Antonio Stradivarius

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Portrait of Antonio Stradivari
Stradivarius in his workshop

Antonio Giacomo Stradivari (also Latinized Antonius Stradivarius ; * around 1644 or, according to more recent research, 1648 , the place of birth is unknown; † December 18, 1737 in Cremona ) was an Italian master violin maker and guitar maker who, like his colleague Guarneri del Gesù, is based in Cremona was. He is considered by many to be the best violin maker in history. His violins are the most valuable stringed instruments currently on the market and some of them are sold for many millions of euros .

Life

Antonio Stradivari was probably born in Cremona, Italy, in 1644. It is not certain when and where he learned his trade, but his earliest work already shows his great talent. Some believe that he was a student of Nicola Amati , the grandson of the great violin maker Andrea Amati . This is justified by the wording of the label of the earliest known Stradivari violin: "Made by Antonio Stradivari from Cremona, pupil of Nicolo Amati, 1666". However, this is also the only (surviving) violin sheet on which he describes himself as a student of Nicolo Amati. It may have been forbidden to him by Nicolo Amati (1596–1684), who was still alive at the time.

Other theories suggest that Stradivarius may have learned the trade of carpenter before he became a violin maker, which would explain the exquisite workmanship of his ornate instruments in particular. Census records show that he lived in the 'Casa nuziale' from 1667 to 1680, a house that belonged to the woodcarver and cabinet maker Francesco Pescaroli. Stradivari married Signora Francesca Feraboschi in 1667 and spent the next 13 years in the 'Casa nuziale'. Over the course of eight years, the violin maker and his wife had six children. In 1680 he bought a house in Piazza San Domenico, near the Amati and Ruggieri workshops . Tradition has it that there he made his most famous violins in the attic and experimented with tone and design.

Stradivari's work is usually divided into three (to four) periods according to the standard work of the Hill brothers. The first, until around 1680, is called "Amatise" because his instruments are very similar to those of Nicolo Amati. In the second period, up to around 1700, he experimented with a slightly longer model, hence the name long pattern . From 1700 his so-called "golden period" followed, occasionally limited to 1720/1725, followed by the late phase until his death in 1737. However, these are only rough classifications and not every instrument from a certain “period” fits this classification. A special example from the transition period from the Amatise to the Long-pattern period is the "Hellier" violin from 1679. It is one of the few (ten in all) decorated instruments and one of the largest instruments in terms of dimensions. the Stradivarius built. In the 1680s, Stradivari broke away from the Amati model and looked for his own model (it is also speculated that he got to know instruments from Brescia by Gasparo da Salò and Maggini and emulated their tone). Although he still used the basic structure of Amati, he also built modifications and experimented with different wood thicknesses and various paints. The f-holes became longer and steeper, and he often provided the instruments with a stronger screw (the Hills call them "more masculine").

His two sons Francesco (1671–1743) and Omobono (1679–1742) joined the family business around 1698, but before 1725 there are no traces of their involvement with Antonio's instruments.

The "Messiah" in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

During its heyday, he created violins whose resonance bodies are still unsurpassed today. The design was in a unique deep red lacquer, with a black border, wide borders and wide corners. His most famous violins, which he made from 1700 to 1725, include the “Lipinski” from 1715 and the “Messias” from 1716. He never sold or gave away the “Messias” and they remained his property until his death. After he was 80, his work seems to have become a little less flawless than that of the golden years; however, he practiced his craft until his death in 1737 and in 1733 built the "Khevenhüller".

The instruments judged by posterity to be his best he built between 1700 and 1725. Instruments signed after 1730 may have been made by his sons Omobono and Francesco. It is estimated that Stradivarius built around 1100 violins , violas , cellos , some guitars and a harp . There are only about 60 cellos left today, and it is estimated that 650 instruments have survived.

Memorial stone for Stradivarius in the Piazza Roma in Cremona

Antonio Stradivari died on December 18, 1737 in Cremona and was buried in the Basilica di San Domenico . When the church was demolished in 1868, his tombstone was saved from destruction. A copy is now in the Piazza Roma in Cremona, the original in the Museo del Violino.

After his two violin-making sons died, Carlo Bergonzi took over his workshop. A large number of Stradivari's tools, models and work templates have been preserved to this day and can be viewed in the Museo del Violino in Cremona.

Value of the instruments

Stradivari's instruments have been very popular since around 1800 and fetch top prices for sales. Since then, many replicas of his instruments have been made and given his name. Good replicas are difficult to identify, even for experts. Unmasking is easier with simpler copies. The Stradivarius nimbus has also led to unrealistic ideas about the supposedly unsurpassable sound of these instruments.

Lovers pay extreme prices for verifiably original Stradivarius instruments: In 1998, at an auction at Christie's in London, the " Kreutzer " sold 947,500 pounds sterling (around 1.5 million euros). The "Lady Tennant" auctioned by Christie's in New York achieved another record price in April 2005: an unknown bidder paid 1.53 million euros. On May 16, 2006, this price record was once again eclipsed when Christie's in New York auctioned the Stradivarius with the name "Hammer" for 3.544 million US dollars (around 2.7 million euros). The " Lady Blunt " auctioned by the Tarisio auction house in London in June 2011 achieved the highest price to date : an unknown bidder paid 9.8 million pounds sterling (around 11 million euros) at the internet auction .

The enormous price development now feeds an "instrument speculation" in which not only dealers but also banks and private investors participate. The Stradivari dealer Dietmar Machold , a heavyweight in the industry, became a fraud. In the bankruptcy proceedings in 2012, claims from creditors accumulated over around 100 million euros.

Many Stradivarius instruments are still in use. However, many highly talented artists do not have the means to purchase such an instrument themselves. Some of them benefit from a patron who lends them their instrument, sometimes even for life. Numerous institutions endeavor to buy Stradivarius and other valuable instruments and to make them available to outstanding musicians for a limited time so that they can benefit them and the audience (see the information on awards in the list of instruments ). The support of foundations or other sponsors has made it possible for some string quartets and string trios to even play exclusively on Stradivarius instruments. These include the Tokyo String Quartet (1995 to 2013), the Hagen Quartet (2013 to 2017), the Stradivari Quartet (2007 to 2017) and currently (2019) the Goldmund Quartet , the Trio Oreade and the Trio Zimmermann . Some associations have made it their business to motivate owners to lend their instruments to artists as patrons. The Stradivari Society is the best known example of this type of mediation.

Sound of the instruments

Characteristic

The second violin from the "Cuarteto Real" in the Palacio Real , Madrid (built around 1689)
Instruments by Stradivari in the National Music Museum, Vermillion (South Dakota) , USA: a mandolin with an original case, a guitar from 1700, a violin

Stradivari's violins in particular are highly valued and sought-after not only by collectors but also by musicians. Their playing is often described as "very lively", they "flicker", the sound "moves like candlelight". Another special feature of a Stradivarius is that it plays extremely well in the range between 2000 and 4000 Hertz, the sound range in which the human ear is most sensitive. As a result, even a very soft note in a large concert hall can be heard from afar when it is played on a Stradivarius.

Research and theories on sound quality

Various studies have been carried out to understand the sound properties of Stradivari's instruments and various theories have been developed. Investigations into the wood of the Stradivarius instruments show that an acoustically unusually good material was available. For example, the Munich Geigenbaumeister and physicists showed Martin Schleske in 2002 that the spruce one manufactured by Stradivari ceiling of a cello a density m³ comprising of only 390 kg / what should have a favorable effect on the sound quality of the instrument. The density of "normal" spruce wood fluctuates around 450 kg / m³. According to a theory that was rumored in 2005, the special climatic conditions in Europe during the so-called " Little Ice Age " (16th - 18th centuries) were responsible for the fact that low-density wood qualities that no longer exist today could be used to make instruments. The lower average temperatures led to changed tree growth with a smaller annual ring spacing and a reduced proportion of latewood (dark annual ring). The less latewood that is formed per annual ring, the lower the density. In 2008, Berend Stoel of the University of Leiden and violin maker Terry Borman brought the theory of the "Little Ice Age" back into play with reference to the uniformity of density. They examined five old violins from Cremona and seven modern violins in the computer tomograph and found that the wood density of the old violins was more even than that of the modern instruments.

But the special sound of Stradivarius violins cannot only be due to the wood, as this was also available to other violin makers of the time. It cannot be due to the extremely long drying time of the wood: the time difference between the cutting of the wood, which can be dated with the help of dendrochronology , and the year of manufacture noted on the violin label was only about 20 years or less. Investigations of the primer and paint with the scanning electron microscope reveal an unusually high proportion and a large layer thickness of mineral substances.

