Fernando Sacconi was one of the greatest violinmakers and restorers of our time. I knew him when he was working with Emil Herrmann in New York, as well as with Wurlitzer.

Throughout my career my violins were looked after by Sacconi in New York. He had the extraordinary gift of hand, eye and ear which is so essential for anyone dealing with instruments that are as beautiful to look at as they are to listen to, and both my Stradivarius and my Guarnerius were his charges.

Fernando Sacconi used to come to my hotel whenever I was in the city, and we would talk about and listen to and experiment with instruments. He seemed to embody the great Italian tradition of violinmakers, and I always felt I was talking to a direct descendant of the Cremonese school, who had through his link with the New World a very special breadth of vision and understanding.

London, January 19, 1984

Taken from the book: «From Violinmaking to Music: The Life and Works of Simone Fernando Sacconi», presented on December 17, 1985 at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. (Cremona, ACLAP, first edition 1985, second edition 1986, page 222 - Italian / English).