Matteo Goffriller
# Matteo Goffriller

Matteo Goffriller (1659–1742) was a Venetian luthier, particularly noted for the quality of his cellos. He was active between 1685–1735 and was the founder of the "Venetian School" of luthiers, during a time when Venice was one of the most important centers of musical activity in the world.

## Biography

Although it is known that Goffriller was born in Brixen, little else is known of him prior to 1685 in Venice. Goffriller arrived in Venice in 1685 to work for luthier Martin Kaiser (Caiser). In 1685 he married Martin Kaiser's daughter Maddalena Maria Kaiser (Caiser), at the Madonna delle Grazie in Venice; they had twelve children (five boys and seven girls) in 26 years. Francesco Goffriller, long thought to be his brother, is now known to have been his son.

He was the founder of the "Venetian School" of luthiers, when Venice was one of the most important centers of musical activity in the world, and is believed to have taught luthiers Domenico Montagnana and Francesco Gobetti in addition to his son Francesco. After arriving in Venice, he is noted for being the city's sole violin and cello maker for some 25 years, between 1685 and 1710.

He died in Venice in 1742.

## Mistaken identities

Goffriller's cellos had been erroneously attributed in the past to the Guarneri family, Carlo Bergonzi or even Antonio Stradivari and were virtually unknown until the 1920s, when they began to be discovered. The 1733 Goffriller cello once owned by Pablo Casals was originally attributed to Bergonzi. His earliest authenticated instrument is a viola da gamba dated 1689.

## Goffriller labels

The standard label for a Goffriller instrument, whether genuine or forged, uses the Latin inscription Mattheus Goffriller Fece in Venezia Anno [date], identifying maker, city (Venice) and year made; the date is either printed or handwritten. But he actually labeled only a small percentage of the instruments in order to avoid paying Venetian taxes.

   Mattheus Goffriller feciebat Venetus, anno 1735
   Mattio Gofrilleri in Venetia al' Insigna di Cremona. 1695
   Mattio Goffriler Fece in Venezia. Anno 1709
   Mattio Goffriller Fece in Venetia. 1721
   Matteo Goffriller fecit Venetijis anno 17--

## Legacy

Pablo Casals's Goffriller 1733 cello was his main concert instrument for most of his professional life. He acquired it in 1913 and played it until his death in 1973. Since 2000, winners of the International Pablo Casals Cello Competition in Kronberg, Germany may use it for two years. Terence Weil played another Goffriller used by Casals before the one he played between 1913 and 1973.

Other notable musicians who have used Goffriller instruments include:

* Anner Bylsma
* Gautier Capucon
* Amit Peled
* Zuill Bailey
* Colin Carr
* Charles Castleman
* Marc Coppey
* Christoph Croisé
* Aaron Boyd
* Robert deMaine
* Andres Diaz
* Jules Eskin (Principal Cellist of BSO 1964-2016)
* Emanuel Feuermann
* László Fenyö
* Raya Garbousova
* Alban Gerhardt
* Natalia Gutman
* Sol Gabetta
* Matt Haimovitz
* Milt Hinton
* Sheku Kanneh-Mason
* Édouard Lalo
* Trey Lee
* Matthew Lipman
* Jonathan Miller (cellist)
* Daniel Mueller-Schott
* Lorne Munroe
* Susie Napper
* Arkady Orlovsky
* Johann Sebastian Paetsch
* Nicolo Paganini
* Leslie Parnas
* Carlo Alfredo Piatti
* Jacqueline du Pré
* Jennifer Pike
* Leonard Rose
* Mischa Schneider
* Joseph Schuster
* Harvey Shapiro
* George Sopkin
* Janos Starker
* Paul Watkins
* Peter Wiley

