Plot

350 years ago two violin makers from the same town, from the same block, made the most sought after violins ever achieved. Everyone has heard of Antonio Stradivari, but few have heard of Guarneri del Gesu. Why?

350 years ago two violin makers from the same town, from the same block, made the most sought after violins ever achieved. Everyone has heard of Antonio Stradivari, but few have heard of Guarneri del Gesu. Through interviews with historians, experts and virtuosos this documentary tells the story of these two great men and why today their instruments are worth over $10 Million a piece.—Anonymous

This documentary film examines the amazing confluence of time and talent that occurred in the early years of the 17th century when the two greatest violinmakers in history were working within steps of each other in the small Italian town of Cremona. One - Antonio Stradivari - is a household name; the other - Guarneri del Gesù - is considered a genius equal in every way to Stradivari, yet most outside of the music community have never heard of him. Why is that? Eminent historians and experts such as Charles Beare, Carlo Chiesa and Duane Rosengard weigh in on differences in productivity, clientele, life span, working technique and the "p.r." factor that characterized the two artists, while ten of the world's leading violinists, from Itzhak Perlman to Joshua Bell, share what makes them fall in love with a particular instrument and count on it, night after night, to enhance their sound. For unlike other Renaissance masterworks, these 300-year old Cremonese instruments of immense value are not kept under glass in museums; they are at once works of art - and working tools. And for all of our modern technology, they are tools we can not equal for sound, depth and color. Credit for that lies not in arcane "secrets" of wood, varnish, beetles, or climate, but rather, in the hands and hearts of the men, Antonio Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesù, sculptors of the world's purest sound.—Pamela Mason Davey

This documentary film examines the amazing confluence of time and talent that occurred in the early years of the 17th century when the two greatest violinmakers in history were working within steps of each other in the small Italian town of Cremona. One Antonio Stradivari is a household name; the other Guarneri del Gesù is considered a genius equal in every way to Stradivari, yet most outside of the music community have never heard of him. Why is that? Eminent historians and experts such as Charles Beare, Carlo Chiesa and Duane Rosengard weigh in on differences in productivity, clientele, life span, working technique and the p.r. factor that characterized the two artists, while ten of the worlds leading violinists, from Itzhak Perlman to Joshua Bell, share what makes them fall in love with a particular instrument and count on it, night after night, to enhance their sound. For unlike other Renaissance masterworks, these 300-year old Cremonese instruments of immense value are not kept under glass in museums; they are at once works of art and working tools. And for all of our modern technology, they are tools we can not equal for sound, depth and color. Credit for that lies not in arcane secrets of wood, varnish, beetles, or climate, but rather, in the hands and hearts of the men, Antonio Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesù, sculptors of the worlds purest sound.