Here is the beginning of the text about Cristofaro:<\/p>\n
\nCristofaro, Ferdinando, de, born in Naples, the home of the\r\nmandolin, in 1846, died in Paris, April 18, 1890. The son of\r\nrespectable parents in Naples, Cristofaro rose to be one of the\r\nmost celebrated mandolin virtuosi of modern times. He received\r\nhis musical education in the Conservatory of his native city,\r\ndevoting himself to the study of the piano, and had his life been\r\nspared, his fame as a virtuoso on that instrument would have\r\nextended far beyond his achievements as a mandolinist. Cristofaro\r\nwas entirely self-taught on the mandolin, and he soon distinguished\r\nhimself by his performances on this instrument in Italy. To the\r\nNeapolitans, he introduced a new and completely advanced method\r\nof playing \u2014 accustomed as they were to hearing the instrument in\r\nthe hands of strolling players, used more for accompanying popular\r\nsongs than anything else \u2014 the classical compositions, executed by\r\nCristofaro, caused unbounded enthusiasm, astonishment, and\r\nadmiration. His fame spread rapidly throughout his native land,\r\nand after appearing with success in all the important cities, he was\r\ninduced to visit Paris. It was in 1882 that he arrived in this city,\r\nwhere he was immediately recognised as the premier mandolinist\r\nof the day ; he won a widespread and enviable reputation, and as a\r\nteacher, his services were in constant demand by French aristocracy.\r\nDuring his residence in Paris, he appeared in public with the most\r\nprominent musicians of the time \u2014 M. Gounod, upon several\r\noccasions playing the pianoforte accompaniments to his solos. In\r\n1888, Cristofaro visited London, and here he met with his usual\r\nsuccess, and was sought in this city also as a teacher, and was\r\nappointed conductor of the \" Ladies' Guitar and Mandolin Band.\"\r\nand later:<\/pre>\nCristofaro was the author of a most com-\r\nprehensive and artistic method for the mandolin. It consists of\r\ntwo volumes, each being published in five languages: English,\r\nFrench, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, and treats of the\r\ninstrument fully, and is illustrated by numerous diagrams. It\r\ncommences with the elements of the theory of music, and all the\r\nexercises are melodious and arranged with a definite object : they\r\nare well -graded and admirably suited for pupil and teacher,, as\r\nthe majority are written as duets for two mandolins. Several of\r\nthese studies deserve special notice for their beauty of melody and\r\nform, among such, we mention particularly, the Andante maestoso,\r\nLarghetto, Andante religioso, in double stopping, and Allegro\r\ngiusto, style fugue, all in the second volume. The method was\r\npublished in November, 1884, by Lemoine, Paris, and it had\r\nreached the twelfth edition previous to the death of of its author in\r\n1890. Cristofaro had previously written a method for the mandolin\r\nwhen he was living in Naples, before he was thirty years of age,\r\nthis being published in 1873, by Cottrau of that city.<\/pre>\n<\/blockquote>\nThe complete mandolin method (part 1) by Cristofaro is available for download on my homepage: http:\/\/www.mandoisland.de<\/a> on page “Free Sheet Music” or also on “Mandolin Methods”<\/p>\n
An original Mandolin Pick from the 19th Century!<\/h4>\n
After I had prepared the method for download I tried to find once again informations about Cristofaro with searching the internet – and I found one very interesting article. A collector of vintage guitar picks has bought some old picks from a seller in France.One of thepicks is stamed with “Cristofaro – Paris” which made him curious. He found the information about Ferdinado de Cristofaro (i guess that he got it from Bone’s book) which brought him to the conclusion that this pick\u00a0 must have been produce at the time when Cristofaro’s mandolin method was published, abd probably befor Cristofaro’s death – somtime between 1884 and 1990. This pick has been made from celluloid – so it may be the oldest pick made from celloloid.<\/p>\n
You can find the complete post about the original Cristofaro mandolin pick here:<\/p>\n
Cristofaro: The Oldest Pick?<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.mandoisland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/cristofaro-01.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n