La Cremona / Italian Concertos - The Italians are uninhibited composers, brilliant, vivacious, expressive, profound, noble in thought, slightly eccentric, free, dashing, brazen, overblown, at times negligent in tempo; but they are also lyrical, cajoling, tender, touching and inventive. They write more for connoisseurs than for music lovers.’ (Johann Georg Pisendel) The violin – that most versatile instrument which right up until the 1950s reigned supreme over European music, most notably in orchestras – was developed between 1500 and 1550 in workshops of luthiers around the three north Italian towns of Mantua, Brescia and Cremona. It was the outcome of solid craftsmanship and astute understanding of the physical possibilities.