“Stradivari 68”, the black-and-white film by Talamazzini that introduced people to the great Cremonese tradition of violin making

09 feb 2026

Twenty years ago, on September 27, 2006, Sandro Talamazzini passed away, “the greatest figure in Cremona television”, as he has rightly been described. There is a black-and-white film which, even today, could serve as a splendid calling card for Cremona and for violin making. It is Stradivari 68, a film made 58 years ago, which we are presenting again to our readers.

At the time of its release, the film received an extraordinary reception everywhere: it was awarded the ANEC Cup in September 1968 at the 21st International “Small Format” Film Festival in Salerno, despite competition from around one hundred films from more than 25 countries. As Giovanni Biondi recounts in the book Il nostro amico Sandro (Our Friend Sandro): “what Sandro would never forget were the many international recognitions: admission to the South African International Amateur Film Festival in Johannesburg, the screening of Stradivari 68 at the 4th Festival International de Cinéma Amateur et Indépendant in Nyon, Switzerland, and the diploma in Japanese from the Tokyo festival.” It can be said that thanks to this film, the Cremonese school of violin making became known in many parts of the world.

Why did Sandro Talamazzini decide to make this film? On May 10, 1968, he anticipated the release of Stradivari 68 in the daily newspaper La Provincia with these words:
“First of all, I wanted to exalt this very high form of craftsmanship for which Cremona is known throughout the world, and to give schools—not only those in Cremona—a good reason to talk about a tradition that is renewed and perpetuated to our glory and also, in a certain sense, to our advantage. With this film I try to make the art of our great master luthiers, first and foremost Stradivari, come alive and feel familiar, without however forgetting the others, especially the modern ones, in order to humanize as much as possible the birth of the instrument, placing it in a just and appropriate way within a society that loves music or that must be brought closer to music.”

As often happened alongside Sandro’s direction and screenplay, on this occasion too the editing was carried out by his wife Adriana Dossena, with the support of images by Stefano Bonvini and the collaboration of the International School of Violin Making, led by headmaster Cusumano and teachers Barosi, Santini, Sgarabotto, Morassi, and Mosconi.

As Giovanni Biondi also recalls in his book, the opening scene of the film begins in Cremona’s Cathedral Square and its wonders, before moving into the halls of the Town Hall where, at the time, the treasures of Cremonese violin making were kept. The film then turns to the history of Stradivari and to the International School of Violin Making. This is followed by the careful selection of wood: maple for the back, neck, and ribs; ebony for the fittings; and spruce from Trentino, the Val di Fiemme, or the Cadore mountains for the soundboard. Talamazzini then lingers on the many stages of the luthier’s work, up to the final assessment in the acoustics laboratory, where a sort of electrocardiogram certifies the instrument’s closeness to the great instruments of the Cremonese school.

HERE IS TALAMAZZINI’S FILM

Galleria fotografica

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