello?
It all begins with an idea.
We have begun the exciting project making of a cello, copied after a cello made by Giulio Degani, in Venice c. 1910. In our shop, the work is being done by Ricardo Perez Montoya, who was trained many years ago in Cremona, and also studied and worked under the legendary Renato Scrollavezza in Parma. About three years ago, we sold the original to a professional cellist in Seattle, and she and the cello are still in the area. She is playing it in a variety of settings—symphony orchestras, solo work, chamber music, pit orchestras for shows—and it never fails to delight the audience, and the player, with its huge, resonant sound. Over its entire range, and particularly on the C string, it has the voice of an even more mature instrument. It is also quite beautiful to the eye, and represents some of the best of early 20th century Italian work.
Most cellos made today are more-or-less copies of instruments from the classic makers of the 17th and 18th centuries, with particular attention to Antonio Stradivari, Domenico Montagnana, the Guarneri family, the Amati family and, more rarely, Gofriller, Testore, or Maggini. A few adventurous luthiers do make copies of some of the 19th century masters. The copies range, in degree of fidelity to the original, anywhere from a masterful bench copy (with the original available for measurement and visual reference) to commercial productions where only the label is a clue to the copyist’s intentions.
Because of the astronomical rise in prices of the early instruments, and the escalation of value for the best 19th century cellos, few working musicians today can afford them. Even older cellos by the first-rate English and French makers, such as the Hills, the Forsters, the Lotts, Benjamin Banks, Thomas Kennedy, J. B. Vuillaume, Bernardel pere, and numerous other 19th century French makers long seen as more economical alternatives, have gone way up. Even fine pre-WWII German cellos from Berlin and Markneukirchen have seen rapid price inflation. As a result of all this, prices have risen sharply in recent years for 20th century Italian cellos. Many of these have vaulted into the $100,000-200,000 range, and some, like Scarampella and Fiorini, have gone even higher.
Perhaps the rise in values for 20th century cellos isn’t so crazy. Especially for makers outside the ideological confines of Cremona, much creative originality can be found. Instead of concentrating on patterns originally designed for Baroque music played in relatively small venues, the newer instruments can more easily handle the playing requirements of modern repertoire (which has become part of the “classic” repertoire). The older instruments survived the transition to the modern age only through intrusive remodeling and creative restoration. And by now, as in the case of this Degani cello, the “modern” instruments have in their turn acquired the tonal complexity and ease of response that come with age.