The 175-year history of Nono Víctor's violin and the laborious rescue carried out by his great-great-grandson

It's not a Stradivarius . It doesn't even have a sign that would suggest its origin, and some details are detectable that could be classified as defects. "The luthier who made it was probably a bit of a novice or was trying out strange things, because the top of the body is almost as wide as the bottom, and that's not the case with violins," says Nahuel Whittall, the violin 's current owner , a 24-year-old who, in this quarter of a century, has accumulated an intense history, almost as intense as that of this instrument made of maple and spruce and, it is estimated, built in 1850. "To me, it's Italian, but some have also speculated that it could be French."

This instrument and everything surrounding it have something mysterious and magical about them. A few days ago, the director of the MGSM School Orchestra, Hugo Arcidiácono , shared this:

“When I was a child, at every family celebration, I would be mesmerized by watching my grandfather Víctor play the violin. He led a tango orchestra, and although he passed away when I was 15, I still remember the image of his hands caressing the strings, making the instrument speak. Many years later, already as director of the San Martín School Orchestra, a talented and luminous boy joined the orchestra. His name was Nahuel, and he seemed to have a thousand years of wisdom in his eyes. One day, quite naturally, he said to me:

—You and I are relatives.

I was surprised. I asked him to tell me more... and indeed, we discovered he was the grandson of a cousin of mine. But the most mysterious and beautiful thing was what came next: Nahuel told me that the violin he had been playing... was the same violin my grandfather Víctor used. Yes. That instrument I had listened to as a child came back to me years later in the hands of this young musician. And today, 15 years after that encounter, Nahuel returned to the orchestra with wonderful news: he had restored the violin.

Music has the power to come back. Sometimes it does so in a melody, in an anecdote, in a person… Sometimes it comes back in the form of a grandson. And a violin. Because we are never truly gone.”

But the story Professor Arcidiácono tells is only a small part.

violin photo

Nahuel Whittall is the great-great-grandson of Nono Víctor Arcidiácono , that Italian that Hugo remembers.

Nahuel is passionate about music and genealogy, and that helps reconstruct part of the story.

“Nono Víctor played the violin and guitar in a tango orchestra called the Orquesta Salomón . It was named after one of its members, whose name was Salomón and who played the bandoneon,” he recalls.

Before learning to read and write Spanish, Nono learned to read sheet music . He had no formal training. At a very young age, he began playing the violin and guitar by ear. When he arrived in Argentina, some orchestra colleagues who had studied a little more began teaching him to read music.

Ninth Victor and his violin 1

How the violin came into Grandfather Victor's hands is also a curious story.

It was at a celebration of the Christ of the Quebrada , at the beginning of May, in San Luis .

"They went to play with the orchestra. I understand that everything happened at the place where they were staying," Nahuel recalls.

“ It was a country house. Grandpa came out of the yard and found a boy playing with the violin. The instrument was a toy and was half-broken. I don't know if he bought it or if the owners of the house gave it to him. What I do know is that he brought it and restored it himself, as best he could, and from then on, he always played it. The violin he'd had before was a little smaller—a three-quarter violin, they call it—which is for children to learn on.”

Nono Victor and his violin 2

After reaching Nahuel Whittall's hands ("a distant aunt, daughter of Grandfather Victor, brought it to my house one day"), the violin underwent three restorations. "You could say it was a thorough restoration, followed by two fine-tunings."

Nahuel says that “something very strange had happened to the violin. Nono Víctor’s had a bone problem, I think it was arthritis, and the fingerboard collapsed, deforming the entire neck of the violin . So, we had to replace the fingerboard and glue all the tops together. Another peculiar thing about Nono Víctor was that he fixed his own violin. He never had much money, and with what little he knew about carpentry and what he could tie with wire, he solved the problem.”

When Nahuel received the violin, he took it to the luthier Lino Giacoboni . “I received it in a very damaged state. The luthier made several adjustments , including opening the tops, gluing it perfectly, and adjusting everything so it would fit just right.”

Nahuel also recalls another "odd thing" his great-great-grandfather did "with the violin bow. The hairs on the bow kept coming off, and since my grandfather didn't have any money at the time, he would put fishing line on it, something that would never have occurred to me."

Of course, Nahuel emphasizes that "this violin has been at a lot of parties, because before, at weddings and any other celebration, the music was live. This violin has toured a lot, and it's incredible that it's still in the current condition."

violin 2

When Nahuel introduces himself, he says he is 24 years old, that he graduated from Arboit, Junín, and that he lives in La Colonia.

“I started studying the violin when I was 10 years old, and music continues to be with me today,” she says, emphasizing that “I always wanted to dedicate myself to music,” but warns that “I broke my arm, and it didn't turn out very well.”

-How was that fracture?

"I broke my arm playing basketball in high school. I jumped, collided with a teammate, and fell, putting all my weight on my arm. I fractured my ulna and radius. It was Spring Day in 2015. After that, I developed chronic tendonitis, which makes it difficult to study for long periods of time. That's why I didn't continue my degree. After four hours of studying, my arm swells and causes a lot of pain. Luckily, here in the San Martín orchestra, they're patient with me and allow me to rest as much as I need."

2015 was a bad year for Nahuel. “That year my house caught fire, and I went inside to rescue the violin before it caught fire.”

Afterward, Nahuel moved to Buenos Aires for a few years and recently returned to Mendoza. He works and says, "Next year I'm starting a degree in Business Administration," while continuing to play his violin in the San Martín Orchestra, directed by his relative, Hugo Arcidiácono.