About

Company

The Rigola company was born and developed in a family context with a particular sensitivity towards musical instruments and music in general.

The founder of the tradition was Luigi Rigola who decided in 1905 to open a laboratory for the construction and repair of musical instruments, in particular pianos, autopianos and harmoniums.

Today, the Luigi Rigola Company continues to operate in the music sector led by the branch descending from Luigi’s eldest son.

In 2004 Alessandro, Luigi’s great-grandson, after completing his studies and professional training, continues the tradition in the construction and restoration of organs and harmoniums.

He has also started a collaboration for several years with the Swiss organ builder, and his Master, Thomas Waelti with whom there is a continuous comparison that increases the experience gained over the years.

Since 2010 the company has a renewed structure equipped with all the necessary equipment for the various processes distributed in separate rooms and where there is also ample space for the assembly and testing of the tools being processed.

Philosophy

Whether you are preparing to build a new organ, or whether you need to restore an old one, the approach is always the same: looking at the past and the construction techniques of the time and working with the highest quality materials to obtain a perfect result in every detail.

Particularly in restorations great attention is paid to the choice of materials compatible with the existing ones and in full compliance with the choices of the Author of the building to be restored.

Only animal glues are used and the interventions carried out are always reversible to guarantee the maximum respect for the ancient work. In the restoration of metal pipes, for example, it is a priority to conserve the original material as much as possible even when these are very damaged; only in cases where the degradation of the material is such as not to guarantee durability and optimal operation, it is replaced with metal plates thrown and worked by hand exactly like the originals; in this way it operates for all the components being restored.

In the reconstruction of the registers, first of all a research and a scrupulous survey of the measures are carried out in order to construct the pipes exactly as they were originally built to obtain the maximum from the philological point of view. The same attention is paid to the philological reconstruction of every necessary part from the nail forged by hand to the bolts, keyboards and so on.

In the new organs, particular attention is paid to the design of each individual part in order to obtain well-structured and rationally constructed instruments that give maximum reliability over time. All the components are produced within the company (such as flue pipes, reed pipes, wooden pipes, keyboards …) as well as structures and instrument cases and all aesthetic finishes, to always guarantee the highest possible quality level.