Giovanni Francesco Pressenda
Encyclopedia
Giovanni Francesco Pressenda (Lequio Berria (Cuneo)
, 1777 – Turin
, December 12, 1854) was an Italian
violin
maker.
He completed his apprenticeship in Turin, probably in the workshop of French violin makers such as Lété
and Calot.
Giovanni Francesco Pressenda was born in a modest farmstead just outside the village, in the fraction called Bordia on January 6th 1777: his parents were farmers.
Traditionally considered to be the son of an amateur violinst and musician himself, Pressenda is thought to have been trained in Cremona
(as he claimed).
Recent research shows that in spite of the good education he received he was a farmworker for a long time and never attended Cremonese workshops.
His apprenticeship began in Torino soon after 1815 in the workshop of Leté-Pillement, an active establishment dealing in different kind of musical instruments; he remained there a short time after the death of Nicolas Leté in 1819, and around 1821 was able to open his own firm. Since then, due also to the support of the principal violin players of Torino, Giovanni Battista Polledro and Giuseppe Ghebart, Pressenda's reputation was firmly established and he produced a consistent number of instruments.
It seems that in the French workshop he learned not only violin making technique but also workshop management, since he always relied on the assistance of various collaborators, including François Calot, Pierre Pacherel and Giuseppe Rocca
.
Pressenda died in Torino on December 12, 1854 (in loneliness and poverty).
He ranks amongst the most important violin makers from the Turin School.
Lequio Berria
Lequio Berria is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 60 km southeast of Turin and about 50 km northeast of Cuneo...
, 1777 – Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, December 12, 1854) was an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
maker.
He completed his apprenticeship in Turin, probably in the workshop of French violin makers such as Lété
Lete
Lete was an ancient city in Mygdonia, Macedon and Roman Catholic titular see in Macedonia . As Liti, it is a town in the northern suburbs of Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, Greece...
and Calot.
Giovanni Francesco Pressenda was born in a modest farmstead just outside the village, in the fraction called Bordia on January 6th 1777: his parents were farmers.
Traditionally considered to be the son of an amateur violinst and musician himself, Pressenda is thought to have been trained in Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
(as he claimed).
Recent research shows that in spite of the good education he received he was a farmworker for a long time and never attended Cremonese workshops.
His apprenticeship began in Torino soon after 1815 in the workshop of Leté-Pillement, an active establishment dealing in different kind of musical instruments; he remained there a short time after the death of Nicolas Leté in 1819, and around 1821 was able to open his own firm. Since then, due also to the support of the principal violin players of Torino, Giovanni Battista Polledro and Giuseppe Ghebart, Pressenda's reputation was firmly established and he produced a consistent number of instruments.
It seems that in the French workshop he learned not only violin making technique but also workshop management, since he always relied on the assistance of various collaborators, including François Calot, Pierre Pacherel and Giuseppe Rocca
Giuseppe Rocca
Giuseppe Rocca was an Italian violin maker of the 19th century.Rocca's preferred models were the 1742 Alard Guarneri and the 1716 Messiah Strad...
.
Pressenda died in Torino on December 12, 1854 (in loneliness and poverty).
He ranks amongst the most important violin makers from the Turin School.