Maggi R.
Yelp
We visited this museum in 2015 and have wanted to come back ever since. It really is a great, modern museum which has excellent displays of violins, violas, and other string instruments. The museum is absolutely stunning! It takes you through Cremona's five-century history of violin making by introducing you to the great masters and their violins, violas and cellos.
Step-by-step, the museum describes everything that rotates around the life of the violin. You begin with how it all started; then, moves on to the luthier's workshop, where you can smell the scent of resin and wood. There is an onion shaped room for listening (which was closed on this visit). In the next room, the virtual books speak of Cremona's school of classical music and on a map of Cremona from the Stradivari era you can see the distribution of the shops.
Perhaps the best part of the museum is their "Treasure Room," a room entered through heavy tapestry with lighting focused to highlight the superb violins on display. There were several made by Antonio Stradivari and by "del Gesù," among others. Both men lived in Cremona in the early part of the 1700's and knew each other.
Bartolomeo Giuseppe Antonio Guarneri ("del Gesù") was an Italian luthier (violin maker) from the Guarneri family of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his instruments, and for many prominent players and collectors his instruments are the most coveted of all. (Think $2-4 million for a Stradivari and $8-10 million for a "del Gesù.").
At the end of your visit, you get to see the Permanent Collection of Contemporary Violin Making. The collection also explores how the modern world has joined the world of the violin with the promotion of the friends of Stradivari network. The last room is dedicated to the violin's role in films.
This museum should not be missed. It is truly a treasure. The museum is closed on Mondays.