Joseph Nagyvary, who taught biochemistry and biophysics at Texas A&M University , published the theory in 2001 that Stradivarius treated the wood with borax to protect it from woodworms and inadvertently improved the sound. Nagyvary has focused on chemical wood treatment for years, although it is extremely difficult to obtain appropriate research material. Finally, Nagyvary got hold of some small wood shavings that had been made during repairs. In 2006 he was able to publish his first findings about the treatment of the wood of a Stradivari violin, a Stradivari cello and a Guarneri violin. In 2009 he announced that in addition to borax, the wood of these instruments also contains fluoride, chromium and iron salts, which are not found in untreated woods. His company Nagyvary Violins tries to build violins that match the sound profile of Stradivarius and Guarneri violins as closely as possible.

In 2005, the Swiss materials engineer Melanie Spycher, who works for EMPA , examined the possible influence of mold on sound. She tried to process modern instrument wood using special wood-decomposing mushrooms so that it had comparable sound properties.

The physicist Heinrich Dünnwald , who carried out sound analyzes on more than 1000 violins together with the violin maker Stefan-Peter Greiner , found that the spectrum of Stradivarius violins is very similar to the vowel e or i of the human voice, which makes their sound pleasant and is felt to be familiar. Other violins often have a spectrum like ö and ü that sounds rather thin or nasal. However, according to Dünnwald, the wood does not play a decisive role, and neither does the lacquer, as it is extremely thin. The sound of ordinary violins can be improved in the direction of Stradivari by adding a small weight of less than 1/10 gram in a special place. In the television program W wie Wissen, Dünnwald stuck a lump of modeling clay in the middle of the edge of the footbridge as a hint, although he did not want to reveal the exact location as a company secret. On the basis of joint sound research with Dünnwald, Greiner made copies of Stradivarius violins for musicians - each a “Stradivarius on demand”, an instrument “that is in no way inferior to the old master violins, neither in sound nor in appearance”.

Martin Schleske used computer programs specially developed by him for vibration analysis to measure the acoustic behavior of old master violins in detail. His database with the “acoustic fingerprints” of old master instruments includes around 90 instruments (as of 2018). He also makes "sound copies" - musical instruments that are supposed to correspond as closely as possible to individual reference instruments by Stradivari or Guarneri, not only visually, but also acoustically. Schleske is convinced that the special sound of Stradivarius instruments is not based on a single secret, but above all on precise observation and meticulous craftsmanship, which Stradivarius apparently mastered. The old Italian masters were artists and at the same time “empirical scientists” and developers who continued to improve musical instruments by constantly applying the principle of “trial and error”.

Hearing tests with blind comparisons

In the television program The Secret of the Stradivari (2005 Arte France & Associés), a blind hearing test was carried out at the Chair of Musical Acoustics at the University of Paris Pierre and Marie Curie with four different violins played by two violinists. This showed that not every listener rated the Stradivarius as the most emotionally moving instrument, as expected, but instead thought that a certain modern violin was the Stradivarius. The makers of the show thus cast doubt on the often-voiced claim to absoluteness that Stradivarias are basically the violins with the best or even the "perfect" sound.

A team led by Claudia Fritz, who works as a sound researcher at the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris, has carried out further tests of this type. The results also suggest that Stradivarius violins sound very good, but are not fundamentally superior to modern violins. In a series of blind tests carried out in September 2012, ten violin virtuosos had to decide which of twelve violins (six old Italian masterpieces, five of which were Stradivarias, and six modern instruments) suited them best. The ten musicians were unable to tell whether it was an old or a modern instrument (hit rate at random level). Six of them opted for a modern violin. The modern violins were rated higher on average with regard to criteria such as playability and sound. The results were published in April 2014. According to a publication in 2017, further blind tests in concert halls - once with 55 particularly knowledgeable listeners in Paris, once with around 80 listeners in New York - led to the same result: the audience preferred modern violins.

Experts in musical instrument science criticize the results from Claudia Fritz et al. performed blind tests for various reasons. They object that all Stradivaris that can still be played today have been modified several times and adapted to more modern sound concepts. This is why a Stradivarius sounds different today than it did when the instrument left the Stradivarius workshop. It should also be noted that Stradivarius instruments differ significantly in their sound quality and characteristics - there is no uniform, consistently optimal Stradivarius sound. However, the authors did not state which instruments were used in the tests. Furthermore, the individual instruments are not equally suitable for all musical epochs and equally suitable for chamber music and violin concertos, but in the listening tests of the study from 2017 only passages from three violin concertos of the late Romantic period were played (by Brahms , Tchaikovsky and Sibelius ). You couldn't just take any Stradivarius and immediately get the best sound out - even the best virtuosos needed some getting used to. After all, the instrument is only one of several factors that determine the sound experience, and not the most important. In fact, the room acoustics and the prior knowledge and expectations of the audience also play a major role. A blind test is nonsensical as the very knowledge that it is a Stradivarius can significantly increase the enjoyment of the sound.

Stradivarius instruments

Violins

The list below contains a selection of 180 Stradivarius violins . This is only a selection of the approx. 620 existing violins by Stradivari.

Surname Construction year owner Remarks
Aranyi circa 1666
Amatese 1668
Clisbee 1669 Exhibited in the Museo del Violino, Cremona
La Tullaye circa 1670 L bench
ex Oistrach 1671 Glinka Museum for Musical Culture , Moscow (since 2004) Belonged to David Oistrach . Stolen in May 1996 and recovered in 2001.
Ole Bull 1677 Smithsonian Institution Part of the "Axelrod Quartet" in the National Museum of American History in Washington. The Axelrod Quartet consists of four ornate Stradivarius instruments. The decorative ornamentation of the two violins and the viola comes from Stradivari, while the “Marylebone” cello from 1688 was later added by the collector Herbert Axelrod.
Saville circa 1680
Paganini-Desaint
(part of the " Paganini Quartet ") 		1680 Nippon Music Foundation

Lent to:

Fleming 1681
Books 1683
Cipriani Potter 1683 Part of the Hill Collection in the Ashmolean Museum , Oxford
Cobbett 1683 Higgin Kim Awarded through the Stradivari Society
Martinelli ex Gingold 1683 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis (since 1998) The Martinelli Gingold is awarded to the winner of the Indianapolis competition for four years, e.g. B. 2006 Augustin Hadelich , 2010 Clara-Jumi Kang , 2014 Jinjoo Cho
de Ahna 1683 Belonged to Saschko Gawriloff until 1996 , then to Machold Rare Violins until 1998 . 1998–2003 owned by the instrument collector Herbert R. Axelrod. Was sold in 2003.
Croall 1684 ex WestLB Probably made by order of the English king, the violin came into the possession of the Countess of Seafield in the 19th century, who sold it to William Croall of Edinburgh in 1884/1885. Frederic Smith bought the instrument in 1906, and in 1998 it came to WestLB through a Swiss dealer. The violin was initially loaned to Frank Peter Zimmermann and, after the WestLB music competition, from 2006 to 2008 to Alexander Gilman . Suyoen Kim has been playing the instrument since 2010 .
Arma Senkrah circa 1685 Built between 1683 and 1685 according to Jost Thöne
MacKenzie ex Castelbarco 1685
Golden Bell 1686 Swiss private property Awarded to Simone Zgraggen
Spanish Stradivarius I
(part of the Cuarteto Real) 		circa 1689 Patrimonio Nacional, Palacio Real, Madrid, Spain According to experts, it was built between 1687 and 1696. According to violin notes, built in 1709.
Spanish Stradivari II
(part of the Cuarteto Real) 		circa 1689 Patrimonio Nacional, Palacio Real, Madrid, Spain According to experts, it was built between 1687 and 1696. According to violin notes, built in 1709.
Arditi 1689 Dextra Musica Elise Båtnes, concertmaster of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Baumgartner 1689
Leopold Auer 1690 Anonymous Named after Leopold von Auer . Awarded to Vadim Gluzman through the agency of the Stradivari Society .
Bennett 1692 Winterthur Insurance Awarded to Hanna Weinmeister
Falmouth 1692 Leonidas Kavakos
Baillot-Pomerau 1694
Fetzer 1694
Rutson 1694 Royal Academy of Music , London
1697 This violin, on which Paganini is said to have played, was awarded to Edvin Marton for an indefinite period after winning a competition in Canada . At the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 he accompanied the eventual winner Dima Bilan with her .
L'Alouette (or The Lark), Ferdinand David 1698 1849–1872 owned by Ferdinand David
Cabriac 1698
Baron Knoop 1698
La Rouse Boughton around 1698 National Bank of Austria Awarded to Boris Kuschnir since 1991
Vera 1698 Swiss private property
Kustendyke 1699 Royal Academy of Music, London
Lady Tennant 1699 Anonymous Sold at Christie's New York auction on April 22, 2005 for $ 2.032 million.
Awarded through the Stradivari Society.
Longuet 1699
Countess Polignac 1699 Gil Shaham
Castelbarco 1699 Library of Congress , Washington
Cristiani 1700 Alexander Scriba
Taft ex Emil Heermann 1700
Ward 1700 Library of Congress, Washington
Dushkin 1701
Brodsky 1702 Adolf Brodsky (Warsaw); Hamma & Co. (Stuttgart); E. Bernhard (Ravel) 1930; Harry Wahl (Vyborg, Finland) 1930–40; Emil Herrmann 1947; Alexander Schneider 1947-56; Isidore Cohen 1956-2005; anonymous 2006 Named after Adolph Brodsky , who played this violin on December 4, 1881 at the world premiere of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in Vienna. Has been played by Kirill Troussov since 2006 , before that by Adolf Brodsky , Alexander Schneider and Isidore Cohen .
The Irish Stradivarius 1702 OKO Bank , Finland Awarded to Réka Szilvay
Conte de Fontana, Peterlongo, Oistrach 1702 Oistrach played the instrument for about eight years from around 1953
King Maximilian Joseph around 1702
Lyall 1702
Lord Newlands 1702 Nippon Music Foundation Named after its former owner, Lord Newlands (1890–1929). Was temporarily played by Isaac Stern .

