Talk:Antonio Stradivari

There is this sentence relating to Stradivari's wife and her late husband: "Francesca was the young widow of the burgher Giacomo Capra, with whom she had two children, and who had been shot by Francesca's brother on the Piazza Garibaldi (formerly the Piazza Santa Agata)." The sentence doesn't make it clear as to whether Francesca or Capra was the one who was shot. I'm assuming it was Capra who was shot, but I don't have the book used as the source so I can't check this. If it was Capra who was shot, the removal of "and" in " and who had been shot by Francesca's brother...". Similarly, the sentence also suggests to me that Capra died because of this, but isn't clear in saying so and therefore I think a more definitive statement on this fact. Any help in clarifying this would be greatly appreciated.IrishStephen (talk) 20:05, 13 May 2011 (UTC)

Can someone clarify this sentence, please? Birth interval? Him and his wife? "It is to be noted that an age difference of four to nine years was uncommon between wedded couples at the time." — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kenif (talk • contribs) 19:11, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

• • The article currently comments on the difference in their ages, without explicitly stating who was older. If Francesca was older she was still young enough to bear half a dozen children... Geo Swan (talk) 20:00, 20 June 2019 (UTC)

About a decade ago I started our article on Andrea Amati, grandfather of the Amati who may have been Stadivari's mentor. I wrote that some of his violins can still be played.

I think this is an important question that all of the articles on the old respected luthier should link to... What kind of maintenance is required to keep fine old instruments playable? Is it true that fine old instruments need to be played, periodically, to remain playable? Of course strings wear out, but over the course of centuries don't every other part wear out, doesn't the varnish wear off? If an old violin has to have its backplate replaced can it still be considered a stradivarius?

If a previously fine old instrument is found, that is too fragile to play, can it be restored? If the restoration is extensive, will it sound like a stradivarius? If it does not sound like a stradivarius, would it remain more valuable as an unrestored artifact?

I am going to keep my eyes peeled for RS that address these questions, and I request other interested parties do so as well.

Cheers! Geo Swan (talk) 20:24, 19 June 2019 (UTC)

• Fit as a Fiddle: The Remarkable Lives of Cremonese Violins archived

"It is estimated that Stradivari produced 1,116 instruments, of which 960 were violins. Around 650 instruments survive, including 450 to 512 violins."

The first sentence implies he produced 156 non-violins. Even if all of them still exist, there would be at least 494 surviving violins. 450 isn't even arithmetically possible, and 512 would suggest the violins are much more fragile than the other instruments (or maybe Emile Gilbert played a lot of them). ~2025-32287-74 (talk) 09:17, 9 November 2025 (UTC)