NATIVE INSTRUMENTS Cremona Quartet

Antonio Stradivari may be the most famous name to come out of the lutherie industry of 16th century Cremona, Italy. But he’s not necessarily the most important. That accolade goes to Andrea Amati, widely credited as having created the first instruments of the violin family to take the form we still use today. Whether or not this design was entirely down to Amati we don’t know. But it’s beyond doubt that Cremona’s most well-known luthiers learnt their craft from him, his sons or – as is the case with Stradivari himself – his grandson Nicolò Amati.

The instruments these luthiers produced were of such exquisite quality that surviving examples are revered as the absolute best money can buy and change hands for millions.

We recently reviewed Stradivari Violin, a new sample library from