Luigi Mozzani was a gifted guitar soloist, as shown in this advertisement for a 1916 concert in Bologna, with Mozzani holding one of his own lyre-guitars
Luigi Mozzani (1869–1943) is one of the most intriguing characters in the world of Italian music and violin making in the early 20th century. Many sources describe him as a ‘luthier’, but in reality he was more of a brilliant entrepreneur and businessman rather than a hard-working craftsman at the bench. His atelier became a magnet for several talented luthiers, while he himself spent his time promoting Italian music within the cultural milieu of the time. An excellent composer and guitarist himself, he oversaw the production of both plucked and bowed stringed instruments, and the history books record his prowess in all three disciplines: playing, making and composition.
Mozzani was born in Faenza, around 30 miles south-east of Bologna, on 9 March 1869. As a young man he studied the guitar as well as the oboe, which was enjoying great popularity at the time. By the age of 21 he was already performing concerts on both instruments as far afield as Algeria, as was recorded in the Gazzette Algerienne. He then enrolled at the Conservatorio di Bologna, where he obtained his diploma as an oboist at the age of 23 – just two years after enrolling. Shortly after that, he obtained a two-year contract to play at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, but since it could offer him no work in the summer, he travelled to Germany to perform as a guitarist. That tour proved so successful that it convinced him to dedicate himself full-time to the guitar. His next move was to America, where an impresario had invited him over for a series of concerts. The promoter was only interested in him, rather than the musical group he had been touring with. This experience gave Mozzani the chance to spend time with American musicians, as well as to take his first steps in composition: his first book of guitar studies appeared in 1896. His sojourn in the US did not last long, however; the political situation with Spain convinced him to return to Italy where, without money or solid prospects, he spent six months in England before finally going to France. There he established relationships with the mandolin makers Jules Cottin and Lucien Gelas, and also got to meet the famed classical guitarist and composer Miguel Llobet.
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