Posted on 09/08/2008 5:17:29 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
(Violinist welcomes loan with strings)
The e-mail came to Frank Almond from out of the blue. It said, basically: I have a Stradivarius violin. Want to see it?
Almond, concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and a violinist with an international career, knew from long experience that most alleged Strads turn out to be knockoffs. But he had a hunch about this one.
He called Stefan Hersh, his Chicago violin dealer and occasional performing colleague, and shared what he'd been told of the instrument. The story sounded plausible to Hersh.
In May, Almond and Hersh met the owner in the safe-deposit vault of the M&I bank in downtown Milwaukee. Almond opened the case, and there it was: the legendary Lipinski Stradivarius, built in 1715 in Cremona, Italy, and played by some of the greatest virtuosos in history. Now, it's in Almond's hands on an indefinite loan from its Milwaukee-area owner. It will be his primary instrument for the foreseeable future.
"It really changes day to day," Almond said. "It's really opening up, after not being played for at least 10 years and then sitting in a bank vault for a year. It's amazing how these things live and breathe."
The Lipinski is the third Stradivari violin to come to Almond via long-term loan. He was, for a time, concertmaster of the Fort Worth Chamber Orchestra and had use of the Davis Strad (1710) during his tenure. Angela Johnston, a Milwaukee music lover, lent him the Dushkin Stradivarius for several years. And now comes the Lipinski.
"It's incredibly even and powerful; there are no real dead spots," Almond said. "Through the entire range of the instrument, you get that focus and intensity. It's the loudest violin I've ever played, by maybe 30%. There's color, too; you can find so many different stories to tell. You can shout or you can whisper."
The first known owner was Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770), who surely played his famous "Devil's Trill" Sonata on this instrument. Tartini gave the violin to one of his students, the barely remembered Signor Salvini, who passed it on to Polish violinist Karol Lipinski (1790-1861) - in dramatic fashion, according to violin lore. After hearing Lipinski play, the impressed Salvini summoned the young virtuoso and asked for his violin. Salvini promptly smashed it to pieces, then gave Lipinski the Stradivarius that would take his name.
Lipinski was a friendly rival of the great Nicolo Paganini; the two joined in a number of public violin "duels." Both were early stars of the burgeoning European touring concert scene and Romantic figures in the public eye. In 1839, Lipinski settled down in Dresden, where he led the court orchestra, formed a quartet, and attracted such students as Henryk Wieniawski and Joseph Joachim. Joachim, for whom Brahms composed his Violin Concerto, played the Lipinski Strad for a time.
A new home in Milwaukee
The chain of events that brought it to Milwaukee began in 1962.
That year, Rosalind Elsner Anschuetz bought the Lipinski for $19,000 from the Wurlitzer Instrument Company of New York. (That's about $130,000 in today's dollars - a bargain.) Rosalind was the daughter of Richard Elsner, a Milwaukee lawyer, judge and politician. She was the spouse of Hugo Anschuetz, a choral conductor based in St. Louis, and the mother of professional pianist Richard Anschuetz. Rosalind was a good violinist, but she did not buy the Lipinski for herself. She gave it to her daughter-in-law, violinist Evi Liivak.
Rosalind's son, Richard Anschuetz, grew up in St. Louis, but typically summered in Wisconsin at his grandparents' homes, on North Ave. near Third St. in Milwaukee, and at Fairy Chasm, in Mequon near Lake Michigan. Upon the death of his father, in 1931, Richard, then 18, was sent to Berlin to study at the University of Music and Art. He later moved to Paris and was in the French capital when it fell to the Germans in 1940. The Germans interned him briefly; once freed, he pursued his career to the degree he could in occupied, war-torn Europe.
After the war, Anschuetz served the U.S. government as a translator at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. He met Liivak, an Estonian who had been displaced by war and political upheaval, in Nuremberg. They played concerts in Europe together, married in Paris in 1950, and came to America in 1952. Anschuetz and Liivak lived at Fairy Chasm briefly, before moving to New York and commencing a career as duo recitalists.
The two toured nationally and internationally for over 40 years. They did not develop big reputations, but Liivak had been a child prodigy in Estonia and was not forgotten there. An Estonian filmmaker, Airi Kasera, made a documentary about her in 1999. A collection of memorabilia from their career is now in Milwaukee. It includes sheaves of favorable reviews from critics in more than 50 countries and posters featuring the strikingly attractive and stylish Liivak.
Liivak died in 1996, and the Lipinski Strad went mute. During that period, the instrument took on more mystique; some authorities thought it had been stolen. Tony Faber, in his 2005 book, "Stradivari's Genius," claimed that it had simply dropped from sight.