## Goffriller instruments

### Violins

| Sobriquet | Year | Provenance | Notes |
| - | - | - | - |
| Goffriller violin | 1695 | | currently played by Andrej Power |
| Sammons | 1696 | Kenneth Sillito | currently played by Beth Hafter |
| Goffriller violin | 1700 | ex-Stopak | currently played by Aaron Boyd |
| Goffriller violin | 1700 | | played by Alexander Yudkovsky since 2008 |
| Goffriller violin | ca. 1700 | Stradivari Society | played by Michala Høj |
| ex-Sivori; ex-Lalo | 1700 | | |
| Goffriller violin | 1700 | | played on by Jorja Fleezanis |
| Goffriller violin | 1700 | | played on by Fanny Clamagirand |
| Goffriller violin | 1702 | | played by Jaakko Kuusis |
| Goffriller violin | 1708 | | played by Jennifer Pike |
| Goffriller violin | ca. 1720 | Alan Parmenter | purchased in 2008 by an anonymous benefactor |
| Goffriller violin | 1720 | played- by Yuri Torchinsky | Goffriller violin | 1722 | stolen from violinist Charmian Gadd in 1999, subsequently recovered |
| Goffriller Violin | 1723 | | played by Amanda Favier since 1996 |
| Goffriller Violin | 1730 | the Counts of Colloredo Castle, Friuli | |

### Violas

| Sobriquet | Year | Provenance | Notes |
| - | - | - | - |
| Goffriller viola | 1727 | ex-Walter Trampler | measures 41 cm; currently played by Richard O'Neill |
| Goffriller viola | 1700 | Rachel Barton Pine Foundation instrument loan | currently played by Matthew Lipman |

### Cellos

| Sobriquet | Year | Provenance | Notes |
| - | - | - | - |
| Goffriller cello | 1689 | Mischa Maisky | currently played by Sevak Avanesyan |
| Goffriller cello | 1690 | previously Sabatier, Axelrod, The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra | labeled: Nicolas Amatus, previously played by Maria Kliegel |
| Goffriller cello | ca. 1700 | Antonio Meneses | |
| Goffriller cello | 1693 | ex-Leonard Rose; ex-Alfredo Piatti | on loan to Leonard Elschenbroich |
| Goffriller cello | 1693 | labeled "Carlo Bergonzi" | currently played by Bruno Philippe |
| Goffriller cello | 1693 | Previously owned and played by Mischa Schneider of the Budapest String Quartet | features a carved Rosette on the top, under the fingerboard; currently played by Zuill Bailey |
| Goffriller cello | 1695 | played by Anner Bylsma | |
| Count Marcello | 1697 | Nicholas Anderson; Count Girolamo Marcello; Aldo Pais of Venice; Irving Klein | |
| Rosette | 1698 | Leslie Parnas | features a carved rosette decoration |
| Goffriller cello | 1698 | played by Andres Diaz | |
| Goffriller cello | 1698 | | exhibited at the Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria |
| D'Archambeau | ca. 1700 | Iwan D'Archambeau | played by Jonathan Miller of the Gramercy Trio, Boston Artists Ensemble, and formerly Boston Symphony Orchestra |
| Goffriller cello | 1700 | Ex-Amadeus Quartet | played by Christian-Pierre La Marca |
| Goffriller cello | 1701 | | played by Gautier Capuçon |
| Garbousova | 1703 | Karl Fruh; Raya Garbousova (1930–1951) | |
| Comte de Gabriac | 1703 | | played by Trey Lee |
| The Star | 1705 | Janos Starker (1965) | |
| ex-Warburg | 1706 | | played by François Kieffer (Modigliani Quartet) |
| Goffriller cello | 1707 | Previously Hershel Gorodetzky (now Gordon), The Philadelphia Orchestra & Stringart Quartet. | played by Eric Kim |
| Goffriller cello | 1708 | Istituto della Pietà, Venice | |
| Goffriller cello | 1710 | | played by Matt Haimovitz |
| Goffriller cello | 1710 | | played by Anthony Ross, principal cello, Minnesota Orchestra |
| Goffriller cello | 1710 | | played by Richard Hirschl, cellist, Chicago Symphony Orchestra |
| Goffriller cello | 1710 | | played by Xavier Phillips, French cellist |
| Goffriller cello | 1710 | | played by Alban Gerhardt, German cellist |
| Goffriller cello | 1711 | | played by Marc Coppey |
| Goffriller cello | 1712 | | Played by Christoph Croisé |
| Goffriller cello | 1715 | Samsung Foundation of Culture | played by Sara Sant'Ambrogio |
| Goffriller cello | 1715 | Stradivari Society | |
| Goffriller cello | 1717 | | Played by Marie Hallynck |
| Goffriller cello | 1720 | Emanuel Feuermann | played by Joseph Schuster |
| Goffriller cello | 1720 | | played by Bruno Delepelaire |
| Goffriller cello | 1720 | "ex-Lederlin" | currently played by David Delacroix |
| Goffriller cello | 1722 | Yo-Yo Ma | played by Valentin Erben |
| Gofriller cello | 1723 | ex-Piatti | played by Arkady Orlovsky principal cello, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra |
| Goffriller cello | 1722 | | played by Pierre Fournier |
| ex-Cossmann | 1726 | | played by Carl Fuchs, Jenska Slebos; once thought to be a Bergonzi. |
| Saphir; ex-Harvey Shapiro | 1727 | | currently played by Daniel Müller-Schott |
| Goffriller cello | 1728 | Samuel Mayes | currently played by Timothy Eddy |
| Goffriller cello | 1730-1735 | “Maddalena” | currently owned and played by Robert deMaine |
| Gorrfiller cello | 1730 | Johannes Goritzki | currently played by Johannes Goritzki |
| Guffy | 1730 | Johann Sebastian Paetsch | played by Gunther Paetsch (1970–1985) |
| ex-Pablo Casals | 1733 | | Currently played by Amit Peled; played by Matt Haimovitz; played by Anne Gastinel; played by Claudio Bohorquez. |
| Goffriller cello | 1734 | Nippon Violin | currently played by Yuki Ito |
| Goffriller cello | 1735 | Hermann Busch | currently played by Matthias Naegele |

