Fine Italian viola by Mario Bedocchi, 1922 (certificate by Eric Blot)

Of the twelve violas known to belong to the oeuvre of luthier Mario Bedocchi, this Italian viola is especially distinctive with its corpus length of a mere 39 cm. Italian violas are traditionally designed to be somewhat larger, but in this case Mario Bedocchi selected a particularly player-friendly size. The viola was crafted at the zenith of his career in 1922, and it embodies his personal style very expressively. His individual model with well-rounded lower bouts and delicately carved sound holes establishes an aesthetic that belongs to the context of the Venetian school of the late 19th century. The heirs of this legacy include Mario Bedocchi as a student of Ettore Siega, who trained him in the spirit of his own teachers, Eugenio Degani and Giovanni Schwartz. This viola marks the beginning of a highly successful phase in Mario Bedocchi's biography, which went on to include multiple honours at competitions and exhibitions in Rome in 1923, 1927 and 1929, Lodi in 1929 and Padua in 1931. The elegant and sensitively carved scroll, the flawlessly lovely purfling and the confidently chosen top-quality tone woods make it clear that Bedocchi produced the instrument with an uncompromising quality standard and the creativity of a mature master craftsman. A minor resin pocket can be seen on the top; it was present on the wood he selected and was covered by the original varnish. He also willingly included an irregularity in the grain found on the lower part of the treble side, an idiosyncratic touch which he integrated in the finest Italian fashion. This Mario Bedocchi viola is convincing not only because of its unconventional aesthetic but also because of its exceptionally good and well-balanced sound in which warm and bright tones come together to create a highly interesting character. The experts at our atelier for restoration meticulously set up the violin and verified that it was in perfect condition, undamaged and free of cracks. A certificate issued by the renowned Cremonese specialist Eric Blot with an additional appraisal for € 25,000 by Claude Lebet are incluced in the price.

 

 

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