Lent to:

1703 Federal Republic of Germany Musical Instrument Museum Berlin
Dancla 1703 L bench Awarded to Linus Roth
Montbel 1703 L bench
Allegretti 1703 Karl-Martin Bensch
Alsager 1703
Emiliani 1703 Anne-Sophie mother Especially heard on the recordings with Karajan
Lady Harmsworth 1703 Anonymous Awarded through the Stradivari Society
1703 Federal Republic of Germany Is awarded by the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben for a limited period, e.g. B. 2013 to Tobias Feldmann
Sleeping Beauty 1704 L bench The violin is also known as the Sleeping Beauty Stradivarius and is played by Isabelle Faust
Betts 1704 Library of Congress, Washington
(since 1936) 		A copy of this instrument was made by machine in 2011
Liebig ex Schneiderhan 1704 Awarded to Julian Rachlin
Marsick ex Oistrach 1705 Named after Martin Marsick , to distinguish it from Marsick (1715) also with the addition ex- Oistrach . Oistrakh exchanged his Fontana (1702) for this violin.
Dragonetti 1706 Nippon Music Foundation Once acquired by WestLB for Frank Peter Zimmermann , who now plays "Lady Inchiquin"

Lent to:

Rivaz, Baron Gutmann 1707 Dextra Musica, a foundation of the Norwegian bank DNB Awarded to Janine Jansen for ten years since 2016
Breasts 1707 National Bank of Austria Awarded to Benjamin Schmid until 2006, then to David Frühwirth
Prihoda 1707 Luz Leskowitz
La Cathédrale 1707 Formerly awarded to Nigel Kennedy
hammer 1707 Named after the first documented owner, the Swedish court jeweler and collector Christian Hammer, who bought the violin in the 19th century. At a Christie's auction in New York on May 16, 2006, the instrument sold for US $ 3.544 million.
Castelbarco 1707 Only the bottom is from Stradivarius; the ceiling is attributed to Nicolas Lupot ; The sides and scroll are Italian works from the 18th century; the scroll may have been made by Matteo Goffriller
Burstein Bagshawe 1708
Huggins 1708 Nippon Music Foundation Lent to:
regent 1708 Royal Academy of Music , London (since 2000) Was awarded to Tasmin Little from 2000 to 2013
Ruby 1708 Anonymous Awarded through the Stradivari Society. a. on
Ostrich 1708 Samsung Foundation of Culture Awarded through the Stradivari Society
Cremona 1709 Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben (trustee submission from Hamburg family property) Awarded to Albrecht Menzel since 2012
Hämmerle 1709 National Bank of Austria Played by Gerhart Hetzel , Werner Hink , Albena Danailova
serious 1709
Engleman 1709 Nippon Music Foundation Lent to:
Greffuhle 1709 Smithsonian Institution Part of the "Axelrod Quartet" in the National Museum of American History in Washington. The Axelrod Quartet consists of four ornate Stradivarius instruments. The decorative ornamentation of the two violins and the viola comes from Stradivari. The collector Herbert Axelrod had them added to the cello “Marylebone” from 1688.
Princess Aurora 1709 Goh Family Foundation Awarded to Yury Revich on April 29, 2016 at the Wiener Musikverein
Nachez 1709 Tivador Nachèz (until 1900), e.g. Currently the Costa family, Genoa Renewed by Stradivarius in 1719 after being damaged. Played by Tivador Nachèz , awarded to Elisabetta Garetti .
King Maximilian; Unico 1709 Owned by the Axel Springer Foundation from 1966 to 1992 and loaned to Michel Schwalbé during the same period , then sold for 2.5 million German marks. Reported stolen in 1999.
Viotti ex Bruce 1709 Royal Academy of Music, London Named after Viotti . Viotti also owned another Stradivarius from 1709: the Viotti ex Marie Hall.
Viotti ex Marie Hall 1709 Chi-Mei Culture Foundation, Taiwan Is named after Viotti , although it was probably only owned for a short time. Was played by Marie Hall from 1905 to 1956 . Fetched the record price of £ 473,000 at a Sotheby’s auction in 1988 . 1991 resale to the Chi-Mei Culture Foundation. Since then it has been in the Chimei Museum in Taiwan. Lent to:
  • April 2006 - October 2006 Yue-Yen Li
Duc de Camposelice 1710 Nippon Music Foundation Formerly owned and played by Váša Příhoda , on loan to Josef Suk from the Czech State.

Lent to:

Leslie, Tate 1710 Anonymous patron Awarded to Susanna Yoko Henkel
Lord Dunn Raven 1710 Anne-Sophie mother Mother's favorite Stradivarius

Built over the master's most sweeping form. The instrument is the “twin sister” of the “Dancla-Milstein” 1710 (model, design & choice of wood; split upward flamed base).

