Dominique Enel

Doctor Dominique Enel has chosen to lend Talents & Violon’celles four instruments built by his grandfather, the famous French violin maker Charles Enel. Among them, a superb cello from 1924. He tells us about the meeting of two projects made to match…

“My father, Jacques Enel, brought together a quartet of instruments created between 1923 and 1930 by my grandfather Charles Enel in his workshop at 48 rue de Rome: two violins, a viola and a cello. As an amateur violinist, I had the pleasure of playing with my brothers from a very young age on these “workshop waifs », which were never intended to be brought together, except for the homogeneity of their construction, their period of production, and the concern for    confidentially conserving    a family artistic heritage. In the 1990s, with a group of musician friends, I was able to test their quality in the quintets of Brahms and Shostakovich. In order not to let their voices pass away bt being left in their cases, the idea of lending them to musicians in need of quality instruments gradually took hold. A long period of contacts and encouragement then began… The idea was original and interesting, but I was unable to find a truly reliable structure or human commitment. It took a chance discussion with the bow maker Alain Hérou to bring me very quickly into contact with Raphaël Pidoux Raphaël’s enthusiasm and his musical excellence were enough to convince me of the originality of the Talents & Violon’celles initiative and its perfect convergence with my idea. The successful approach of bringing together violin making, orphaned instruments and talented young musicians motivated my full support for the project.