Monthly archive
14 headlines
Source-linked reporting
roughlydaily.com
Elly Fishman reports on master craftsman John Becker repairing a Stradivarius owned by Joshua Bell, a 310-year-old instrument valued up to $15 million, with two other violinists noting repairs and future work.
agi.it
The Italian news piece reports that a Stradivari cello from 1711, named Mara, survived a shipwreck and will be played by Christian Poltera at Teatro Argentina in Rome, accompanied by Kathryn Stott. The instrument, recovered after a long restoration from a Rio de la Plata shipwreck in 1961, is now entrusted to Poltera for a program including Brahms, Chopin, and Prokofiev works.
cremonasera.it
The article reports that at Teatro Argentina in Rome a Stradivari cello from 1711, named Mara, survived a shipwreck in the Rio de la Plata and will be played by cellist Christian Poltera with pianist Kathryn Stott, in a program of Brahms, Chopin and Prokofiev for the Accademia Filarmonica Romana. The Mara cello, built by Antonio Stradivari in Cremona in 1711, is named after its first known owner Giovanni Mara, and has a detailed provenance through many notable owners before its recovery after a shipwreck; restoration in London took three years (1961-1963) after being submerged.
theviolinchannel.com
The Violin Channel reports that Arabella Steinbacher released a new Pentatone disc featuring Bach and Pärt, performed with the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester and Christoph Koncz. The program includes Bach A minor, E major, and D minor double concertos, along with Pärt pieces Fratres and Spiegel im Spiegel.
scmp.com
The article discusses a 1731 Guarneri violin known as the Baltic, likely to fetch over US$10 million at auction. It notes it was made by Giuseppe del Gesù Guarneri, its owner Lam Sau-wing (a late Chinese-American philanthropist who collected instruments), and mentions auction house involvement by Tarisio, with reference to cellist Jian Wang as one beneficiary of Lam’s philanthropy.
washingtonclassicalreview.com
Rachel Barton Pine performed Florence Price’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra led by Christopher Zimmerman at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts. The piece, composed in 1952 and rediscovered in 2009, was described as driven by Price’s personal need to write a concerto, amid prejudices she faced as a Black woman.
theviolinchannel.com
The Violin Channel reports that the Violin Society of America issued a stolen alert for a Kurt Gutter violin and a stamped Tourte bow. The incident occurred in Brooklyn, New York, with contact information provided for tips.
journalchc.com
The article reports the theft and recovery of a viola valued at 30,000 euros, crafted by Vienna luthier Martin Schwalb in 2022, along with its bow by H.R. Pfretzschner. The instrument belonged to musician Vytautas Martisius of the Politeama theater in Palermo and was recovered by the police with thanks to the questura and Falchi della Squadra Mobile.
newswire.ca
The Baltic, a 292-year-old Guarneri del Gesù violin, is being offered by Tarisio in New York in an online auction running to March 16, 2023, with an estimated sale value in excess of US$10 million. The instrument has a notable provenance tying it to Sau-Wing Lam and has been exhibited at New York's Metropolitan Museum on multiple occasions.
independent.co.uk
The Independent reports that Polish violinist Janusz Wawrowski was prevented by LOT from carrying his Stradivarius valued at about $5m (£4.1m) as hand luggage, forcing him to travel by bus for eight hours. He had to check the instrument into hold or abandon boarding, and ultimately took a bus home from Vilnius to Konin after the incident in February; LOT later apologised and refunded his flight.
mirror.co.uk
Janusz Wawrowski from Konin, Poland, was stopped from bringing his original Stradivarius violin onto a LOT Polish Airlines flight at Vilnius International Airport. He chose to travel by bus for about eight hours after the airline refused boarding with the instrument, which was valued at over £4.15 million.
eso.co.uk
The page discusses Philip Sawyers’s works Double Concerto for Violin and Cello, Viola Concerto, Remembrance for Strings, Octet performed by Daniel Rowland (violin), Maja Bogdanović (cello), English Symphony Orchestra with Zoë Beyers and Emily Davis as leaders, released by Nimbus in collaboration with ESO.
economictimes.indiatimes.com
The article discusses the 1731 Guarneri del Gesù violin known as the Baltic, up for auction in New York as part of Tarisio's March edition, with presale estimates around $10 million and potential to reach higher. It notes the instrument's provenance, name origin from the Baltic family von Giese, and references to experts from Tarisio and Bloomberg about its rarity and auction records for Guarneri violins.
theviolinchannel.com
Nikki Chooi, a VC Artist, has been named the newest member of Thomastik-Infeld's Artist Family. The article highlights Chooi's role as a violin soloist, concertmaster, and educator, and quotes his enthusiasm for the Thomastik-Infeld strings, including the Dynamo sets.