In his lifetime, Stradivari (and his family) constructed over a 1,000 instruments, with the majority being violins. However, the renowned Italian luthier dedicated a small part of his craftsmanship to guitars. Only one of these guitars is still playable today.
The ‘Sabionari’ guitar was built in 1679, and later augmented in the 19th century to suit the style of the modern instruments of that time period. In recent years, Daniel Sinier and Francoise de Ridder restored the heritage instrument to its original configuration. The heritage instrument features four double catgut strings (A D G B) and a single E string.
A clip has recently surfaced of concert guitarist Rolf Lislevand getting his hands n the ‘Sabionari’, performing Santiago de Murica’s ‘Tarantela’. Watch the clip below to hear this amazing guitar in action.