Dancla-Milstein 1710 One of the two ex-Milsteins. In terms of sound, however, he preferred his “Goldman, Maria Theresia” from 1716.
Roederer 1710 Played by David Grimal
Vieuxtemps 1710
King George 1710 Habisreutinger Stradivari Foundation Awarded to Yukiko Ishibashi ( Trio Oreade )
Lady Inchiquin 1711 North Rhine-Westphalia Formerly played by Fritz Kreisler . The violin was sold to a Miss Foster by the London dealer Hill in 1889. In 1949 it was owned by Lady Inchiquin in Ireland. Then it came to America and in the 1960s to the Hong Kong collector CM Sin. In 1978 Sin sold the instrument through the Chicago dealer Bein & Fushi to Walter Scholefield, violinist with the Berlin Philharmonic. WestLB acquired the instrument in 2002 and made it available to Frank Peter Zimmermann . As part of the liquidation of WestLB, he had to hand it over to the service company Portigon in 2015, which was to sell it. Due to a repurchase of cultural goods by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in July 2016, Zimmermann was later able to be furnished with the Lady Inchiquin again.
Liegnitz 1711
Boissier 1712
Gibson ex Huberman 1713 Joshua Bell Was Bronisław Huberman stolen twice. 1988–2001 owned by Norbert Brainin . Was acquired by Joshua Bell in 2001.
Sancy 1713 Ivry Gitlis Ivry Gitlis has played the Sancy for more than 60 years
Dolphin 1714 Nippon Music Foundation Awarded to Akiko Suwanai since August 2000
Soil 1714 Itzhak Perlman Before Perlman came into possession of the violin, it was part of Yehudi Menuhin's instruments
Berou ex Thibaud 1714
Le Maurien 1714 Stolen April 9, 2002, missing since then
Leonora Jackson 1714
Smith-Quersin 1714 National Bank of Austria
Joachim 1715 Nippon Music Foundation Lent to:
Lipinski 1715 Anonymous owner in Milwaukee Named after the Polish violinist Karol Lipiński . Since 1962 in the possession of various members of the Anschuetz family (among others Evi Liivak played on it), since 2008 the owner is not known by name. The Lipinski is awarded to the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and is played by concertmaster Frank Almond. On January 27, 2014, Almond was attacked with a taser after a concert in a college in Milwaukee and the violin was stolen. The perpetrators were caught on February 3, 2014 and the Stradivarius was seized soon after.
Cremonese 1715 Exhibited in the Museo del Violino, Cremona
Titian 1715
Alard 1715
Bazzini 1715
Marsick 1715 Fulton Collection Named after Martin Marsick . Awarded to James Ehnes .
Aurea 1715 Habisreutinger Stradivari Foundation Awarded to Stradivari Quartet , Wang Xiaming
Adolf Busch 1716 In the possession of Adolf Busch from 1913–1933. Is played by David Garrett .
Cessole 1716
Goldman, Maria Theresia 1716 Milstein's favorite Stradivarius
Berthier 1716
Booth 1716 Nippon Music Foundation Lent to:
Colossus 1716 Stolen November 3, 1998, since then missing
Monasterio 1716
Baron Oppenheim 1716 National Bank of Austria Awarded to Michaela Girardi (as of 2013)
Provigny 1716
Messiah 1716 Ashmolean Museum , Oxford A dendrochronological study showed that the ceiling of the Messiah (built in Cremona ) was cut from the same tree trunk as the ceiling of a Rogeri violin from Brescia .
Thanks to the fact that the instrument has hardly ever been played, it is in an exceptionally good, almost new condition. Body and scroll are original; however, the neck was later lengthened. The pegs , bridge and tailpiece are from the 19th century.
Well-known owners include Antonio Stradivari, who did not sell the violin until his death, then his descendants Francesco Stradivari and Paolo Stradivari, the collectors Cozio di Salabue and Luigi Tarisio, the violin maker Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume , the violinist Jean- Delphin Alard and the Hill collector family, through whose hands the instrument passed several times. Tarisio always talked about his wonderful "Salabue", as it was called back then, but never showed it. This brought Alard, who later became the owner, to the exclamation that the violin was like the Messiah : one was always waiting for him, but he never appeared. Then the current name "Messiah" is based (English Messiah ). The Hill family donated the Messiah and other instruments to the Ashmolean Museum in 1939, thereby establishing its instrument collection.
Windsor Weinstein 1716 The Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank
Wieniawski 1717
Kochanski 1717 Pierre Amoyal
Sasserno 1717 Nippon Music Foundation Lent to:
Piatti 1717 Currently played by Hrachya Avanesyan
Cariel 1717 Jonathan Molds On loan to Nicola Benedetti
San Lorenzo 1718 Munetsugu Collection, Tokyo
(since 2015) 		Was previously played by David Garrett , on loan from the Talbot Foundation Aachen. Was sold in 2008, 2010 and 2015 respectively.
Maurin 1718 Royal Academy of Music, London
Viotti ex rosé 1718 National Bank of Austria Awarded to Benjamin Schmid
Firebird ex Saint Exupéry 1718 Salvatore Accardo
1719 University of Art in Berlin Stolen in June 1945 in Babelsberg
Wieniawski, Bower 1719 Mercedes-Benz, Zurich Awarded to Klaidi Sahatçi, 1st concertmaster of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich
Tartini circa 1720 to 1725 Free State of Bavaria Named after Giuseppe Tartini , although there is no evidence that he ever owned the instrument. Played by Yu Yamei from 2001 to 2010 .
Madrileño 1720
Beckerath 1720
Red Mendelssohn 1720 Played by Elizabeth Pitcairn
Lady Blunt 1721 The highest price to date was achieved by the "Lady Blunt" auctioned by the Tarisio auction house in London in June 2011: an unknown bidder paid 9.8 million pounds sterling (more than 11 million euros). The Nippon Music Foundation had decided to sell it in order to donate the proceeds to a relief fund for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami disaster in March 2011 .
Sinsheimer, Iselin 1721 Jeanne Christée Named after two previous owners, the wife of the New York investor Adrian Georg Iselin and the violinist Bernard Sinsheimer. Is played today by Jeanne Christée. On October 17, 2008, the Stradivari with an insurance value of 1.5 million euros and other valuables were stolen from the moated castle of the Bennigsen manor when the landlords, cellist Roderic von Bennigsen and Jeanne Christée, were away. On September 8, 2009, two men were arrested while attempting a police sale of all the stolen property. At the time, the violin belonged to an insurance company that had already settled the financial damage.
Artot 1722
Jupiter 1722 Nippon Music Foundation Was played by Midori for a number of years from 1992 .
Lent to:
Laub Petschnikoff 1722
Vollrath 1722 Bavarian Landesbank Awarded to Markus Wolf ( Bavarian State Orchestra )
Jules Falk 1723 Viktoria Mullova
Kiesewetter 1723 Clement and Karen Arrison Awarded to through the agency of the Stradivari Society
  • Maxim Vengerov
  • Philippe Quint . On April 21, 2008, the violin was "kidnapped" in New York by a taxi driver who started thinking that Quint had already completely unloaded his luggage. In gratitude for the return the next day, Quint later gave an exclusive concert for taxi drivers at Newark Airport.
  • Augustin Hadelich (as of 2018)
Sarasate 1724 Located in the Musée de la musique in Paris
Rawark 1724 National Bank of Austria Previously awarded to Lukas Hagen , as of 2013: to Tibor Kovac
Ludwig 1724 L bench
Abergavenny 1724 Leonidas Kavakos
Brancaccio 1725 Carl Flesch Destroyed in Berlin during World War II
Chaconne 1725 National Bank of Austria Awarded to Rainer Honeck, concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic
Wilhelmj 1725 Nippon Music Foundation Lent to:
Barrère 1727 Elise Mathilde Foundation Was played by Janine Jansen for 15 years , currently (2018) by the Dutch Rosanne Philippens
Davidoff Morini 1727 Former owner: Erika Morini Stolen in October 1995, is still missing and is included in the FBI's top ten list of art thefts
Général Dupont 1727 Yu Art Foundation Previously played by Arthur Grumiaux . 2016 awarded to Frank Peter Zimmermann .
Holroyd 1727 Suntory Awarded to Mayuko Kamio
Kreutzer 1727 Maxim Vengerov
Hart ex Francescatti 1727 Salvatore Accardo
Baron Deurbroucq 1727 Beare's International Violin Society
Paganini Comte Cozio di Salabue
(part of the " Paganini Quartet ") 		1727 Nippon Music Foundation Lent to:
Halphen, Benvenuti 1727 Dkfm. Angelika Prokopp Private Foundation Named after Fernand Halphen and Joseph Benvenuti. Awarded to Eckhard Seifert, formerly first prime violinist of the Vienna Philharmonic
Vesuvius 1727 Exhibited in the Museo del Violino, Cremona
Dragonetti; Milanollo 1728 Giovanni Battista Viotti Corey Cerovsek
Benny 1729 Los Angeles Philharmonic Named after the previous owner Jack Benny , who bequeathed it to the orchestra
Solomon ex Lambert 1729 Christie's did not announce the buyer Auctioned for $ 2.728 million at Christie's in New York on April 2, 2007
Tritton 1730 Mrs. Kimiko Powers Awarded to Kolja Blacher
Lady Jeanne 1731 Formerly awarded to Benjamin Schmid by the Donald Kahn Foundation
Baillot 1732 Fondazione Casa di Risparmio Awarded to Giuliano Carmignola
Duke of Alcantara 1732 UCLA
Rieu 1732 André Rieu André Rieu owns several instruments. He used to play a violin which, according to him, was a very early Stradivarius from 1667, which is doubtful. Rieu says he bought this older violin for £ 800,000 and later sold it because it was too small for him.
Des Rosiers 1733 Arthur Leblanc, Angèle Dubeau
Rode 1733
Khevenhüller ex Menuhin 1733 Was developed by Yehudi Menuhin played
Habeneck circa 1734 Royal Academy of Music, London
Ames 1734 Roman Totenberg (heirs) Stolen from a concert in early 1980, reappeared in August 2015.
Baron von Feilitzsch 1734 Gidon Kremer From November 2010, Kremer loaned the violin to Baiba Skride for five years
Hercules,
also in Hebrew Kinor David 		1734 Jerusalem 1895–1908 owned by Eugène Ysaÿe . In 1908 it was stolen from a locker room during a concert in Saint Petersburg. In 1925 she reappeared in a shop in Paris. Thereafter Charles Münch was the owner until 1960. From 1962 it belonged to Henryk Szeryng . In 1972 Szeryng donated the violin to the city of Jerusalem as Kinor David (“David's violin”). According to his wishes, it should be played by the concertmaster of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra .
Lamoureux, cimbalist 1735 The previous owners include Charles Lamoureux (1870-1890) and Efrem Zimbalist (1925-1948). David Sarser, then the youngest member of the NBC Symphony Orchestra , bought the violin in 1948 at the age of 27. After it was stolen from him in 1962, he did not feel the need to play any other instrument. He said: "She has become a part of me and I have become a part of her." In 1983 a photo was used to determine that the Lamoureux were in Japan. She is still missing today.
Muntz 1736 Nippon Music Foundation Lent to:

In 2012, the value of the Muntz was given in the press as 6 million euros. The occasion was a curious dispute with overzealous customs officials who confiscated the violin, claiming that Janke had not registered its import and therefore had to pay 1.2 million euros in import sales tax.

