Passions & Places

In the land of the accordion

The legend began in 1863 in Castelfidardo; Paolo Soprani, a son of share croppers, observed an accordeon (a sort of toy harmonica) being played by an Austrian pilgrim while he was walking towards the sanctuary of the Virgin of Loreto. 

Curiosity and intuition led the young boy to create the first real diatonic harmonica (and then the first accordion). His company is still existing and is now called Meneghini-Scandalli-Soprani, it helped spread sounds which have become popular in squares all over the world.

Electronics has not managed to destroy the pleasure of listening to traditional ballads accompanied by the accordion. Several festivals are dedicated to this instrument, with the participation of excellent musicians (such as Ambrogio Sparagna), the aim of these festivals is to recover the country culture and its traditional music.

Castelfidardo hosts many accordion-manufacturing companies; instruments are created with mastery and accuracy by excellent craftsmen), and the local economy has been exploiting such heritage giving rise to a net of small and large companies linked to the musical instruments’ sector.

Companies include EKO (founded in Recanati in 1959), which at first focused on the manufacturing of classical and electric guitars. EKO guitars were chosen by the most famous bands during the 1960’s. 

The company then started to manufacture amplifiers, electronic organs, microphones and mixers, creating an important net of artisan concerns that manufacture individual components (keyboards, pieces of furniture for instruments, etc.).

The EKO brand is renowned all over the world, yet many creators have continued to work as craftsmen, creating unique products; they are excellent lutists whose instruments prove their refined skills. 

Examples include Alfredo Bugari from Castelfidardo, Roberto Rocchetti from Fermo, Lanfranco Cappelletti from Matelica and Gregory Rossetti from Macerata, just to name a few. Guglielmo Agostinelli from Fabriano is one of the main manufacturers of flutes.

In order to understand how interested this region is in music, all one has to do is to discover the many musicians who found an ideal territory for their skills in the Marches, as well as the professional structures that have been established to meet such requirements. Examples include sound broadcast studies and agencies.

Finally, it is no surprise that all over the world, while watching TV absent-mindedly, it is possible to note that the accordions musicians are playing bear the name Castelfidardo elegantly set in mother-of-pearl.