{"id":36438,"date":"2023-12-08T14:49:33","date_gmt":"2023-12-08T13:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/5f1b10f9-8cad-44f4-801b-0782d0afeb55"},"modified":"2023-12-08T15:40:00","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T14:40:00","slug":"stradivarius-owners-which-performers-currently-own-stradivarius-violins-and-how-much-are-they-worth","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/stradivarius-owners-which-performers-currently-own-stradivarius-violins-and-how-much-are-they-worth\/","title":{"rendered":"Stradivarius owners: which performers currently own Stradivarius violins and how much are they worth?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Freya Parr\n <\/p>

Published: Friday, 08 December 2023 at 13:49 PM<\/p>

\n\n

‘Stradivarius’ violins, as created by the much-renowned 17th- and 18th-century luthier Antonio Stradivari, are among the most prized and valuable violins ever made. But who are today’s Stradivarius owners?<\/p>

And just how much do these revered instruments fetch on today’s market? Here are ten hallowed Stradivari instruments, along with their current owners and market value. <\/p>

Most valuable Stradivarius violins<\/h2>

1727 Kreutzer Stradivarius<\/h3>
Named after previous owner Rodolphe Kreutzer \u2013 for whom Beethoven<\/a><\/strong> dedicated his Violin Sonata No. 9 \u2013 the Kreutzer Strad was designed in 1727 and is one of four Stradivarius violins<\/a><\/strong> with the name ‘Kreutzer’.<\/p>
Current owner: <\/strong>Violinist Maxim Vengerov is one of the world’s most fortunate Stradivarius owners: he is the proud owner of the ‘Kreutzer’.<\/p>
Last sold for: <\/strong>$1.5 million in 1998<\/p>
<\/div><\/figure><div class=\"is-layout-flow is-layout-flow wp-block-group highlight-box\"><div class=\"wp-block-groupinner-container\"><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/violinists-who-turned-their-hand-to-conducting\/\">Violinists who turned their hand to conducting<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/20-greatest-violinists-ever\/\">20 greatest violinists of all time<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/best-violin-music\/\">What are the best pieces of violin music?<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/violin-facts-and-invention\/\">The violin: when it was invented, who made them and how it has changed throughout history<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><h3 id=\"h-1714-dolphin-stradivarius\"><strong>1714 Dolphin Stradivarius<\/strong><\/h3><p>The ‘Dolphin’ Strad is so called because of the striking appearance of its dolphin shape and shimmering colour on its back. It is currently owned by the Nippon Music Foundation in Japan, which owns a raft of Stradivari instruments.<\/p><p><strong>Current owner: <\/strong>Nippon Music Foundation, on loan to Japanese violinist Akiko Suwanai<\/p><p><strong>Last sold for: <\/strong>An unknown sum in 2000<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embedwrapper\"><iframe title=\"Akiko Suwanai - Prokofiev - Violin Concerto No 1 in D major, Op 19 (LIVE)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jvp2lUzxbBM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><h3 id=\"h-1721-lady-blunt-stradivarius\">1721 Lady Blunt Stradivarius<\/h3><p>The Lady Blunt is believed to be one of the two best preserved Strads still in circulation, the other being the Messiah Stradivarius of 1716. (The latter features in our list of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/instruments\/most-expensive-instruments\">most expensive musical instruments<\/a><\/strong>). Named after Lady Anne Blunt, granddaughter of Lord Byron, the violin has remained in such good condition as a result of having very rarely been played and has mostly stayed in the possession of collectors. <\/p><ul><li><strong><a class=\"standard-card-newarticle-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/the-greatest-violin-concertos-of-all-time\/\">The greatest violin concertos of all time<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/yehudi-menuhins-finest-moments\">Yehudi Menuhin<\/a><\/strong> is one of the few violinists to have ever played it, having been called on to demonstrate its quality when it was up for auction at Sotheby’s in 1971. It sold for \u00a384,000 at the time but has skyrocketed in value, selling again in 2011 for \u00a39.8 million, when the Nippon Music Foundation sold it to raise funds for victims of natural disasters in Japan. <\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/yehudi-menuhins-finest-moments\/\">Yehudi Menuhin’s finest moments…<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><p><strong>Current owner: <\/strong>Unknown<\/p><p><strong>Last sold for: <\/strong>\u00a39.8 million in 2011<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embedwrapper\"><iframe title=\"The 'Lady Blunt' Stradivarius of 1721\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iiA5wYiB1ZU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><h3 