Comte d'Amaille 1737 Marté van Bären
Lord Norton 1737 Golo Weber
Chant du Cygne - Swan Song 1737 Zeri van Neufeld

Joseph Joachim (1831–1907) owned several Stradivaris: the Joachim (1715) as the main instrument, the Dolphin (1714), the Alard / Baron Knoop (1715), the Cremonese (1715), the Laurie (1722) and the Chaconne / Hammig (1725).

Violas

The existence of 12 Stradivarius violas is known.

Surname Construction year owner Remarks
Gustav Mahler 1672 Habisreutinger Stradivari Foundation Oldest viola still in existence, bought July 7, 1960 for Gustav Mahler's 100th birthday , loaned to Antoine Tamestit in 2012
Tuscan, Medici (Contralto) 1690 Library of Congress , Washington Originally part of an instrument quintet (two violins, viola contralto, tenor viola, cello), which for the house Medici was made
Tuscan, Medici (tenor) 1690 Luigi Cherubini Conservatory , Florence (since 1863) Stradivari's only instrument with all parts in original condition
Axelrod 1695 Smithsonian Institution Part of the "Axelrod Quartet" in the National Museum of American History in Washington. The Axelrod Quartet consists of four ornate Stradivarius instruments. The decorative ornamentation of the two violins and the viola comes from Stradivari, while the “Marylebone” cello from 1688 was later added by the collector Herbert Axelrod. With the viola, however, only the top is definitely from Stradivari.
Archinto 1696 Royal Academy of Music , London Since the 19th century it has been assumed that the frames were shortened by approx. 4 mm. The collector Count Cozio di Salabue (1755–1840) noted that the frames were extremely low.
Viola of the Cuarteto Real 1696 Patrimonio Nacional, Spain Palacio Real, Madrid
"The Russian Viola" 1715 Glinka Museum of Musical Culture , Moscow
MacDonald 1719 until 1987 Peter Schidlof, Amadeus Quartet Should be auctioned in June 2014. The starting sum was $ 45 million. This would have made the MacDonald the most expensive musical instrument in the world. However, no bidder was ready to bid $ 45 million.
Kux, Castelbarco circa 1720 since 2000 Royal Academy of Music , London Originally a viola d'amore , since the renovation by Vuillaume it has had a head from Amati's studio. The original head with 12 vertebrae holes is in the Museé de la musique in Paris.
Cassavetti 1727 Library of Congress , Washington
Paganini Mendelssohn
(the viola of the " Paganini Quartet ") 		1731 Nippon Music Foundation Lent to:
Gibson 1734 Habisreutinger Stradivari Foundation Awarded to Ursula Sarntheim ( Trio Oreade )

Cellos

Antonio Stradivari built between 70 and 80 cellos , of which more than 60 still exist. According to the expert Florian Leonard, only about 30 to 35 of the surviving cellos can still be played so well that they are sold. The list shows all 60 cellos that are in the Tarisio.com database (as of March 2018), as well as the Barjansky .

Surname Construction year owner Remarks
Flatback, Betts, Iwasaki circa 1670
You pré 1673 Acquired in 1961 by Isemene Holland for Jacqueline du Pré . After her death (1987) it was played by Lynn Harrell .
Cavalieri, Chigiana 1680
Visconti da Madrona 1684
General Kyd ex Leo Stern 1684 Los Angeles Philharmonic On April 27, 2004, the instrument was stolen from the cello section leader's house, found in the dumpster by a family in town, and was supposed to be converted into a CD shelf before the true value of the cello was realized. It was returned three weeks later.
Marylebone 1688 Smithsonian Institution Part of the "Axelrod Quartet" in the National Museum of American History in Washington. The Axelrod Quartet consists of four ornate Stradivarius instruments. The decorative ornamentation of the two violins and the viola comes from Stradivari. After these three instruments came into the possession of the collector Herbert Axelrod, he wanted a decorated cello to go with it. However, there was only one ornate Stradivari cello, that of the Cuarteto Real in Madrid. Axelrod commissioned the French violin maker René Morel to apply the decorations to the sides of this cello on the Marylebone cello. Anner Bylsma called it "the tattooed cello".
Archinto circa 1689
Barjansky around 1690 Julian Lloyd Webber Was played by Julian Lloyd Webber for over 30 years from 1983 and was offered for sale by him after the end of his career (2014). The year of manufacture of this cello is particularly unclear. According to the original note, it was built in 1684. In 1871 a violin maker in Paris noted 1709 as the year of construction. In several publications even 1736 was given as the year of construction, which is now considered an error.
Bonjour circa 1690
L'Evèque 1690
Medici, Tuscan 1690
Segelman, Hart 1692
Gendron 1693 Was played by Maurice Gendron from 1958 to 1985 . 2002 Acquisition by the Foundation for Art and Culture of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The cello was loaned to Maria Kliegel for a number of years until the foundation sold the cello on.
Bonnet 1693
Cuarteto Real cello 1694 Patrimonio Nacional, Spain Palacio Real, Madrid
Bonuses, Hegar circa 1695
Bonjour 1696 Abel Bonjour Awarded to Kaori Yamagami
Prince Gursky 1696
Lord Aylesford 1696 Nippon Music Foundation Was played by János Starker from 1950 to 1965 .
Lent to:
Castelbarco 1697 Library of Congress , Washington
(since 1936) 		The year of construction is given partly in 1697 (Tarisio), partly in 1699 (Library of Congress)
St. Senoch, Murray 1698 Hill et al. indicate the year of construction 1696
Magg 1698
Marquis de Cholmondeley 1698
De Kermadec-Bläss 1698 Habisreutinger Stradivari Foundation Awarded to Anita Leuzinger until 2013, from 2014 to David Pia, since 2017 Christine Hu ( Trio Oreade )
Cristiani, Stauffer 1700 Jean-Louis Duport is one of the previous owners. Today owned by the Fondazione Stauffer in Cremona. Exhibited in the Museo del Violino, Cremona.
Servais 1701 Smithsonian Institution Named after Adrien-François Servais . A particularly large instrument that may have been tuned a note lower earlier; the first cello to have a spike inserted (around 1850). Very good condition. Located in the National Museum of American History in Washington, was exhibited there with the Axelrod Quartet. Anner Bylsma recorded the six solo suites by Johann Sebastian Bach with this cello in 1992 .
Countess of Stainlein 1707 Jacqueline Desmarais Niccolò Paganini bought this cello in 1839, a year before his death. His son Achille Paganini sold it in 1854 to the Parisian violin maker Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume , who in the same year sold it on to Count Ludwig von Stainlein . After his death (1867) the cello was bequeathed to his widow, the Countess von Stainlein, after whom it is named today. The next owners were the cellist Paul Grümmer (1909–1938), the entrepreneur Georg Talbot (1938–1948) and his son Richard Talbot (1948–1957). 1957–2011 the cello was owned by Bernard Greenhouse, founding member of the Beaux Arts Trio . In January 2012 it was acquired for around 6 million dollars from the patroness Jacqueline Desmarais from Montreal , who loaned it to the Canadian cellist Stéphane Tétreault.
Fau, Castelbarco 1707
Markevitch, Delphino 1709
Boccherini, Romberg 1709
Baron Rothschild, Gore-Booth 1710 Rocco Filippini
Duport 1711 Heir to Mstislav Rostropovich Named after Jean-Louis Duport . Napoleon is said to have caused some of the traces of the ribs that are still visible today with the spurs of his riding boots in 1812 when, after a private concert in the Palais des Tuileries , he talked to the artist about handling the cello and tried to clamp the instrument between his legs. Duport's son Louis sold the cello to Auguste-Joseph Franchomme , who owned it for 50 years (1842-1892). In 1974 it was acquired by Mstislav Rostropovich. It has been in the possession of his heirs since his death in 2007.
Mara 1711 anonymous Named after the cellist Giovanni Mara, husband of the opera singer Elisabeth Mara . Was badly damaged when a ferry went down in the Rio de la Plata in 1963 and was then restored. Awarded to Heinrich Schiff until 2012 , since then to Christian Poltéra, cellist of the Trio Zimmermann
Davidov 1712 LVMH Named after Karl Juljewitsch Dawidow , who Tchaikovsky described as the tsar of the cellos . 1964–1987 Jacqueline du Pré owned this cello. It has been played by Yo-Yo Ma ever since .
Bass of Spain, Adam 1713
Batta 1714 Gregor Piatigorsky owned two Stradivari cellos: this one and the Baudiot (1725)
Bonamy Dobree-Suggia 1717 Habisreutinger Stradivari Foundation Awarded to Maja Weber ( Stradivari Quartet )
Amaryllis Fleming 1717
Becker 1719 Emirates Group, Dubai Named after Hugo Becker
Piatti 1720 Carlos Prieto Named after Alfredo Piatti , it is also called "the red cello". The current owner Carlos Prieto published a biography of the instrument in 2006 under the title The Adventures of a Cello , in 2011 an updated edition followed.
Househusband 1724
Chevillard circa 1725
Gallay, Vaslin, La Belle Blonde circa 1725
Baudiot 1725 Named after Charles-Nicolas Baudiot . In addition to this cello, Gregor Piatigorsky also owned the Batta (1714).
(no name) 1725
Marquis de Cerberon ex Loeb 1726 Royal Academy of Music , London (since 1960) The first known owners were a Marquis de Corberon (until 1789) and then a commoner named J. Loeb. Hugo Becker later owned this cello. Until 2002 it was played by Zara Nelsova . Awarded today to Steven Isserlis .
Comte de Saveuse 1726
Chester-Ward circa 1727
Iwasaki circa 1727
Leg, early circa 1727
Early gamba 1727
Feuermann, De Munck, Gardiner circa 1730 Nippon Music Foundation From 1869 Ernest de Munck owned this cello, later Emanuel Feuermann .

