Word: reghin
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...link between past and present is the special spruce and maple wood of the Transylvanian forests near the Gliga factory in Reghin. It is a resource so prized by violin makers that the nearby Gurghiului Valley is commonly known as Italian valley, after the luthiers who are said to have journeyed there from Cremona, Italy, the home of the masters, in search of perfect wood. According to Gliga, who grew up in the valley, the critical ingredient is the abundance of flamed maple (also called curly sycamore), the strikingly grained wood of choice for the back of violins. More specifically...
Communism's contribution to Gliga's success was the party's inability to set up a violin factory in Bucharest. The capital's facility was closed, and Reghin became the only town in the country where violins were made. As a result, the experts are all still there. "Skilled workmanship imbues a violin with special characteristics," says Gliga. He believes the unique qualities of the local wood coupled with the skill of his work force mean Gliga instruments can successfully compete with those being made by long-established European companies...
Vasile Gliga has come a long way since his first, illicit foray into business. While employed by Reghin's state-owned violin factory in the 1980s, he secretly made an instrument for himself at home. In 1990, following the Romanian revolution, he sold it to a dealer in the West. The $2,000 price, an undreamed-of fortune, not only bought him a secondhand auto, it also prompted a decision. Frustrated by what he calls the "old-style communist-worker mentality" ingrained in his factory colleagues, he quit his job, calculating that he and his wife, working from home, could...
...most of the best players will use only an original Cremonese masterpiece, at least one world-famous violinist was impressed by a Gliga instrument. In a 1995 letter to Gliga, Yehudi Menuhin wrote, "Dear and very fine craftsman ... I shall treasure the instrument you made ..." At his headquarters in Reghin, Gliga displays the Menuhin letter with pride, convinced that the reputation of Transylvania as a center of violin-making excellence will eventually be acknowledged. And that maybe then he will be able to return to his workbench. --Reported by Mihai Radu/Reghin