IN FOCUS

A close look at the work of great and unusual makers

Sesto Rocchi was born on 4 October 1909 in San Polo d’Enza, a small village in the hills between Reggio Emilia and Parma. In 1926 he enrolled on the violin making course at the Parma Conservatorio directed by Gaetano Sgarabotto; two years later he moved to Parma to assist Sgarabotto in his workshop while still attending the course. Around 1929 he moved to Milan and entered the workshop of Leandro Bisiach. A year later he was invited to work and live in the family house in Venegono, where he was trained directly by Leandro and introduced to his collection of old Italian violins. To gain experience abroad, in 1935 Rocchi travelled in Germany where he worked for Michael Strobl in Berlin, but was refused permission to immigrate.

Back in Italy Rocchi worked at the Monzino workshop in Milan and in 1937 entered the exhibition for Stradivari’s bicentennial in Cremona, presenting a copy of the Stradivari ‘Medici’ quintet. In the 1950s he opened his workshop in Reggio Emilia and won several prizes at violin making competitions. He died in San Polo in 1991.

ALL PHOTOS ALBERTO GIORDANO

CONSTRUCTION

The cello was made on an internal mould; for violins and violas Rocchi used a personal ‘double’ internal mould made of two pieces joined together with screws. After the ribs were set on the mould he unscrewed and removed the upper mould to have room to fit the linings. This cello is built on an ‘Amatisé’ Stradivari model that recalls Leandro Bisiach’s taste. Blocks and linings are made of willow, worked with great care; the interior looks particularly clean and refined.

ARCHINGS AND EDGEWORK

The height of the front arching is 260mm; the back is higher at 330mm. Archings are perfectly cut and connected; the back was finished with a scraper that enhances the waves of the flames.

F-HOLES

The f-holes are beautifully cut and finished with the use of files; the nicks are well opened and the inner sides painted black.

PURFLING

Rocchi’s meticulous care can be seen in the purfling that is perfectly set in the channel without any visible track of the tools; the white is made of maple with reflective rays and the black is of stained maple. The corners have short extensions.

SCROLL

In the side view, the almost flat pegbox shows a nice contrast with the light chamfer; the turns are cut with great skill and every toolmark has been removed and hidden. The only visible mark is a point in the rear which reveals the use of a template.

VARNISH

A deep orange–red spirit varnish is laid with great confidence on a reflective ground. Rocchi spent his life researching and trying new solutions for his varnish and he used to record any change he went through: he had countless proofs of varnished violin sides.

LABELS

Below the label ‘Sextus Rocchi Regiensis fecit 1957’ the cello bears a second label, typed on thick paper with the writing ‘On the wings of the Canto’, the name Rocchi gave to the quartet of which this was a part.

All measurements taken with a ruler except the middle bouts, which were taken with callipers