Posted on 12/31/2005 5:17:29 AM PST by Cagey
A $175,000 violin that was reported stolen turned up Friday on the steps of a San Bruno church, and San Francisco police said it was never stolen after all.
The violin, made in the 1700s by Italian craftsman Nicolo Gagliano, was recovered after a passer-by spotted it outside St. Roberts Church on Crystal Springs Road, according to police Sgt. Neville Gittens.
After the violin was turned over to San Francisco police, investigators again questioned Sabina Rhee-Nakajima, the San Francisco music student who told police Thursday that the violin had been stolen from the trunk of her car, which had been towed from a Western Addition supermarket parking lot.
Rhee-Nakajima then changed her story, Gittens said, and admitted that the violin had never been stolen and that she had filed a false police report.
Officers would not say whether Rhee-Nakajima was attempting to steal the violin or whether she would be charged with a crime. Gittens said she had not been offered leniency for its return.
The violin, along with three bows, was recovered undamaged.
The violin was on loan to Rhee-Nakajima from a music dealer who was attempting to sell it on behalf of its owner. Violin shops around the U.S. were alerted after the reported theft. Experts said it would have been extremely difficult to sell such a well-known stolen instrument or even to play it in public.
Early reports that the car towing company was involved in the violin's disappearance were also false,..........
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
They usually go to particularly accomplished scholarship students at the better conservatories/schools of music (e.g. Juilliard, Curtis, Northwestern, etc.).
Good flutes are expensive, with old ones as expensive as new ones. It's a whole different sound, the top level of pre-1960 flutes and the newer ones, as the scales are different and they're tuned higher (a=442 vs. a=440 or even a=435). There are fashions in this, with the brighter newer flutes currently popular. A number of very top level professionals, however, play old Powells and old Haynes. The older flutes are harder to play, especially initially, but once mastered have far richer sounds with more overtones. It's interesting, the older ones don't sound as good right up close, but put them in a hall and the difference is astounding.
We were very lucky in finding a 1950's Powell handmade for my flutist daughter -- and then had to spend almost the price of an intermediate level flute getting a basic overhaul at the Powell factory. But, the flute is wonderful! Too bad she's not a flute major. (Her friend who is a flute major at a top conservatory likes the newer sound better and plays a Brannen-Cooper.)
A fine bow will usually have the maker's name on it. The Max W. bow that I had was hex or oct shaped part way up the shaft. Had engraved silver and MOP mounts. Find the names on the bows and look in the F-holes of the violins. Do a web search.
Mares' Tails and Mackerel Scales make tall ships carry low sails."
Remember that Andrew B, and you'll have smooth sailin' all the New Year.
Were any songs missing?
You were so right about this story having a distinct "smell" about it.
I'm a cellist, played in the Austin Symphony and other groups for many years. My prof at UT Austin was the caretaker of three amazing cellos - a Strad, a Gagliano, and a Ruggerio. One day he got all three out of the bank vault where they are stored and let some of us play them. The old Italian instruments are amazing, it was like they were plugged into an amplifier. The sound just poured out of them, and the more I demanded of them the more they responded. There's just nothing like it. Of the the three he had I liked the Ruggerio the best, but I'd put up with any of them...
Hook-em, Ted
My sister plays a Powell flute.
I hope Ted had an armed guard with him when he did this! ;-)
Interesting sidebar: Years ago, when I was growing up in Ct., we were friendly with the Sikorsky family, (newly arrived from Russia and busy building Igor's helicopters.) They had a room in the basement specifically built and humidity kept just so for several Strads and other rare instruments.
A bunch of the posters on the original thread smelled fraud. Looks like they were right.
We have a Handel concerto for violin and piano -- but I play the harpsichord instead . . . it sounds so beautifully antique we just want to light the candles and dress up in satins and white wigs!
. . . and then there was the bluegrass band that played for my dad's 80th birthday . . . their fiddler had just quit, so they asked Jo to sit in . . . she just about went nuts because of course she doesn't PLAY bluegrass -- (she's heard enough of it though because her dad is a pretty good bluegrass guitarist.) But after about half an hour she was getting the hang of it.
It's still tons of fun. When we were young marrieds, a group of us used to meet to play classical music -- two violinists, a cellist, a flautist, and me on piano. We sounded pretty rotten the first 3-4 times we ran stuff, but we usually got it together and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.
I hope my daughter finds a like-minded group of musical friends at college . . .
It came out of my mother in law's attic. God knows what it is or where it came from.
My money says it's somebody's old rental instrument . . . and not worth furbishing up.
More likely than not, but still worth a shot. Find out what you've got!
Hey, buddy, we're talking classical here. Classical musicians play "pieces", not songs.
///nose in air///
The way you narrated your little tale brought a smile to my face. It was almost as if I could hear you playing one of those special violins. Lucky you!
All ages, and anyone could sit in. A summer night out on the little porch.....memories that will last forever.
Today, people are too busy doing, I don't know what!
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A music student who told police a $175,000 violin was stolen from her car has recanted her story and the rare instrument has been recovered, police said on Friday.
A music shop had loaned a violin made by 18th-century Italian craftsman Nicolo Gagliano to Sabina Nakajima, 24, while she said she was considering whether to buy it. Nakajima told police it disappeared from the trunk of her car, which was towed away after she illegally parked it.
After looking crestfallen in local television interviews on Thursday, Nakajima recanted the story, a police official who did not want to be named said, and the instrument was recovered on Friday in good condition on the steps of a Catholic church 15 miles south of San Francisco.
"San Francisco police have determined that the original report of theft ... was false and the violin was never stolen," police said in a press release. "Investigators will complete their investigation and refer the case to the San Francisco District Attorney's office."
Nash Mondragon, owner of the Cremona violin shop that lent Nakajima the instrument on behalf of the seller, said he did not want to deal with the item any more.
"That's terrible," he said of the false theft report. "The violin is being returned to the owner. I don't want to handle the violin anymore."
Asked what collateral he had taken before lending out the instrument, he replied: "You have to trust them. That's the way the business has always worked."
Nakajima did not return calls for comment.
Well for one thing, we're FReepin'! (Music later tonight.)
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