Lent to:

Vaslin Composite circa 1730
Pawle, Ben Venuto circa 1730
Scholz, Goltermann circa 1730
Braga 1731 Chung Myung-wha Named after Gaetano Braga . Owned by the South Korean cellist Chung Myung-wha since 1978 (the musicians Chung Kyung-wha and Chung Myung-whun are her younger siblings).
Giese 1731
Josefowitz circa 1732
Pleeth 1732
Stuart, Honigberg 1732
Paganini, Ladenburg
(the cello of the " Paganini Quartet ") 		1736 Nippon Music Foundation Lent to:

Dance master violins

According to the Hill brothers, Stradivari has preserved two pochettes ( dance master violins ). One comes from Stradivari's late work and is a "highly uninteresting" specimen. The other is a “charming” example of his early work; the year 1717 on the slip does not apply, the instrument is to be dated to the time before 1700. This pouch is in the Musée de la musique in Paris. The museum gives the dating "around 1700".

Guitars

There are still five complete guitars built by Stradivari , as well as some fragments. All guitars have five double strings. Only the Sabionari is playable.

Surname Construction year owner Remarks
Sabionari 1679 Owned by the Dominichini family; exhibited in the “Friends of Stradivari” collection, Cremona. This guitar is playable.
Giustiniani 1681
Hill 1688 Together with the Messiah Stradivarius and other instruments, it belongs to the Hill Collection in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford
Rawlins 1700 National Music Museum, Vermillion (South Dakota) , USA
1711 (?) Located in the Musée de la musique in Paris. The year of construction according to the slip is 1711, but it is doubtful.

Mandolins

Two Stradivari mandolins are known. The Mandolin Cutler-Challen from 1680 has ten strings and is in the National Music Museum in Vermillion (South Dakota) , USA. The mandolino coristo was built in the period 1700–1710 and has eight strings. It belongs to the collection of the British violin maker and instrument dealer Charles Beare. In 2018 she was shown at the Museo del Violino in Cremona.

harp

A single harp by Antonio Stradivari has survived . It now belongs to the Museum of the Naples Conservatory . Construction drawings for this instrument can be seen in the collection of the Museo del Violino in Cremona.

Collections of Stradivarius instruments (selection)

The Museo del Violino is located in Stradivari's place of work, Cremona . The permanent exhibition includes, in addition to one instrument by five other masters from Cremona, four instruments by Stradivari: the violins Clisbee (1669), Cremonese (1715) and Vesuvius (1727) and the cello Stauffer ex Cristiani (1700). The sound of these four instruments has been digitized for posterity. The association “friends of Stradivari” shows other instruments in changing exhibitions. Currently (as of January 2018) five works by Stradivari are among them: two violins, a cello, a guitar and a mandolin.

The publicly accessible collections of Stradivarius instruments also include those of the Spanish royal family. It consists of two violins, two cellos and one viola . The specialty of this quintet (group of five) is that all instruments are decorated. They are exhibited in the Music Museum of the Royal Palace in Madrid .

The collection of the Musée de la musique in Paris includes six instruments by Antonio Stradivari: the violins Tua (1708), Davidoff (1708), Sarasate (1724), another violin (built around 1692), a guitar and a pochette .

One of the most extensive Stradivarius collections is in the Glinka Museum of Musical Culture in Moscow . At an exhibition in 2010, nine violins, a viola and a cello by Stradivari from the Russian state instrument collection were on view. As part of a cooperation with France, young Russian violinists played a total of four Stradivari violins and one Stradivari viola at concerts in Moscow (2011) and Bordeaux (2012), accompanied by Yuri Bashmet's Moscow Chamber Orchestra, which also uses instruments from the Museum made music. The Glinka Museum collaborated with the Museo del Violino in Cremona on an exhibition entitled The Stradivari Myth , which opened on November 30, 2017. According to the museum director, the museum's collection of instruments includes fifteen Stradivarius violins.

A quartet of ornate instruments, called the Axelrod Quartet, and the Servais cello belong to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC and are in the collection of the National Museum of American History there . The five instruments were on public display until 2012. Six more Stradivarius instruments are located just two kilometers away, namely those in the Library of Congress . Five of these instruments were donated to the Library of Congress in 1935 by Gertrude Clarke Whittall. In Washington there are therefore a total of eleven Stradivari instruments.

There are three Stradivarius violins in the musical instrument collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art , New York:

  • Gould (1693)

  • Francesca (1694)

  • Anthony (1711)

literature

  • Literature by and about Antonio Stradivari in the catalog of the German National Library
  • W. Henry Hill, Arthur F. Hill, Alfred E. Hill: Antonio Stradivari: His Life & Work. Dover Publications, New York 1963, ISBN 0-486-20425-1 . Reprint of the original publication by WE Hill & Sons (1902). Still considered a standard work.
  • William Henley: Antonio Stradivari and his instruments . Cyril Woodcock (editor). Amati Publishing, 1961 ISBN 978-0-901424-03-7
  • Walter Hamma: Master of Italian violin making . 8th edition, edited and expanded by Josef-Stefan Blum. Publisher: Florian Noetzel, Wilhelmshaven 1993, ISBN 978-3-7959-0537-8
  • John Huber: 18th Century Italian Violins 1. Selected Reference Examples . Edition Bochinsky 2000, ISBN 978-3-923639-38-0
  • Count Ignazio Alessandro Cozio di Salabue: Memoirs of a Violin Collector . Translated from Italian into English and edited by Brandon Frazier, Baltimore 2007. ISBN 978-0-9799429-0-7
  • Jost Thöne, Jan Röhrmann: Antonio Stradivari. Photo image documentation in 4 volumes, Jost Thöne Verlag, Cologne 2010, ISBN 978-3-00-031644-9 (148 instruments by Antonio Stradivari, images in original size, English text). In the meantime another 4 volumes have been published which document a further 152 Stradivarius instruments. The project continues.
  • Frédéric Chaudière: Story of a Stradivarius. Translated by Sonja Finck . Salto, vol. 147. Wagenbach, Berlin 2007, ISBN 3-8031-1246-X (novel about the "troppo rosso Gibson", the author is a violin maker himself)

