Monthly archive
8 headlines
Source-linked reporting
publicradiotulsa.org
The article discusses a double-blind test where professional violinists tried to identify Stradivarius violins versus modern copies, with six violins tested and results indicating limited ability to distinguish. Joseph Curtin and Claudia Fritz are named as researchers involved in the study.
phys.org
The article reports a study by Claudia Fritz and Joseph Curtin presented in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in which professional violinists could not reliably distinguish old master violins by Guarneri del Gesu and Stradivari from newer high-quality violins. The study involved three old master violins and three newer ones, tested in a low-light setting with masking aids to prevent identifying cues.
saltwire.com
The article describes a burglary in Mont Carmel where an irreplaceable violin made by the late Kim Vincent was stolen, along with a Taylor guitar and other items. Philippe LeBlanc is quoted expressing how devastating the loss is and mentions a potential lead involving a Kijiji post about an Island-made fiddle.
cnet.com
The article reports on a PayPal dispute in which a buyer disputes the authenticity of a purportedly rare violin and PayPal instructs the buyer to destroy the instrument to obtain a refund. The piece notes a buyer who destroyed the violin and cites PayPal’s SNAD policy allowing destruction if the item is deemed counterfeit.
npr.org
Elena Delbanco and Nicholas Delbanco discuss selling Bernard Greenhouse's 300-year-old Stradivarius cello, The Countess of Stanlein, which is one of only 60 Stradivarius cellos and could fetch millions; the instrument belonged to Greenhouse of the Beaux Arts Trio.
www-s1.npr.org
The NPR Weekend Edition Sunday story discusses the sale of Bernard Greenhouse's Stradivarius cello, The Countess of Stanlein, by his daughter Elena Delbanco and her husband Nicholas Delbanco. The instrument is a 300-year-old Stradivarius, one of about 60 cellos by Antonio Stradivari, with expected prices in the millions and a potential record sale of around six million dollars.
stephanetetreault.com
Vanessa Greco reports that Stéphane Tétreault, a Montreal cellist, borrowed the Countess of Stainlein, a Stradivari cello estimated to be over 300 years old. The cello sold at auction for just over $6 million to a patroness from Montreal, who arranged for Tétreault to play it as part of its ongoing history.
stephanetetreault.com
The 18-year-old Stéphane Tétreault, a student at Université de Montréal, has become the custodian of a 1707 Stradivarius cello named Paganini, Countess of Stainlein. Reuning & Son reported the purchase price was well above a $6 million minimum bid, described as a world record by Strad Magazine.