Violin by Daniele Tonarelli, 2022

Daniele Tonarelli is a Cremonese violin maker in the fullest sense. Born in the city, trained there, and entirely devoted to its craft. He built his first violin at fifteen, on a childhood certainty that this was the work he would do.

He trained at the Scuola Internazionale di Liuteria and with Maestro Marco Nolli, and has taken awards at Baveno, Bagnacavallo, Moscow and Cremona. His instruments sit deep in the Italian tradition while remaining unmistakably his own, and he is known particularly for his antiquing. He returns most often to a 1772 G. B. Guadagnini model, alongside violins, violas and cellos of his own.

Tonarelli instruments are played by musicians in the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Spain and Iceland, from advanced students through to professional soloists and chamber players.

We met Daniele at his workshop in Cremona in 2018, in our first year, and he has been one of our most popular makers ever since. The appeal is easy to explain. His violins balance power against warmth in a way few new instruments manage, and the evenness across the strings means a player can move between them without any change of character. The response is satisfying from the first note. Of all his models, the 1772 Guadagnini is the one that captivated us early and still does.