id=\"h-1715-ex-marsick-stradivarius\">1715 Ex-Marsick Stradivarius<\/h3><p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/recordings\/six-of-the-best-recordings-by-violinist-james-ehnes\">James Ehnes<\/a><\/strong>‘s violin is often confused with the 1705 Marsick Stradivarius played \u2013 and adored \u2013 by the great David Oistrakh (who finished very high in our list of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/20-greatest-violinists-ever\">greatest violinists of all time<\/a><\/strong>) between 1966 and 1974. Both were played by the turn-of-the-20th-century Belgian virtuoso Martin Pierre Marsick, one of the more prominent Stradivarius owners in history. <\/p><p>\u2018I find that it pushes me every day to be a little bit more expressive and my technique a little bit cleaner,\u2019 Ehnes told <em>BBC Music Magazine.<\/em> \u2018But it\u2019s not an instrument that particularly rewards any sort of antiseptic play. I mean, I think that it has in it all the depth of body and grit that one might look for.’<\/p><p><strong>Current owner: <\/strong>Fulton Collection, on loan to Canadian violinist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/recordings\/six-of-the-best-recordings-by-violinist-james-ehnes\/\"><strong>James Ehnes<\/strong><\/a><\/p><p><strong>Last sold for: <\/strong>Unknown<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embedwrapper\"><iframe title=\"James Ehnes - Bach Violin Sonata No. 1\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WIAHt8qT4iU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><h3 id=\"h-1721-red-mendelssohn-stradivarius\"><strong>1721 ‘Red Mendelssohn’ <\/strong><strong>Stradivarius<\/strong><\/h3><p>The \u2018Red Mendelssohn\u2019 is said to have inspired the 1998 film <em>The Red Violin<\/em>, which tells the semi-fictional story of a violin made in Cremona in the 17th century and follows its various owners along the way. The real violin was linked to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/felix-mendelssohn\/\">Felix Mendelssohn<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s family. The heir of a wealthy American industrial family acquired the violin in 1990, before passing it down to his then 16-year-old granddaughter Elizabeth Pitcairn, who still owns it today.<\/p><p><strong>Current owner:<\/strong> Elizabeth Pitcairn<\/p><p><strong>Last sold for: <\/strong>$1.7 million in 1990<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embedwrapper\"><iframe title=\"Elizabeth Pitcairn plays The Red Violin Suite (J. Corigliano)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2K5q89S_ELg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><h3 id=\"h-1734-hercules-stradivarius\"><strong>1734 ‘Hercules’ Stradivarius <\/strong><\/h3><p>Belgian violinist <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/eugene-ysaye\">Eug\u00e8ne Ysa\u00ffe<\/a><\/strong> was spoilt for choice with both a Guarneri and a Strad to his name. Preferring the Guarneri for performances, he would often leave the Strad in its case while on stage. As a result, his \u2018Hercules\u2019 was stolen in 1908 from the Imperial Theatre in St Petersburg. <\/p><p>It was rediscovered years later at a Parisian dealer\u2019s shop. In 1972, Henryk Szeryng gifted the violin to the city of Jerusalem to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel. It is now used by concertmasters of the Israel Philharmonic.<\/p><p><strong>Current owner: <\/strong>City of Jerusalem<\/p><p><strong>Last sold for: <\/strong>Unknown<\/p><h3 id=\"h-1713-gibson-ex-huberman-stradivarius\"><strong>1713 Gibson ex-Huberman Stradivarius<\/strong><\/h3><p>Polish violinist Bronis\u0142aw Huberman owned this violin in the early 20th century before it was stolen from him \u2013 twice. In 1919, it was taken from his Vienna hotel room but returned several days later, and it later went missing again from his dressing room in 1936 as he was performing on stage with his new Guarneri. It was lost for nearly half a century, before an amateur violinist confessed on his deathbed that he had bought the stolen violin for $100.<\/p><p><strong>Current owner: <\/strong>American violinist <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/who-is-joshua-bell\">Joshua Bell<\/a><\/strong> is another in our list of proud Stradivarius owners, having acquired Huberman’s instrument.<\/p><p><strong>Last sold for: <\/strong>$4 million in 2001<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embedwrapper\"><iframe title=\"Joshua Bell's twice stolen Stradivarius violin is still hot\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/r5aLHuk0PUU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><h3 id=\"h-1714-soil-stradivarius\"><strong>1714 Soil Stradivarius<\/strong><\/h3><p>Considered one of Stradivari\u2019s finest violins, the \u2018Soil\u2019 (named after a Belgian industrialist) was played by Yehudi Menuhin for the best part of his career before being sold to Itzhak Perlman, who has favoured instruments of Menuhin\u2019s previously.