Frank Almond, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s concertmaster, is associated with his new solo album A Violin’s Life: Music for the Lipinski Stradivari. The Violin Channel is offering a giveaway of 3 personally autographed copies, recorded with pianist William Wolfram and inspired by the Lipinski Stradivari (1715). The giveaway closes May 10, 2013, and entry is via a provided link.
Aleksandra Maslovaric, a performing and recording artist, acquired a master violin crafted by Eric Benning, made in 2009 on a Stradivarius pattern, to record her next album. Benning Violins in Los Angeles has long supplied instruments to prominent players, and Maslovaric has a history of performing and recording works by women composers.
The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford will display 20 Stradivari instruments, some never shown publicly. Curator Dr Jon Whiteley and experts note the collection spans the golden period of 1700–1725 and includes famous pieces such as the Lady Blunt and the Messiah violin.
The article discusses a precious violin made by Matteo Goffrillerom (Venice, 1698) that was lost on a Paddington to Taunton train in Britain and valued at over 350,000 dollars; Robert Napier is named in connection with the loss, and the insurance company reportedly would pay about 20,000 dollars. The instrument’s ownership is described as being shared among Napier’s siblings.
Benning Violins, a Los Angeles area violin shop, announces a part-time resident partnership with master bowmaker Ole Kanestrom. Kanestrom operates a shop in Port Townsend, WA, and makes and repairs bows for violins, violas, and cellos. The news was published online May 21, 2013 by Newswire.
BBC News reports that a violin believed to be used by Wallace Hartley’s band on the Titanic has been declared genuine following a CT scan at BMI Ridgeway Hospital. Andrew Aldridge of Henry Aldridge and Son stated the scan proved the instrument’s authenticity beyond reasonable doubt, with radiographers producing a 3D internal image.
The article reports that a violin believed to have belonged to Titanic bandmaster Wallace Hartley was confirmed real after a CT scan, per the Huffington Post. Aldridge explains the findings, noting deterioration consistent with a Titanic-era instrument, and describes the bag, leather protection, and animal glue as part of its construction. The violin, originally returned to Hartley’s fiancée and then to the current owner’s mother, may be sent to auction.
Wallace Hartley, born in Colne, is confirmed to have played a violin believed to have belonged to him, following a 3D CT scan conducted at BMI Ridgeway Hospital in Wiltshire. Andrew Aldridge of Henry Aldridge and Son commented that the scan proved the instrument was real beyond reasonable doubt, and the violin is slated for display in the US before potentially going to auction.
Iryna Krechkovsky, co-founder of Chamber Music OC, has a three-year loan of the 1689 Baumgartner Stradivarius from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank, allowing her to perform on the $5 million violin with her husband Kevin Kwan Loucks. The article notes the instrument’s antiquity and value and places it within the Canada Council’s instrument bank program.
The New York Times reported that a Mozart-owned violin and viola will make their first American appearances in Boston and New York. The violin will be heard at the Boston Early Music Festival in Jordan Hall and at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York, with a program including Mozart’s sonatas and a new work by the performer. The instruments are owned by the Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg, and the violin is believed to be a Klotz, made in Mittenwald.
The article discusses Mozart’s own violin and viola coming to the United States for the first time for the June 2013 Boston Early Music Festival, in collaboration with the Salzburg Mozarteum Foundation. It mentions a concert on June 10 at 8pm in NEC’s Jordan Hall by the BEMF Salzburg Mozarteum Foundation Quartet, featuring Amandine Beyer on Mozart’s violin and Miloš Valent on Mozart’s viola, with Kristian Bezuidenhout on fortepiano and Eric Hoeprich on clarinet. Tickets range from $25 to $66 and can be purchased via the BEMF box office or by phone.
The violin once played by Titanic bandmaster Wallace Hartley during the ship's sinking is on display at the Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, from May 22 to July 27 before headed to Branson, Missouri for August 1–15. The instrument, discovered seven years ago in an English attic, is expected to fetch a six-figure price at a Henry Aldridge and Son auction on October 19. The violin passed through multiple hands and is currently owned by a descendant of a former student of the violin’s later owner; proceeds from ticket sales during the exhibit support Strings Crossings and Belmont University’s summer music camp.