Web links

Commons : Stradivarius  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Antonio Stradivari Biography
  2. ^ A b W. Henry Hill, Arthur F. Hill, Alfred E. Hill: Antonio Stradivari: His Life & Work. Dover Publications, New York 1963, ISBN 0-486-20425-1 . Reprint of the original publication by WE Hill & Sons (1902).
  3. ↑ Stradivari violin - The secret of its sound
  4. ^ The History of Stradivarius Violins
  5. ^ Kreutzer Stradivarius sold for record pounds 947,500 The Independent, April 1, 1998
  6. ↑ Record price: Stradivari auctioned for eleven million euros manager-magazin.de, June 21, 2011.
  7. ↑ Vergeigt spiegel.de, May 7, 2012, about Dietmar Machold's bankruptcy.
  8. ↑ Become a Patron of the Stradivari Society Presentation of the concern of the Stradivari Society, see there also list of instruments and the respective patrons as well as picture gallery of the recipients .
  9. ↑ a b c Physics fails because of the Stradivarius mystery nzz.ch. January 21, 2007
  10. ^ Martin Schleske: Empirical Tools in Contemporary Violin Making: Part I. Analysis of Design, Materials, Varnish and Normal Modes. In: CAS Journal, Vol. 4, No. 5, May 2002 ( PDF ).
  11. ↑ A medical practitioner wants to have revealed the secret of the Stradivarius violins spiegel.de, July 2, 2008
  12. ↑ The Cold Secret of the Stradivarius. in: Epoc , issue 5/2008, Spektrum, Heidelberg.
  13. ^ CY Barlow, J. Woodhouse: Firm ground? A detailed analysis of ground layers under the microscope. In: The Strad 1989. Part 1: March 1989, pp. 195-197. Part 2: April 1989, pp. 275-278.
  14. ^ Robert Uhlig: Stradivari 'owes it all to worms' The Telegraph , March 31, 2001
  15. ↑ Stradivari's secret was a woodworm remedy . Pictures of Science, April 5, 2001, accessed September 11, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Joseph Nagyvary et al .: Wood used by Stradivari and Guarneri . In: Nature 2006; 444, p. 565 ( PDF )
  17. ↑ Stradivari's Chemiebaukasten Bild der Wissenschaft, January 26, 2009 (with a link to the original publication).
  18. ↑ Nagyvary Violin's homepage
  19. ↑ With mushrooms to the perfect violin sound EMPA press release , June 15, 2005 (PDF)
  20. ↑ Holzpilze für Wohlklang ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) scienceticker.info, May 20, 2005.
  21. ↑ Biography greinerviolins.com
  22. ↑ It doesn't always have to be Stradivarius Welt am Sonntag, November 30, 2003.
  23. ↑ Stradivarius off the assembly line? , Broadcast from the W for Knowledge series on January 29, 2006: Video excerpt ( memento from January 19, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) at Längengrad Filmproduktion (2:00 min.) With accompanying text ( memento from February 10, 2006 in the web archive archive .today ) (archived website).
  24. ↑ The Acoustic concept schleske.de, see. there resonance profiles in comparison .
  25. ↑ Research schleske.de, see section Art and Science .
  26. ↑ Overview of the blind test series and its reception on Claudia Fritz's homepage . Film documentation on YouTube: short version (5:44 min.), Long version (28:28 min.).
  27. ^ Claudia Fritz et al .: Soloist evaluations of six Old Italian and six new violins Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111, 2014, pp. 7224–7229.
  28. ↑ Legend of instruments in the blind test: Violinists decide against Stradivari n-tv.de, April 7, 2014.
  29. ↑ The fairy tale of the legendary sound of the Stradivarius spiegel.de, May 9, 2017 (with a link to the original publication).
  30. ↑ See Helga Rietz: Demystification with a wooden hammer nzz.ch, May 12, 2017.
  31. ^ Herbert K. Goodkind: Violin Iconography of Antonio Stradivari. 1972, ISBN 0-9600498-1-9 .
  32. ↑ a b c d e Instruments on exhibition Museo del Violino, Cremona (English, detailed information available with a click)
  33. ↑ Information on ex Oistrach from 1671 ( memento of December 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) on cozio.com (archived website)
  34. ↑ a b c d e f Exhibition at the National Museum of American History (until 2012) with five Stradivari instruments: “Axelrod Quartet” and the “Servais” cello.
  35. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Nippon Music Foundation: Instruments , nmf.or.jp, accessed January 11, 2018
  36. ↑ a b c d e f g The Stradivari Society: Instrument Collection
  37. ^ Tarisio Auctions - Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1683, the 'Martinelli, Gingold' tarisio.com
  38. ↑ 1683 - Violin "Martinelli-Gingold" Archivio della Liuteria Cremonese
  39. ↑ International Violin Competition of Indianapolis: Quadrennial Competition , Laureates
  40. ^ Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1683, the 'de Ahna, Amatise' tarisio.com
  41. ↑ a b c Cuarteto Palatino o Cuarteto Decorado patrimonionacional.es
  42. ↑ a b c d Stradivaris in the Royal Palace in Madrid ( Memento from May 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Database query at Cozio.com, status 2008 (archived website)
  43. ↑ a b c d e f g Stradivaris in the Royal Academy of Music Museum: the five violins Rutson (1694), Kustendyke (1699), Viotti ex-Bruce (1709), Maurin (1718), habeneck (approx. 1734), the Viola Archinto (1696), the cello Marquis de Corberon (1726).
  44. ^ Straordinari Stradivari Il Giornale dell'Arte, February 2011 (Italian)
  45. ↑ a b c d e f g h The collection of historical string instruments of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank oenb.at, as of 2013 (flipbook)
  46. ↑ Information on Lady Tennant christies.com
  47. ↑ a b c Stradivari violins in the Library of Congress: Castelbarco (1699), Ward (1700), Betts (1704) , details available with a click
  48. ↑ Linus Roth's website ( Memento from January 20, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
  49. ^ Instruments of the German Musical Instrument Fund , see violin by Antonius Stradivari, Cremona 1703 .
  50. ↑ Replica of a Stradivarius orf.at, November 28, 2011.
  51. ↑ For the provenance of Liebig see the homepage of Julian Rachlin
  52. ^ Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1705, the 'Marsick' tarisio.com
  53. ↑ Janine Jansen receives 1707 Stradivarius violin on ten-year loan The Strad, September 22, 2016
  54. ↑ Information on the "Hammer" christies.com
  55. ^ Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1707, the 'Castelbarco' tarisio.com
  56. ↑ According to the article in the Independent of March 8, 2013 , the regent had been awarded to Tasmin Little since 2000 and until then, see end of article. An article dated July 16, 2014 said Little recently had to return the Regent.
  57. ↑ schick-magazin.com: Friday Nights with Yury Revich
  58. ^ Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1709, the 'King Maximilian, Unico' tarisio.com
  59. ↑ Axel Springer Foundation (ed.): A foundation in the service of reconciliation, freedom and unity - On the history of the Axel Springer Foundation . Brochure, published on May 2, 2012 in Berlin on the occasion of the founder's 100th birthday.
  60. ↑ The 1709 King Maximilian Unico ( Memento from December 17, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) on lostfiddle.blogspot.de, May 24, 2011 (archived website)
  61. ↑ Tony Faber: Stradivari's Genius: Five Violins, One Cello, and Three Centuries of Enduring Perfection . Random House Publishing Group, 2012.
  62. ^ Violin by Antonio Stradivari, 1709 ex “Viotti-Marie Hall” Digital Violin Archive Project, Chi Mei Museum
  63. ^ Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1710, the 'Dancla, Milstein' tarisio.com
  64. ↑ a b c d e f Stradivarius Foundation Habisreutinger: instruments stradivarius-stiftung.ch
  65. ↑ Star violinist separates from “Lady Inchiquin” - Frank Peter Zimmermann returns Stradivarius worth millions. Kölner Stadtanzeiger, February 21, 2015.
  66. ↑ Violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann receives Stradivari back musik-heute.de, July 4, 2016
  67. ^ Frank Peter Zimmermann KünstlerSekretariat am Gasteig, as of 2018.
  68. ↑ 'Priceless' Stradivarius violin stolen in armed robbery in Milwaukee Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 28, 2014
  69. ↑ Stolen Stradivarius Found By Milwaukee Police NPR , February 6, 2014
