2 mins
SAULO DANTAS-BARRETO
LUTHIER
LOCATION São Paulo, Brazil
São Paulo is one of the largest cities in the world, and my workshop is about eight miles away from the centre. It’s situated in a music school run as part of ‘Projeto Guri’, possibly Brazil’s largest cultural programme. It has more than 50,000 students at more than 300 education centres around São Paulo, and offers instrument lessons. I take care of the school’s collection of stringed instruments.
The workshop consists of two main rooms, both about 16 sq m, and I keep it well organised and spacious. For me, it’s essential to enjoy working, so I always have at least two instruments on the go. Whenever I feel myself getting tired of one job, I’ll move on to another. Right now I’m gluing together the violin on the workbench, and starting work on a cello that I’ll be submitting for this year’s Cremona Triennale competition. It will be a homage to Giorgio Cè, my tutor at the Cremona International Violin Making School. I spent twelve years in Europe in total; after finishing my training I moved to Spain where I made a quartet of instruments for the Spanish Royal House.
As well as my regular instruments, I make a line of decorated ones which I call ‘thematic’. I started because I always felt connected to music and painting from an early age; my mother was a pianist and my father an art teacher. Sometimes I create original artwork on the instrument backs, or they can be reproductions of old masters. Recreating these paintings in miniature can bring me close to insanity but the challenge is irresistible! Some of them can be seen here: bit.ly/3cnVyIm
I build three traditional and three thematic instruments
each year. Also, I’m always making tools, especially ones for complex restorations where each case is unique. I tell my students at the violin making course of Aquiraz that a good luthier should always be able to imagine, design and make their own ad hoc tools.
INTERVIEW BY CHRISTIAN LLOYD
I keep my thickness gauge suspended above the workbench. It’s attached to a counterweight, so I can just pull it down whenever I need it, and release it when I’ve finished.
I always use my personal model rather than copying, as I believe that all art is intimately linked to the concept of creation. I bought the maple a long time ago, from the workshop of Gio Batta Morassi.
This painting of Cremona is by the principal cellist of the Teatro Municipal de São Paulo, who also happens to be my brother. The others are works by the Brazilian impressionist Alexandre Prazim.
I try to keep this second room clean, as this is where I keep my larger machines, which generate dust. It’s also where I keep all my templates.
I sometimes find it useful to hang instruments from this wooden frame, which allows for easy access. Interestingly, this cello is owned by one of the claimants to the defunct Brazilian throne, who still styles himself ‘His Imperial Highness Prince Dom Pedro’.
One of the secrets of a well-assembled workshop is the diversity of tools and accessories. This includes chairs. Sometimes you have to be taller for a long time so it’s more comfortable to be seated.