Vivien Schweitzer reports that a circa 1727 Stradivarius violin stolen from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra is set to return to the stage with Gary Levinson performing Glazunov's Violin Concerto under Andrew Grams at Meyerson Symphony Hall. The instrument was recovered after a tip in 2005 and had previously been purchased by the DSO in 1978 for Eliot Chapo; it was stolen from Emanuel Borok in 1985 and later recovered with insurance payout.
Italy’s master violin makers in Cremona worry that Chinese production and cost efficiency threaten the prestige market for high-end violins, bows, and cases. The article notes Cremona prices can reach up to $27,000 for a violin and that Chinese workshops are expanding, posing competition to European lutherie.
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra is selling 30 string instruments, including violins, violas and cellos by Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu. The collection was bought four years ago for $17 million US, and the benefactor Herbert Axelrod had valued them at $49 million US, a valuation later questioned by experts.
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in Newark, New Jersey is selling its collection of prized “Golden Age” string instruments, including violins, violas, and cellos by Italian makers such as Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu. The collection was acquired for $17 million from a benefactor who later went to prison, and valuation has been contested, with the orchestra reporting a purchase price for tax purposes after considering an $49 million initial valuation.
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra plans to sell its collection of Golden Age string instruments, including violins, violas, and cellos by Italian makers such as Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu, purchased for $17 million four years earlier. The sale aims to relieve debt from the 2003 purchase and provide financial security, as officials note demand for such instruments remains high.
The article reports that two violins, an 18th-century Carlo Tononi and a 19th-century Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, stolen from Los Angeles Philharmonic associate principal violinist Mark Kashper, were recovered in France. A Paris dealer informed police that an American man attempted to sell them for $65,000; the thief, living in Amsterdam, could face extradition. The Tononi is on loan to Kashper from the Philharmonic and is notable for its maker, Carlo Annibale Tononi.
The article reports that French police returned two rare violins to a Los Angeles Philharmonic musician. The instruments, valued together at $250,000, were stolen in December from violinist Mark Kashper’s home in West Hollywood. One violin was made in the 18th century by Carlo Tononi, and the other in the 19th century by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume. A shop owner alerted police when an American man tried to sell the violins for $65,000; the man, unnamed, denies the theft and claims he bought the violins.
The Bonn concert highlighted a violin once owned by Beethoven, part of a string quartet set gifted by Prince Lichnowsky. The instrument resurfaced in America after a long odyssey and was showcased with Daniel Sepec and Andreas Staier performing Mozart and Beethoven works.
The Stradivarius violin at the National Art Museum will undergo expert examination by a commission appointed by the Minister of Culture, Adrian Iorgulescu. The commission will determine whether the violin handed over by the Voicu family is the same instrument purchased in 1956 by the Romanian state and lent to maestro Ion Voicu. Results are expected by April 10, and foreign experts will later estimate the instrument’s value, which is valued at over 1.5 million euros. The ministry notes the violin will be insured by the Romanian state, and there will be a competition to loan the instrument to a young Romanian violinist for five to seven years.