Word: italianity
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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...
...price. The four grades of handcrafted violins (school, student, professional and maestro, ranging from $50 to $1,500 wholesale) are extremely competitive compared with the cheap but poorer quality Chinese-made fiddles currently bagging some 65% of the market or with the sports car--like prices of German and Italian models. Low production costs in Romania give Gliga a competitive edge even though its employees--considered an elite work force--earn twice the national average of $100 a month...
There's still a snob factor associated with violins, says Naomi Sadler, editor of the British magazine The Strad. "It's true that old Italian instruments are lovely, but some of the top makers today are also producing incredibly good instruments," she says. While 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...
...manager at Exl Service, a call center near New Delhi. Last year Kapoor took a mortgage to buy a two-bedroom apartment, and this year he purchased a car, a Hyundai Santro, for about $7,000. Four times a month, Kapoor visits New Delhi's top restaurants, among them Italian bistro Flavors or Indian-food specialist Bukhara, dropping as much as $40 a meal. In the process, he ran up about $4,200 in credit-card debt, spread over three cards. Since getting married six months ago, he has been persuaded by his wife to scale back...
...joke about the nuns, the souvenir shops selling Jesus holograms, the obvious lack of nightlife. But despite our levity, we decide to go back and watch the candlelight procession in front of the church, where we hear “Hail Mary” in French, English, Spanish, Italian and German, and see pilgrims marching with candles held high...