  70. ^ Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1715, the 'Marsick' tarisio.com
  71. ↑ Description of the Busch bongartz-auktionen.de
  72. ↑ Adolf Busch: Biography contraclassics.com
  73. ↑ David Garrett: About Me
  74. ↑ Arjan Versteeg: Blood Brothers , in: The Strad, March 2011, pp. 42–44 ( PDF )
  75. ↑ a b Messiah violin, by Stradivari: Like the Messiah, worth waiting for ashmolean.org. Provenance information according to tarisio.com.
  76. ↑ 1717 Windsor-Weinstein Stradivari violin instrumentbank.canadacouncil.ca
  77. ^ Homepage of Nicola Benedetti
  78. ^ Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1718, the 'San Lorenzo' tarisio.com
  79. ^ Homepage of Benjamin Schmid
  80. ^ Violin 'Antonius Stradivarius ... 1719' in the Lost Art database of the German Center for Cultural Property Losses
  81. ↑ Web site Klaidi Sahatçi
  82. ↑ a b Information on Tartini at Archivio della Liuteria Cremonese
  83. ↑ Information on Tartini from Jost Thöne
  84. ↑ homepage Jeanne Christée
  85. ↑ Stolen Stradivarius is back haz.de, September 9, 2009
  86. ↑ Star violinist performs with a thank you to cabbies video on YouTube (1:55 min.).
  87. ^ Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1724, the 'Sarasate' tarisio.com
  88. ^ Violon dit le "Sarasate" Musée de la musique, Paris
  89. ↑ Rainer Honeck wienerphilharmoniker.at
  90. ^ Antonio Stradivari 1727 VL Barrère Jost Thöne Verlag
  91. ↑ Rosanne Philippens: Biography ( Memento from January 21, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) rosannephilippens.com
  92. ↑ FBI Top Ten Art Crimes fbi.gov
  93. ↑ Frank Peter Zimmermann and his new "voice" br-klassik.de, January 21, 2016
  94. ↑ Presentation of the Kreutzer Stradivarius in the video christies.com (English, 2:31 min.)
  95. ↑ Johanna Ensbacher: Antonio Stradivari violin "ex Benvenuti, ex Halphen". A documentation of the history and the acoustic properties of the instrument. ( Memento from January 19, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Diploma thesis, Vienna 2009 (PDF).
  96. ↑ Eckhard Seifert wienerphilharmoniker.at
  97. ↑ Homepage of Kolja Blacher ( Memento from January 14, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
  98. ^ Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1732, the 'Rieu' tarisio.com
  99. ↑ It is possible that the manufacturer of this violin cannot be clearly identified. In the instrument database at tarisio.com, the name André Rieu can only be found in connection with the Stradivarius Rieu from 1732.
  100. ^ 'I sold more records so I could afford a castle' Report on André Rieu in the Daily Mail, November 29, 2014.
  101. ^ Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1733, the 'Prince Khevenhüller, Menuhin' tarisio.com
  102. ↑ Stolen Stradivarius resurfaced after 35 years in the USA ( memento from March 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Zeit online, August 6, 2015
  103. ^ Violin "Baron Feilitzsch - Heermann" Archivio della Liuteria Cremonese
  104. ^ Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1734, the 'Hercules, Ysaye, Szeryng, Kinor David, Semel' tarisio.com
  105. ↑ Violin "Lamoureux-Zimbalist" Archivio della Liuteria Cremonese
  106. ↑ Carla Shapreau: Lost and found: stolen instruments tarisio.com, September 8, 2015
  107. ↑ Tax advantage Stradivari sueddeutsche.de, October 9, 2012
  108. ^ Viola by Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1690, "Tuscan-Medici" Library of Congress
  109. ↑ Rare Stradivarius viola goes under the hammer. faz.net, March 28, 2014, accessed April 9, 2014
  110. ↑ Information on the Sotheby’s auction house , accessed on March 28, 2014
  111. ↑ The most expensive instrument in the world? faz.net, April 20, 2014.
  112. ^ John Dilworth: Stradivari's violas, Part 2 tarisio.com, September 17, 2014
  113. ^ Tête de viole (head of a viola) by Antonio Stradivari in the Musée de la musique, Paris
  114. ^ Viola by Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1727, "Cassavetti" Library of Congress
  115. ↑ Florian Leonard ( homepage ), quoted by the music journalist Helen Wallace in a blog article about the Barjansky cello , March 5, 2015.
  116. ↑ Stolen 320-year old Stradivarius found nbcnews.com, May 19, 2004
  117. ↑ Stradivarius for 3.5 million almost ended up in the garbage can faz.net, May 19, 2004
  118. ^ René Morel obituary in The Telegraph November 18, 2011, with a photograph of the Marylebone cello. A comparison with the cello from the Cuarteto Real ( see illustration ) shows that Axelrod had the decorations on the sides copied, but not the decoration on the edge of the top .
  119. ^ Cello Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1688, the 'Cazenove, Marylebone' tarisio.com
  120. ↑ Information on the Barjansky Jost Thöne Verlag
  121. ↑ Cello Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1693, the 'Gendron, Lord Speyer' tarisio.com
  122. ^ From Stradivari to Tononi Report in the Schaumburger Zeitung about Maria Kliegel's cellos, December 24, 2014
  123. ^ Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1697, the 'Castelbarco' tarisio.com
  124. ^ Cello by Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1699, "Castelbarco" Library of Congress
  125. ^ Website on the history of the violoncello
  126. ↑ Montreal musician lent famous 'Stradivari' cello CTV News, January 24, 2012
  127. ^ Website of Stéphane Tétreault
  128. ^ Cello Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1711, the 'Duport' tarisio.com
  129. ↑ Article in the New York Sun , August 11, 2008, on the ownership structure at the time, see below the correction note of September 10, 2008.
  130. ↑ Carolin Pirich: Stradivari's Cello: Oh, Mara! zeit.de, May 7, 2015
  131. ↑ Pochette - Antonio Stradivari Musée de la musique, Paris (French text, with picture and audio sample)
  132. ↑ Jonathan Graham: Hear the World's Only Remaining Playable Stradivarius Guitar in Action guitarplayer.com, November 8, 2017.
    In an integrated video (2:41 min.) Rolf Lislevand plays a tarantella from Santiago de Murcia on the Sabionari .
  133. ^ Guitar, 1688, Antonio Stradivari Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
  134. ^ The Rawlins Stradivari Guitar, 1700 National Music Museum
  135. ^ Guitare, Antonio Stradivari Musée de la musique, Paris
  136. ^ The Cutler-Challen Choral Mandolino by Stradivari, 1680 National Music Museum
  137. ↑ Mandolino Coristo classicfm.com
  138. ↑ Exhibition of the Mandolino coristo in the Museo del Violino, Cremona (2018): invitation to the presentation of the instrument , exhibition in room 9 , report by the TV station Cremona1 (YouTube, 2:20 min.).
  139. ↑ An Italian city falls silent - to save the sound of a Stradivarius
  140. ↑ Exhibition of the friends of Stradivari in room 9 Museo del Violino, Cremona (English)
  141. ↑ On the Museo del Violino see also the brochure in German (PDF).
  142. ↑ Stradivari instruments in the Musée de la musique in Paris: violin Tua , violin Davidoff , violin Sarasate , violin (built around 1692) , guitar , pochette (French text).
  143. ^ Stradivari Violins on Display in Moscow Museum epochtimes.de, November 25, 2010.
  144. ^ The State Collection of Unique Musical Instruments of the Russian Federation Today Glinka National Museum Consortium of Musical Culture
  145. ^ In Moscow opens the exhibition "the Myth of Stradivari" chelorg.com, November 30, 2017.
  146. ^ Stradivari instruments in the library of Congress collection: three violins , two violas and a cello
  147. ^ The Coolidge and Whittall Legacies Library of Congress, May 29, 2007.
  148. ↑ Article about the Stradivarias in Washington washingtonpost.com, October 21, 2011 (English)
  149. ^ Instruments by Antonio Stradivari in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (database query).
  150. ^ Antonio Stradivari: Volume I – IV and Volume V – VIII Jost Thöne Verlag
personal data
SURNAME Stradivarius, Antonio
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stradivarius, Antonio
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian master violin maker
DATE OF BIRTH 1644 or 1648
DATE OF DEATH December 18, 1737
Place of death Cremona