Albani, Mattia (real name, Mathias Alban)

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Albani, Mattia (real name, Mathias Alban)

Albani, Mattia (real name, Mathias Alban), violin maker; b. S. Niccolo di Kaltern (Alto Adige), March (baptized, March 28) 1621; d. Bolzano, Feb. 7, 1712. He was a pupil of Jakob Stainer. Violins of Albani’s are extant dating from as early as the end of 1644. His best examples date from 1680 onward. The great vogue his violins enjoyed spawned many forgeries; false Albani labels have been discovered on violins dating from as early as 1640; the original labels appeared from 1690. A son, Giuseppe, his pupil, worked from 1680 to 1722 at Bolzano, and another son, Michele (1677–1730), at Graz. Other violin makers named Albani, or at least using the name on their instruments (perhaps for its commercial value), are the following, none appearing to have been connected with the family of the original Mattia: Mattia (Rome, c. 1650–1715); Nicola (worked at Mantua, c. 1763); Filippo (active c. 1773); Francesco (active at Graz, c. 1724); Michele (at Palermo, 18th century); and Paolo (at Palermo and Cremona, 1630–70).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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Albani, Mattia (real name, Mathias Alban)

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