But the instrument trackers at Cozio.com (an instrument identification and pricing service) listed Anschuetz as the owner from 1962 on. People did know that the Lipinski Strad was in his possession in New York. But no one in the business knew that Anschuetz came to the Milwaukee area to be near family shortly before he died, and that the Lipinski Strad came with him. He died in February. The violin passed to a family member, who sought to re-introduce the Lipinski to the world.
Excellent condition
The first step was to contact Almond. Almond's first step was to call Hersh.
"During the drive up, I was quivering with excitement," Hersh said in a phone interview.
The reality exceeded his hopes. The instrument was not only the real thing, it was in excellent condition. Michael Darnton, the violin builder and restorer and Hersh's business partner, did little more than set up the instrument with normal maintenance operations.
Hersh places the Lipinski in the upper echelon of the extant Stradivari violins. (Cozio.com lists 614 in existence.) The Lipinski is a "large pattern" Strad, with a larger body and longer strings than earlier Stradivari models. It comes from the "golden period," 1700-1720, when the maker was at peaks of creativity and craft and had the very best woods.
"This violin is from 1715, the absolute top of his output," Hersh said. "Large-pattern instruments are very desirable. We've sold a large number of Strads, but we've never had one like the Lipinski. These larger, flatter violins are huge, heroic instruments. They have something extra, in my opinion."
The highest auction price for a Strad is $3,544,000, which the Hammer Strad, from 1707, fetched at Christie's in 2006. Hersh puts the Lipinski in that price range.
The owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, e-mailed to explain why he or she is lending the instrument to Almond instead of cashing in on a windfall:
"The market value of a fine violin and the decision to sell it are subject to many factors at a given time. Because of the prices, many fine violinists cannot afford to own a Strad, yet they are the very persons who should be using them.
"A violin needs to be played and regularly looked after by experts in order to remain in great shape. An instrument like this is part of the cultural inheritance of us all and should be enjoyed by as many people as possible. The family is thrilled and honored that the violin is a good match with Frank Almond and that it can remain in Milwaukee, where many people can enjoy hearing it on a frequent basis. Frank was previously lent the Dushkin Strad for many years, and we know that he will take good care of this instrument, also.
"A Strad is part of world cultural heritage, so people deserve to hear and enjoy the combined skills of the master craftsman and the musician."
At the link, about half way down on the right is a "Watch the Video" link...of you want to hear this treasure being played. :)
Thank you for the neat post....
I have absolutely no musical talent when it comes to playing an instrument, so I greatly admire those that do! :)
What a magnificent story. Thanks for sharing this.
Same here, I have zero musical talent and I am in awe of those who have it.....however, I do know what I like
The following is one of my favorites.....I cry every time I listen to it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y7nJL1hpUU
"A violin needs to be played and regularly looked after by experts in order to remain in great shape. An instrument like this is part of the cultural inheritance of us all and should be enjoyed by as many people as possible.
Oh, thank you, thank you. Both to the poster of this article and the owner of that instrument. We need more people like this in classical music. I have a friend who went through the same thing with an old cello - not a Strad, but from Cremona in the same period - and she woke it from a long sleep. The sound is just heavenly.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
For your list.
Thanks for the ping!
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Thanks,
sitetest
self-ping
fascinating
bump
Although the mystique of these instruments is legendary, and as much as I hate to suggest such things, I would think some kind of instrument foundation that serves as the caretaker of such instruments might be in order. The foundation would ensure that the instruments are carefully tracked, and would have the resources to keep the instruments in the public eye, and safe when they travel. Creations like the Stradivarius violins are cultural artifacts and works of art, and as noted elsewhere in this post deserve to remain available to the public. I realize that such a foundation could be subject to petty politics, and that deserving players might not always be allowed to use an instrument, but it seems better to me than to allow such things as happened to the Lipinski to occur (dropping from sight for a decade). Such instruments are now so old that regular playing and maintenance are vital to their survival.
Q: What's the difference between a fiddle and a violin?
A: About $300,000.00
====
Q: How can you tell if a violin is out of tune?
A: The bow is moving.
Thanks for the ping.
Thanks for the PING Sitetest. A wonderful story and the violin sounds so beautiful.
Please add me to the ping list.
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There is a noble soul. Some rich people are extremely generous and have the most elevated motives. They have wonderful things and want to share them with the world. Thank you, whoever you are!
Hats off to the owner who gave his treasure for the world to hear. There are few things more beautiful than the sound of a violin in the hands of a master violinist.
Congradulations Tom Strini. This is great. Like finding a sunken treasure.
Let’s pray he doesn’t forget it in a taxi one day...
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