9th International Violin Making Competition in Mittenwald – Munich

“Number 219”, says Péter Bársony, takes up a viola, puts it on and plays a few bars of Bach. Put down the instrument, take the next viola: “232”. Again the Bach, but this viola sounds a little different. The Hungarian viola player is already fetching the next instrument. In the concert hall of the violin making school in Mittenwald, a sound sample is being played with violins, violas and cellos that instrument makers from all over the world have submitted for the 9th International Competition in Mittenwald. Of course, the jurors don’t know which instrument came from whom. They sit concentrated in the hall and take notes in order to finally determine which instruments will be heard in the public sound rehearsal this Friday.

The competition has been held in Mittenwald every four years since 1989. Whoever hears the name of the place almost automatically thinks of violin making. The market community owes this to Mathias Klotz (1653 – 1743), the “world-renowned lute and violin maker” – at least that’s what the old market records in the Violin Making Museum call him. He founded a workshop here in 1685/86 and thus initiated the tradition of violin making in the village. The man knew how to build good instruments, after all, after completing his apprenticeship in Füssen, he went to Padua for six years as a journeyman, refining his craft in the country that set the tone in violin making at the time. Apparently Klotz was also an excellent instructor, because at the end of the 18th century there were already 80 violin makers in town. And Leopold Mozart was able to report in a letter from London in 1764 that “…that Paris and London are full of Mittenwald violins”.

A violin or cello receives up to 25 coats of paint

Mittenwald didn’t have much to offer tourists back then, jokes the instrument maker Rainer W. Leonhardt in his workshop. Just a lot of forest and a good location on an important trade route, right between the Doge city of Venice and the Fugger city of Augsburg. “The distribution channels were there.” His workshop, founded by his grandfather in 1926, is the largest in Mittenwald with seven employees; the number of local businesses is now only a single digit. He is just about to explain the subtleties of the paintwork. A violin or cello receives up to 25 coats of paint, all applied by hand. “After all, the instrument shouldn’t look like plastic.” 120 to 150 hours of work go into a completely handmade instrument, he says. Without the paint, of course. It’s clear that a violin like that can’t be cheap. But Leonhardt also has cheaper models, with them the top and back are milled by machine.

A visitor asks what he thinks of the fame of Stradivarius violins. “It’s the musicians that make it up,” says Leonhardt dryly and goes on to digress about the prices, which are currently going through the roof. Old Italian instruments, whether by Stradivari, Guarneri or Amati, are in demand as investments. “Demand far exceeds supply.”

A handmade instrument takes 120 to 150 hours of work.

(Photo: Alpenwelt Karwendel / Angelika Warmuth)

The wood is also decisive for the quality of an instrument. Leonhardt does not climb around in forests himself to find suitable trees, he buys it from tonewood dealers. There is also one of them in Mittenwald, Hans-Peter Mannes, who considers his profession to be the most beautiful in the world. “A tree is a treasure for us,” he says. “We treat him like a raw egg.” The respect is understandable in view of the great age of the giant trees: the spruce and maple trunks that Mannes stores are 250 to 350 years old. He now sells 80 percent of his tonewood to Asia. He gets 95 percent of the maple from Bosnia, there are still forests where nobody was, he says. Spruces come from the Bregenz Forest, from South Tyrol or even from the Benediktenwand. The Mittenwald climate is perfect for storage, says Mannes. No fog, lots of hairdryers, always a draft – just ideal.

The valuable wood is stored in the attic of Leonhardt’s workshop. “On average between seven and ten years,” says Julia Klotz, Leonardt’s daughter, who will later take over the business. She learned the trade at the local violin making school, founded by King Maximilian II of Bavaria in 1858, which has stood the test of time to this day. Julia Klotz also submitted a violin for the competition. She really didn’t intend to, she says. But the instrument developed so well that “I decided to take part after all.” The competition statutes prohibit any machine processing. Eccentric shapes or decorations are also undesirable. Instruments with artificial signs of aging and wear are permitted. “Retro is going down well with customers at the moment,” says Julia Klotz.

Musical instruments: The sound is subjective, but there are some objective criteria to judge an instrument.

The sound is subjective, but there are some objective criteria to judge an instrument.

(Photo: Alpenwelt Karwendel / Angelika Warmuth)

The violin making jury, headed by Hieronymus Köstle, a Stuttgart violin maker and expert on old stringed instruments, knows this too. In the first round of evaluation, the jurors primarily check the quality of the craftsmanship, the paint finish, compliance with the dimensions and the composition of the materials. In the beginning there were 163 instruments. “More than half are eliminated in the second round at the latest,” says Koestler. A three-person sound jury takes care of the sound, for the bows – they can also be submitted – a jury of bow makers.

Even if sound is a very subjective experience, there are some objectifiable criteria for judging an instrument, says juror Kerstin Feltz, cello professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. “We test its vibration behavior in all positions. Or the sound quality and volume.” This jury has also been working for several days. “We take a lot of time to play in the instruments and give them room to develop,” says Tim Vogler, leader of the Vogler Quartet.

It is not yet clear who the winners are. The secret will only be revealed this Saturday (November 5th), when the sound judges play the award-winning instruments in the final concert. It will definitely be exciting.

9th International Violin Making Competition in Mittenwald. Public sound rehearsal, November 4th, 11 a.m., concert hall of the violin making school, free admission; Saturday, November 5th, 5 p.m.: final concert, TSV event hall, free admission.

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