Cover of the December 2025 issue of The Strad magazine, which contains an extensive article on the great master luthier and restorer Simone Fernando Sacconi
The luthier, restorer and expert Simone Fernando Sacconi, one of the greatest of the twentieth century. Photo: © 1965 Wurlitzer Archive, New York
Cover of the book "I 'segreti' di Stradivari" ("The 'Secrets' of Stradivari") by Simone Fernando Sacconi, published in Cremona in 1972 by Libreria del Convegno Editrice di Maria Rivaroli Lombardini
Simone Fernando Sacconi
A master of his craft
by Peter Somerford
The Strad, London
December 2025
Simone Fernando Sacconi was a brilliant violin maker and restorer, a respected teacher, and, quite literally, a celebrated author. From pages 48 to 53 of the magazine, a group of musicians and violin makers pay tribute to Sacconi on the 130th anniversary of his birth. Author of the seminal work "The 'Secrets' of Stradivari," he was a generous man who freely shared his knowledge and is fondly remembered.
Peter Somerford provides a biography of Sacconi and interviews master violin maker Wanna Zambelli, violinist Salvatore Accardo, and American restorers Carlos Arcieri (along with Rosanna Arcieri) and David Segal.
The article includes numerous period photos and a video. The video ("The world of music. The instrument maker") is set in 1965 at Rembert Wurlitzer's violin-making workshop in New York. In this unique American workshop, the ancient art of violin making is still practiced, using techniques, tools, and designs inherited directly from the hands of the great 17th-century Cremonese master, Antonio Stradivari. Host Morton Gould watches a violin-making demonstration by Simone Fernando Sacconi, the workshop's master craftsman. Gould also speaks briefly with Lee Wurlitzer, who took over her husband's workshop after his death in 1963, and their daughter, Marianne Wurlitzer, who works at the bench with Maestro Sacconi and the other luthiers, including Dario d'Attili, Sacconi's future successor.
Watch the video for free:
www.loc.gov/item/2023602026