https://www.yahoo.com/music/s/stolen...093759462.html
I guess everybody can chime in on the insurance aspect.
https://www.yahoo.com/music/s/stolen...093759462.html
I guess everybody can chime in on the insurance aspect.
Cool! That must have been an exciting day for the appraiser. Bummer for Mr. Johnson's wife.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
Indeed. So glad they protected her anonymity. Sort of.
But the best part is it got returned to the owner's family. Next is that they're going to sell it, but not to a collector - I assume that means to a violinist, so it will get played, not kept as an investment. That's what it's meant for.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
Wonderful story. Oops, "Lady, I've got some good news and some bad news--the violin is worth $15M, but unfortunately it is stolen!"
What's up with these "deathbed confessions"?
Nice to know it will get played. Also, nice to know that to some people $15 Million isn't a lot of money.........???????
I didn't see any deathbed confession. is there another article?
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
The deathbed confession concerned a different violin, the Gibson, the one that Joshua Bell now owns.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
The article goes on to mention other stolen Strads--one stolen in 1936 and recovered in 1985 due to a deathbed confession of the person who stole it. I think I remember 60 Minutes doing a segment on this one, back in 1985.
What is amazing to me is the lust for Strads that people have. Really getting into "Maltese Falcon" territory....
Orcas Island Tonewoods
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Well, we do of course, but most of us are reasonable enough to stop short of stealing.
Which brings me to my next question: I watched a Joshua Bell interview about his Strad and he says from the first few notes he knew he had to have it and he "mortgaged his life away" and has played nothing else since he got it. My question is, how does a person of normal means get a mortgage or "loan" for $3.6 million dollars? (I believe that is what it cost at the time, it is worth more now)
I know sometimes wealthy collectors/players will loan their instruments to aspiring artists, Steve Martin loaning his Loar comes to mind. But, in this case Bell was able to purchase it with credit. I also remember YoYo Ma purchased a Strad cello for around $4M about 20 years ago--not sure what his financial situation was at the time--he was certainly well-known by then.
Just thinking out loud--probably quite a few of us would be playing a Loar if we could buy on time. (see I switched the discussion from violins to mandolins)
Another question. Not that I can afford it, but how much would insurance cost to insure a $15 million dollar instrument? Just to be curious.
Last edited by Jeff Mando; Aug-06-2015 at 12:54pm.
I'm sure it was valued at a lot less when it was stolen. I don't know how buybacks work, though. Do you pay back the original claim amount? With interest? Adjusted for inflation? Or does the insurance company get to recalculate the violin's value before selling it back?
Or ... is there a chance Totenberg actually didn't have the Strad insured, and that's why it's going back to his family rather than an insurance company?
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This news was also just now mentioned on 'bbc world news'. Apparently the original owner said, when it was stolen, "it was like he had lost his arm".
BIG news in the violin world - and that world is very different to guitarland and mandoland.
I've seen a PBS show that airs occasionally called "the two gentlemen of verona" . They show many pix of these incredible instruments, and interviews with some very famous owner/players. Great vid, if you get a chance to see it........
The 2 'gentlemen':
Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù
Antonius Stradivarius
= The Loar, LM700VS c.2013 = "The Brat"
= G. Puglisi, "Roma" c.1907 = "Patentato" - rare archBack, canted top, oval
= Harmony, Monterrey c.1969 = collapsed ply - parts, testing, training, firewood.
"The intellect is a boring load of crawp. Aye. Next wee chune".
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
Someone here probably knows more than me, but it depends on the policy. It could be the original claim amount, original claim plus interest, or current value.
From the Washington Post story:
"The Totenbergs repaid the insurance company the $101,000 doled out back in 1980 so they could reclaim their father’s violin."
I remember reading about a Stradivarius that was stolen at Carnegie hall in the 30's. It was recovered many years later. the Insurance company had paid a claim for the loss and gave a finder's fee to the family of the man who stole it. was this the Gibson Stradivarius?
This is NPR Supreme Court Corespondent Nina Totenberg's father's violin. Heard this this morning.
Very cool to have it returned and soon back into circulation.
Jamie
There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. Logan Pearsall Smith, 1865 - 1946
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Of course it is! I knew the name seemed familiar, just couldn't place it, out of context. Haven't listed to NPR - or any radio - for a long while.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
Nina Totenberg's article on NPR fills in most of the missing details from the family's perspective:
http://www.npr.org/2015/08/06/427718...after-35-years
Hope they get their father's (also vintage) bow back, too!
Yes, that is the Gibson Strad. A teenage boy and his mother plotted the theft, over time, with the boy befriending the doormen at Carnegie Hall and watching the door for them while they took cigarette breaks. They waited for the right victim, a Polish violinist named Huberman, chosen because of the quality of his instrument and the fact he was foreign, they felt he would not stay in the United States long in search of his Strad. The thief kept the violin for 50 years until his death and yes, his wife received a finder's fee from Lloyds of London, when she returned the violin to them.
Thanks for the link to Nina Totenberg's article. Brilliant story, despite her assessment of it as mundane.
Great finish: Of course, Stradivarius owners are really just guardians of these great artistic instruments. We will sell the Ames Strad — now perhaps the Ames-Totenberg Stradivarius. We will make sure it is in the hands of another virtuoso violinist. And once again, the beautiful, brilliant and throaty voice of that long-stilled violin will thrill audiences in concert halls around the world.
Hear, hear!
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
Last edited by mrmando; Aug-07-2015 at 12:56am.
Emando.com: More than you wanted to know about electric mandolins.
Notorious: My Celtic CD--listen & buy!
Lyon & Healy • Wood • Thormahlen • Andersen • Bacorn • Yanuziello • Fender • National • Gibson • Franke • Fuchs • Aceto • Three Hungry Pit Bulls
It is wonderful that the instrument was recovered. There is some speculation that it was not made by the hand of Antonio but rather was made by his son Francesco. Experts have a lot more information about late model Strads today then thirty years ago. If it is a Francesco, it will be worth a lot less then one made by his father.
Charley
A bunch of stuff with four strings
1734 is a late year; Stradivari died in 1737, and IIRC some of the work on the latest violins isn't considered quite up to the standard established by the ones he built in his prime. Still, I'm sure the violin has appreciated nicely from both the $15K Totenberg paid for it in 1943 and the $101K buyback amount. The Post-Gazette article alludes to Francesco:
http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/music...s/201508060196
Emando.com: More than you wanted to know about electric mandolins.
Notorious: My Celtic CD--listen & buy!
Lyon & Healy • Wood • Thormahlen • Andersen • Bacorn • Yanuziello • Fender • National • Gibson • Franke • Fuchs • Aceto • Three Hungry Pit Bulls
Stories like this fascinate me, both as a musician and also from an economic point of view. $15K was INSANE money to spend in 1943. An average new car cost $850 in 1940 (cars weren't being made during WWII), $2000 bought a brand new Cadillac. $5-10K bought a nice home. $15K bought a mansion. Average US Salary in 1940 was $956 annually (for a man) according to the 1940 US Census. Unless Totenberg was independently wealthy, which he may have been, I don't quite understand how it all adds up. This is not just a kid working hard sacking groceries and buying a new Corvette--this is big big money for the time. Was the 15K in goods and services?
Reread some more about Joshua Bell, come to find out when he got the Gibson Strad for $3.6 Million, HE ALREADY had another Strad worth $2 Million that he sold, so again I ask the question, how does a young "whippersnapper" come up with that kind of scratch? It is obvious to me now at this late date, I should have studied something besides basketweaving in college.....
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