Variation of an Violin-maker
Antoine Lescombe creates violins, violas, and cellos in the spirit of the 16th to 18th century Italian masters, in search of beauty of sound and in the service of musicians.
His dream is to become a colleague of the great violin makers Amati, Guarneri, and Stradivari. Not having been born, however, in 17th or 18th century Italy but in Gironde in 1980, Antoine Lescombe's work follows in the well-established footsteps of these grand masters whom he admires and reinterprets. His work involves intensive research: museum visits, the study of original instruments and of tool marks. He also studies instruments currently being played and remains in constant dialogue with performers.
“The current research technology is wonderful, giving us a huge quantity of quality information from photos and scanned violins,” Antoine explains. “However, for the fabrication I prefer the simplicity of the craftsman's tools and methods from the golden age Italian violin making, or more precisely, my interpretation of the methods of that time.” Similar to a baroque performance specialist who arrives at his own way of playing after long periods of research, Antoine Lescombe appropriates and reinterprets the work of these master violin makers to design contemporary violins...a true work of craftsmanship.
