About this instrument
This beautiful violin by Natale Carletti was made in Pieve di Cento in 1950, during a particularly interesting period in the Italian violin maker’s career. Carletti came from a distinguished family of violin makers in Emilia and learned the craft from his father, Carlo Carletti. Following his father’s death, he continued to run the family workshop together with his brother Nullo.
The instrument is preserved in exceptionally fine, crack-free condition. The warm reddish-brown varnish, the finely figured maple of the back and ribs, and the harmonious modelling lend the violin a distinctly elegant and authentically Italian character.
The instrument is particularly convincing in tonal terms. Its tone is warm, open and of very fine quality, with a rich spectrum of overtones and a beautiful variety of tonal colours. Especially appealing is the violin’s possession of tonal qualities often sought in considerably older instruments: an already highly developed, natural timbre, beautiful depth and a great capacity for tonal differentiation.
At the same time, the violin remains free and immediate in its response. It responds quickly to the bow, is comfortable to play and offers ample power and presence without the sound becoming hard or one-dimensional.
It is precisely this combination of openness, warmth, richness of overtones and variety of colour that makes the instrument particularly interesting. A very fine mid-20th-century Italian violin with a mature, characterful tone and a tonal profile remarkably developed for its age.