<\/p><p><strong>Current owner:<\/strong> Violinist Itzhak Perlman<\/p><p><strong>Last sold for: <\/strong>\u00a3400,000 in 1986<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embedwrapper\"><iframe title=\"John Williams: Schindler\u00b4s List Theme - Itzhak Perlman\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cLgJQ8Zj3AA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><h3 id=\"h-1715-lipinski-stradivarius\"><strong>1715 Lipinski Stradivarius<\/strong><\/h3><p>Made during the peak of Antonio Stradivari\u2019s \u2018golden period\u2019, the Lipinski is best known because of its first owner Giuseppe Tartini, who wrote his infamous \u2018Devil\u2019s Trill\u2019 Sonata to utilise the forces of this superb instrument. It\u2019s currently played by Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra\u2019s concertmaster Frank Almond, from whom it was stolen during an armed robbery after a concert in 2014.<\/p><p><strong>Current owner: <\/strong>Anschuetz family, on loan to Frank Almond<\/p><p><strong>Last sold for:<\/strong> $19,000 in 1962<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe title=\"The Devil's Trill Sonata - Giuseppe Tartini (TCD.tv)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Wii_AGJc3SE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><h3 id=\"h-1734-willemotte-stradivarius\">1734 Willemotte Stradivarius<\/h3><p>The 1734 Strad is named after the 19th-century collector Charles Willemotte of Antwerp, who owned 20 Stradivarius instruments throughout his life.<\/p><p><strong>Current owner: <\/strong>Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos<\/p><p><strong>Last sold for: <\/strong>An unknown sum in 2017<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embedwrapper\"><iframe title=\"Leonidas Kavakos a jeho stradiv\u00e1rky "Willemotte" z roku 1734\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vkiocp4noA8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><div class=\"is-layout-flow is-layout-flow wp-block-group highlight-box\"><div class=\"wp-block-groupinner-container\"><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/what-difference-between-violin-and-viola\/\">What is the difference between a violin and a viola?<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/six-best-viola-players\/\">Six of the best… viola players<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/five-famous-people-who-played-the-violin-and-one-who-didnt\/\">Five famous people who played the violin…and one who didn’t<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/recordings\/best-recordings-tchaikovskys-violin-concerto\/\">The best recordings of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/news\/stolen-12m-stradivarius-found-after-three-year-search\/\">Stolen \u00a31.2m Stradivarius found after three year search<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Freya Parr Published: Friday, 08 December 2023 at 13:49 PM ‘Stradivarius’ violins, as created by the much-renowned 17th- and 18th-century luthier Antonio Stradivari, are among the most prized and valuable violins ever made. But who are today’s Stradivarius owners? And just how much do these revered instruments fetch on today’s market? Here are ten […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":36439,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/12\/stradivarius-owners-which-performers-currently-own-stradivarius-violins-and-how-much-are-they-worth.jpg",1417,1475,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/12\/stradivarius-owners-which-performers-currently-own-stradivarius-violins-and-how-much-are-they-worth-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/12\/stradivarius-owners-which-performers-currently-own-stradivarius-violins-and-how-much-are-they-worth-288x300.jpg",288,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/12\/stradivarius-owners-which-performers-currently-own-stradivarius-violins-and-how-much-are-they-worth-768x799.jpg",768,799,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/12\/stradivarius-owners-which-performers-currently-own-stradivarius-violins-and-how-much-are-they-worth-984x1024.jpg",800,833,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/12\/stradivarius-owners-which-performers-currently-own-stradivarius-violins-and-how-much-are-they-worth.jpg",1417,1475,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/12\/stradivarius-owners-which-performers-currently-own-stradivarius-violins-and-how-much-are-they-worth.jpg",1417,1475,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Freya Parr Published: Friday, 08 December 2023 at 13:49 PM ‘Stradivarius’ violins, as created by the much-renowned 17th- and 18th-century luthier Antonio Stradivari, are among the most prized and valuable violins ever made. But who are today’s Stradivarius owners? And just how much do these revered instruments fetch on today’s market? Here are ten…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/36438"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}