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Writer's pictureRaffaella Macuz

KNEW IT

He told me to follow him to the laboratory, my daughter's bow was not yet ready, the finishing touches were missing, I followed him, he sat at the bench, lit the flame and began to work the bowhair with slow, decisive and wise gestures, checking one by one that all the hairs went in their place, perfectly equalized.

This is a magical place, so I felt and thought.


The silence was perfect, I saw myself at that bench, struggling with that perfect thing, the one that gives the voice to the instruments, and with this the life to a concert by Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Dvorak, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky ... just all of them, and many others, all my teachers, studied and loved since I have memory.

The bow was ready.

I didn't leave, we started talking, I told him about the enchantment that had literally ravished me to see him move around the bow, those gestures, that attention, that concentration, that wonderful precision, and then it was him telling me ...

I had not expected anything like this, I had gone at Master Lucchi to fix the bow of my daughter, the little one, at that time a young talent, I had recently arrived in Cremona, I had asked around, and Lucchi seemed a good choice, even if it was uncomfortable to reach, I had in mind my usual things, my usual questions, home, work, girls, the Conservatorio... I never got out from that lab really.

We talked a lot, Lucchi was like that, from Romagna, a joker, a kidder, as well as rigorous and demanding, we talked about everything, about music, about musicians, about our lives, I could not leave, I did not really think about it, and it seemed to me that even the Maestro did not really want to stop.

Hours passed, beautiful, I have them all here, with me ... reluctantly we were forced to take leave, it was evening, it was dark, it was late, we had to go back to the families ... my daughter's bow was, oh well, not really the best, and Lucchi handed me one of his bows, telling me to try it, I knew I could never afford it, he insisted, and I took it.


I came back a couple of days later, to return it, it was magnificent, how could it be otherwise, but I could not keep it, he opened me in person, and told me to follow him, with the air of someone who is doing one of his own, in a large room there were all his collaborators, his Sons, his team, and on the table a disassembled vacuum cleaner.

They weren’t able to reassemble it, and so he challenged me, if you can reassemble it, you are in, one of ours ... among the many things we had talked about there was also, semi-serious, the idea of working permanently with him, according to him the Atelier had to be reorganized, and organizing was, and is, one of the things I know how to do well.



So I got to work, I looked at the pieces, it's mechanical, for me it’s home, my dad for a long time was in precision mechanics, on Sundays I went with him to the workshops, the pieces, the machines, the smells of mechanics are beautiful ... and then I reassembled the vacuum cleaner, under the eyes of all, headbands, all males, with crossed arms, with the face of those who say seeee, she shows up, the female mechanician ... a few moves, behold, I told him, and he burst into a sincere Socc[1]!

It also meant that I could start, he knew that I would have to leave the job I did, it took a month, I took advantage of all the possibilities to go to him, even for just an hour, I went there almost every day, as long as I remained.

I remained with Master Lucchi for nine years, until he left... the truth is that for me he did not leave, he is still with me, it is in my gestures, which were his own, exactly his ones, slow, decisive and wise, it is in the cotton thread that I keep hanging exactly where he kept him hanging, in the knives, in the files that I patiently learned to use, obtaining his Socc!, meaning full approval.

[1] expression in dialect from Bologna, I refuse to translate it



For more than ten years I have had my Atelier, it was hard for me to continue without him, very hard at the beginning, there were times when I doubted I wanted to continue, and they were bad moments ... music helped me a lot, for me playing is the best way to put the world back in order when everything breaks down, and the bench, above all, its magic never finished, never disappeared, it is my safe house.

And the musicians, young and old, Masters and students, professionals and hobbyists, soloists and orchestral musicians, many, have helped me to find and rediscover every time the beauty, the wonder, the enchantment, so many that I have served and serve with all my commitment, honoring their art, their commitment.

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