Roman Totenberg’s stolen Stradivarius was once lost forever. Now, it plays again.

Wa Po ^ | March 14 | Geoff Edgers

[kvanbrunt2]

This is an update article about a violin my childhood friend stole from his teacher. it's wapo and totenbergs but geoff has done a nice job reporting this story.

NEW YORK — No two Strads are alike, they say, but the violin that Mira Wang reintroduced to the world Monday night is truly special. It was gone for decades, stolen after a concert in 1980, and its owner, Roman Totenberg, died in 2012 thinking it would never be seen again.

[HiTech RedNeck]

A lot of gal musicians go in for the dexterity rather than for the feeling. The result is not unlike a Singer sewing machine. Efficiency and accuracy that cannot be beat. But it somehow falls short of what music could be.

Better a duffer who feels it in his soul. This violin thief at least wanted a playing relationship with his instrument bad enough to steal it.

[kvanbrunt2]

thx

[Gene Eric]

>> stolen after a concert in 1980

I enjoy a good violin concerto. Was the infamous 1980 concert recorded? Or any preferential recordings featuring a Stradivarius that you know of?

Thanks for the post. I’m partial to the romantic era. Wish we had an Arts forum to encourage this type of news and insights.

[HiTech RedNeck]

We ultimately need to give thanks to the good Lord. Sometimes it is so hard to come to grips with God that we despair even of thinking about Him.

But that’s just the devils getting in our weak, still sinful faces. Persistence in glorifying God will blow them away, though we find that hard to believe at first.

Music is a divinely blessed medium. David of the Old Testament would play his harp to chase away the evil spirit that tormented Saul. The ancient Hebrews played and sang to the Lord as part of formal worship. Heaven is depicted in the bible as containing harpists playing on their harps. Community church worship enthusiastically embraced the pipe organ and carried it to impressive extents from its humble Greek roots. Depending on liturgy, various churches today still use various combinations of instruments.

To me there is something touching about the story of a man who was so moved with passion to play an excellent violin that he would steal it to do so. Stealing is a sin, and yet God can forgive sin and redeem the sinner. Maybe he paid the world back, in part, by the music he made on the stolen violin.

[HiTech RedNeck]

He played it like he stole it....

[Biblical Calvinist]

Here’s Sayaka Shoji..she plays the 1729 Recamier Stradivarius in a performance of Tchaikovsky’s “Violin Concerto in D major, op. 35”.

Ms. Shoji is one of the world’s premier concert violinists...listen to her playing..watch her facial expressions; but above al; listen to the violin......her performance is quite simply mesmerizing!~ Enjoy~! https://youtu.be/8vHL0UNCa1Q

[Daffynition]

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Where a you going to get the very unique wood?

[ifinnegan]

Thanks for posting this. I read the linked article about Phil which was more informative about the story of the theft.

An interesting story and both articles bring a glimpse in to a different world than most of us know.

I was struck by the elitism where the hosts of the recital would not even allow the name of their club to be mentioned.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

"I knew that my family looked down on me, despite my native talent, and despite the aptitude that I displayed. It was never let on, but I am sure that it was felt. They professed to be proud of my ability, and affected to boast about me, but they never could appreciate — perhaps were incapable of appreciating — the true nature of my accomplishments. It was the dexterity of my hands, and not the outpouring of my heart and soul, that won their praise. Their cold and rational minds could never have conceived the idea of something higher, and nobler, and better, being there."

[Scarpetta]

“The Red Violin.” A little known movie, full of gorgeous music and lots of intrigue.

[School of Rational Thought]

Type your post into Word first then use grammar check. Your English is passable but Word can help.

Another option is to type post in your first language and use Google Translate.

[Oratam]

[Hot Tabasco]

From the comment section in the above story, here's another fascinating tale of a stolen Strad..........

http://www.islandpacket.com/latest-news/article33263187.ece/BINARY/History%20of%20the%20Huberman%20Stradivarius

Amazing how mere fiddles can draw such attention.........LOL!

[Elsie]

I DID hear a little bit of TOBS in that AMAZING display of talent!!

Thank You!!

[Hot Tabasco]

Wow, 37 minutes long......my fingers get stiff after typing a paragraph.

[Elsie]

David of the Old Testament would play his harp to chase away the evil spirit that tormented Saul.

https://youtu.be/tnepPZChA5U

[DUMBGRUNT]

Violinists can’t tell the difference between Stradivarius violins and new ones...

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2012/01/02/violinists-cant-tell-the-difference-between-stradivarius-violins-and-new-ones/#.WMqN-VzyvRY

A bit of myside bias never hurt?

[reed13k]

Was just going to post something similar. When blind tested the new violins are just as good if not better. There’s always going to be something to history though.

[sportutegrl]

My husband is a woodworker and is friends with a luther, (someone who makes stringed instruments like violins). He said that the wood that Strad. used grew during the Little Ice Age, when the trees had very short growing seasons, took many more years to produce the same amount of board feet as trees grown now. This meant that the wood had smaller, thinner rings, making it denser.