### Double basses

| Sobriquet | Year | Provenance | Notes |
| - | - | - | - |
| Benedetto Marcello | 1712 | | exhibited in at the Venice Conservatory |

==References==

* 1 2 Nardolillo, Jo (2014). All things strings : an illustrated dictionary. T. M. Larsen. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-0-8108-8444-1. OCLC 874323044.
* ↑ Dilworth, John (2012). Brompton's Book of Violin and Bow Makers. Usk Publishing. ISBN 9780957349902.
* ↑ Pio, Stefano (2004). Violin and Lute Makers of Venice 1640-1760. Venice, Italy: Venice research. p. 383. ISBN 978-88-907252-2-7.
* ↑ PRIETO, CARLOS (2018). ADVENTURES OF A CELLO. [S.l.]: UNIV OF TEXAS PRESS. ISBN 978-1-4773-1786-0. OCLC 1263024052.
* ↑ Claudio Bohórquez winner of "1. Internationaler Pablo-Casals-Wettbewerb der Kronberg Academy" 2000 (in German)
* ↑ Obituary Terence Weil The Independent, William Waterhouse, 9 March 1995
* ↑ "Albert Edward Sammons". The Strad Magazine. 97 (1156). August 1986. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
* ↑ The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Archived 2015-12-05 at the Wayback Machine
* ↑ Stradivari Invest Archived 2008-05-10 at the Wayback Machine
* ↑ "The Little Box That Sings". 2000-12-13. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help)
* ↑ The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
* ↑ Instant Encore, Biography of Matthew Lipman, Viola
* ↑ "Cello by Matteo Goffriller, 1690c". Cozio.com. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
* ↑ Nicholas Anderson (2005). "The "Count Marcello" Gofriller". nicholas-anderson.com. Archived from the original on 2005-12-17. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
* ↑ "Cellos".
* 1 2 "Matteo Goffriller, Venice, 1703, the 'Garbousova'". Tarisio Fine Instruments & Bows.
* ↑ Katherine Millett. "All Things Strings: Born to Teach, page 3". Strings Magazine. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
* ↑ "| Marie Hallynck || celliste |". www.mariehallynck.com. Archived from the original on 2019-01-05.
* ↑ "Cello by Matteo Goffriller, 1726 (ex-Cossmann)". Cozio.com. Archived from the original on 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
* ↑ "Amit Peled Receives Pablo Casals's Cello". Amit Peled Newsletter. 19 May 2003. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
