Lyon luthier David Léonard Wiedmer has been in the world of international super soloists for several years. In 2019, he even received a gold medal in the United States recognizing his work. Recently, he made a violin for a musical luminary, Janine Jansen.
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In his premises, he starts from raw wood to deliver his high-end instruments. Its order book is full until 2029.
With Léa Trombert, also a luthier, they devote themselves to their passions: violins.
From wooden planks, David fashions superb instruments, which will be aged and varnished. These real jewels are pieces that will be sold to soloists and philharmonic ensembles.
At his table David Léonard Wiedmer, refines a sleeve head from a cast. “Being able to reproduce the model from the Renaissance based on a plasterhe said, allows us to be fairly accurate in the proportions and aesthetics of these heads.”
Aesthetics are as important as the musicality of the instrument. Léa draws her inspiration from Stradivarius models for her clients. Hundreds of boards including photos of details to scale.
Léa draws her inspiration from Stradivarius models for her clients, using scale boards and photos of details.
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© France 3 Rhône-Alpes
“There are people who give us carte blanche so we also have this choice to let our own tastes and our own inspirations speak. Everyone has their relationship to their instrument,” explains the luthier.
The two luthiers support each other, particularly when it comes to finding the ideal piece of spruce for a future violin top. Perched in the workshop on a ladder, David grabs a plank of wood from storage, “that’s more altohe said. Let me see, asks Léa, holding out her arm, “there are none more open, finer ?” asks Léa.
The sound depends on the thickness and density of the wood. With the band saw, David scrolls the outline of the instrument, the violin takes shape.
The sound of the instrument will partly depend on the thickness and density of the wood. It is with the band saw that the “daddy of violins” shapes the contours of the instrument.
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© France 3 Rhône-Alpes
“To beexplains David, It’s the soundboard so it’s made of spruce and the rest of the instrument, that is to say the rigid structure, is made of curly maple.”
Sometimes former customers return to the workshop with instruments that were created there. The strings are a little high for the customer who bought the instrument from another violinist. David suggests rewinding the key.
“It’s a customer who bought an instrument from me in 2019, remembers David. We make a lot of them and every time we get them back, we remember exactly who he is, he said as if it were a person. We all know violins, we all have them in our heads. Sometimes, we forget them but when they arrive at the workshop we remember the moment we created them.”
David recognizes each of his violins even years later.
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© France 3 Rhône-Alpes
Since receiving a gold medal in the United States 6 years ago, David’s reputation has risen to an international level. He has in his order book the names of prestigious soloists and super soloists, such as the Albanian Tedi Papavrami or the Dutch Janine Jansen. He readily admits that he would never have imagined making instruments for such musicians.
Reality surpassed his dreams. David and Léa each produce around ten instruments per year, a work of art, for the pleasure of music lovers and archers.
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