Dear Mr. Puppy

Dear Mr. Puppy, Was there an April fools day in 18th century Paris? I have never taken a liking to Pierre Nicolas Housset, he is too much of Parisian in his mannerisms for a South Italian’s sentiment. He is insufferable as a musician and believes that the time he spent with the great Tartini in […]

Dear Mr. Puppy, I hear the 18th century was a very transitional time for bowmakers. Can you tell me what that was like? Part IV of IV: The Tourte family you might recall invented the metal ferrell that holds the hair in a fine ribbon at the nose of the frog, this replaced the previous […]

Dear Mr. Puppy, I hear the 18th century was a very transitional time for bowmakers. Can you tell me what that was like? Part III of IV: To draw a good sound with thicker strings the makers made the bow heavier and longer. Sometimes up to 74cm including the button. My old standard concerto bow […]

Dear Mr. Puppy, I hear the 18th century was a very transitional time for bowmakers. Can you tell me what that was like? Part II of IV: My friend Gaviniès once told me that the bowmakers found a small source in the staves from sugar barrels. It seems that the manufacturers in Brazil and the […]

Dear Mr. Puppy, I hear the 18th century was a very transitional time for bowmakers. Can you tell me what that was like? Part I of IV: It seemed to me that violinists were everywhere and from every country, searching for a means to make a living in this fecundity of a city. I recall […]

Dear Mr. Puppy, What musician did all the other musicians in Paris revere during your time there? All the Paris musicians were in awe of bassoonist, Tommaso Delcambre. A native of Douai near Arras, Tommaso came to Paris in 1784 when he was only eighteen years old. At that time, French bassoonist Étienne Ozi was […]

Dear Mr. Puppy, What was musical life like outside the theatre Feydeau? On the 19th of January 1795, I was at the Café de Chartres with the citizen players of the Opera William Tell when they decided to perform the song Réveil du people. This was the piece that the actor Gaveaux from the Feydeau […]

Dear Mr. Puppy, How did you become leader of the Paris orchestras? Cher amis, the story of how I became leader of the orchestra is a complicated one. For me, it was the best of all possible worlds. I was ill-received on my final visit to London when politics turned against me in that peculiarly […]

Dear Mr. Puppy, What was the worst opera that you ever conducted? Much time has passed since those days of 1790. When I recall it to memory, I remember during that time before the revolution all those absurdities of language and the quaint expressions that went together with the Old Regime; it seems that I […]

Dear Mr. Puppy, My ride to the opera has bailed on me. How can I make it by showtime? Mon cher ami, The Theatre de la rue Feydeau has become a rallying place of Royalist reactionaries. It has a splendor that gives us hope for a return to time past that is not lost beyond […]

Dear Mr. Puppy – Where does one go for a bow rehair in 18th century Paris? How much will it cost? Well my Dear, Bow hair has become a real issue here in Paris. You could ask those connected to the trade, such as, Citizen Boyer at L’ancien Café de Foy on the Rue de […]

“Dear Mr. Puppy, I know you were in Paris during the French Revolution – How did you avoid being sent to the guillotine? “ Oh my dear, this is a complicated story. Well it is true that I was arrested by the Committee of Public Safety, They had overheard me talking with a suspected royalist […]

Giuseppe Puppo was an Italian violinist, composer, and teacher. Born in Lucca, Italy, he quickly became a violin virtuoso at an early age. He travelled through Europe through the end of the 18th century, settling in Paris in 1783 where he became a highly-sought after teacher and authority on violin-playing. Fondly referred to as “Mr. Puppy” […]