The Quintet, which was drawn by Chigi Saracini from among the very talented students of the Academy (who all taught as professors there),[4] had the use of the four best instruments from the Count's private collection, namely a Camillo Camilli and a Guadagnini violin, an Amati viola and a Stradivarius violoncello.
By 1956, the Quintet had recently given more than a thousand concerts in countries including Italy, Germany, England, France, Holland, Belgium and Spain, had taken part in the major European festivals, and had newly completed a highly successful tour of Central and South America: its repertoire reflected Brengola's preoccupations both with early Italian chamber music and with the works of contemporary composers.
In 1962 he became the creator and coordinator of the Città di Vittorio Veneto Violin Competition, and in 1966 re-joined the Chigiano ensemble at the first viola desk when the group was reformed as a string sextet.
[3] In addition to Brengola, this consisted of Felice Cusano, later Giovanni Guglielmo (second violin), Mario Benvenuti and Tito Riccardi (violas), and Alain Meunier and Adriano Vendramelli (cellos).
Its instruments included violins by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini and one of the Testore family, violas by Nicolò Amati and Pietro Guarneri, and cellos by David Techler and Lorenzo Storioni.