Made in Italy: Strings Attached – Four Seasons of an Italian Violin
Thomas Walter Kelley
180PP ISBN 9781938462665
Old Stone Press $19.99
Made in Italy is a story about a married couple, Thomas Walter Kelley, his wife Cheri Lyon Kelley, and their two children. One is a biological, special-needs and much-loved son. The other is adopted. This child, oddly enough, is quite a bit older than they are, having been born in 1810. It is also made of wood, sports a grafted scroll, two f-holes and four strings. Of course I am taking about a violin! I suppose that if someone wanted to quibble – as I soon will – one could argue that so far I might just as well be referring to a viola, cello or a double bass. At any rate, this particular adopted child is a violin and the main focus of this book.
Early in the book we learn that this instrument, labelled ‘Laurentius Guadagnini’, is actually the work of G.B. Ceruti, so it’s not much of spoiler to share this revelation with you here and now.
Thomas is a former violin student, while Cheri is a professional violinist and member of the Louisville Symphony Orchestra. The book is short and a quick read, with a style akin to a long article in a travel magazine. I read it not without enjoyment and yet with a nagging feeling that it is neither fish nor fowl.
If it was intended for general audiences who might have a very passing interest in a story about a violin, I suspect that it has more violin details than many general readers would appreciate. But if it was aimed more at serious violin aficionados (such as most readers of The Strad), it often disappoints and invites some pushback and criticism.
To begin with, the violin is very under-represented photographically. There is a large photo of only part of the top on the front cover and a tiny photo of Cheri holding it on the back cover. Nothing more. Cheri refers to it as her voice, but goes into no detail about the sound. Thomas, seemingly with great confidence, speaks of features typical of old Italian violins as opposed to non-old Italian ones: amber varnish (what about Stradivari, Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ and Venetian red?) high arching (which would be true for many German violins) wonderfully flamed wood (only on Italian violins?) – I could go on.
Despite my quibbles, what emerges from this book is a great and palpable love for violins that readers can relate to, and a passion for one violin in particular.
RAPHAEL KLAYMAN