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A Famed Violin's Fantastic Journey
"Long-lost Stradivarius Strikes a Chord in Heart of Modern Master"
The Dallas Morning News -28 October 2001

The mystique of the name Stradivarius has resonated beyond classical music for generations, finding a place in the popular imagination and even urban legend.
You don't have to know a violin from a viola to know the stories - some apocryphal - about one of the exquisitely rare instruments turning up in an attic or junk shop. Now add another stanza to what may be the most contorted tale of all the world's prized violins - a masterwork lost for half a century, today in the hands of a new master.

Joshua Bell, the young superstar violinist who played the solos for a movie about a violin's travels through the ages, took his role in the true-life version this month by paying nearly $4 million for the famed Gibson Stradivarius, which is nearly three centuries old. Dealers in Dallas who work for the leading restorer and seller of stringed instruments helped complete the sale. "I instantaneously fell in love with the instrument like I never have before with a violin," Mr. Bell, 33, said Friday from his home in New York. "This is like a dream come true." Mr. Bell, hailed for his lyric musicianship and varied musical interests that have made him an international crossover hit, bought a violin whose history is almost as dark as the grime that covered it when the instrument resurfaced after a deathbed confession in 1985.

The Strad - a conversational abbreviation in concert and collector circles for violins made by Antonius Stradivarius - has been stolen twice, last disappearing from New York's Carnegie Hall in 1936. Even after a cafe musician, dying in jail, admitted he had the stolen violin all those years, an insurer's payment to get it back led to litigation between the thief's heirs. "It's a bit ironic that he's buying an instrument with so much intrigue surrounding it," said Michael Selman, general manager of J&A Beare Ltd. in Dallas, the company that sold the violin for well-known British violinist Norbert Brainin. "If the movie The Red Violin hadn't been made, this would have been the one to write a book about," Mr. Selman said of the 1999 film in which Mr. Bell played the music. Among the yarns of famous violins reappearing, Mr. Selman said, "This is the story, and it involves one of the very fine violins in the world." This one was constructed in 1713, during what's known as the Golden Period - when Stradivarius made instruments renowned for unequaled tone.
The violin later became known as the Gibson Strad, taking its name from early owner Alfred Gibson, as is customary for valued instruments.
Of the more than 1,100 violins made during Stradivarius' lifetime, about half are thought to still exist. (Through the centuries, manufacturers around the world usurped the famous name, producing hundreds of thousands of violins stamped "Stradivarius" - explaining all of those garage-sale discoveries.)

Ninety years ago, the Gibson Strad was owned by Polish virtuoso Bronislaw Huberman, from whom it was stolen twice. In 1919, the violin was taken from his hotel room in Vienna but was quickly returned after the thief supposedly offered it to a dealer. The next time, Mr. Huberman didn't get it back.
He was on stage at Carnegie Hall in 1936 when the violin was stolen from his dressing room. Eventually, he accepted a full settlement of about $30,000 from the insurer, Lloyd's of London. For the next 51 years, the violin was officially missing, though it apparently frequented cafes and clubs in the New York area with a violinist named Julian Altman. Its trail went undetected until 1987 when a 69-year-old widow with an evolving story contacted Lloyd's about the long-lost violin. Marcelle Hall said Mr. Altman had revealed his lifelong secret in 1985 while dying of stomach cancer: He bought the Gibson Strad for $100 the day after a friend stole it from Carnegie Hall. Mr. Altman died at age 70 shortly after he and Ms. Hall were married.
Lloyd's agreed to pay Ms. Hall a finder's fee of $263,475 - one-quarter of its value.

A half-century of filth was lifted from the Strad - "like taking dirt off the Sistine Chapel," Mr. Bell said - and in 1988, the insurer sold it to Mr. Brainin for $1.2 million. Nearly a decade later, Mr. Altman's daughter, Sherry Schoenwetter, gave up trying to get her share of Ms. Hall's payment. The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in 1996 that Ms. Hall should have included the money in her husband's estate. But Ms. Hall had spent the small fortune and had few assets left.
The lengthy court fight did elicit from Ms. Hall a second detailed account of the stolen Strad. She testified that Mr. Altman confessed to stealing the violin in a plot concocted with his mother and that she found old newspaper stories about the theft in the violin case. Mr. Altman, who was known around Carnegie Hall, had ducked out of his job with a gypsy orchestra at the nearby Russian Bear cafe, Ms. Hall said. He diverted a security guard with a fine cigar, went to the dressing room and hid the violin under his coat, she said. A trial judge described the testimony as "more dramatic than the most contrived TV mystery show."
Chris Donohue, Ms. Schoenwetter's attorney, said Ms. Hall's story was "probably true," but his client was never paid. "Not one red cent."

About the time the litigation ended, Mr. Bell appeared at a concert with Mr. Brainin and had his first encounter with the violin that one day would be his. "He let me play a few notes, and I thought it was the most amazing-sounding violin I'd ever heard," Mr. Bell said. He recalled the owner's joking response: "Maybe someday you'll have this violin. Well, if you can come up with $4 million." Five years later, they met again - Mr. Bell and the Gibson Strad, that is.
In August, he stopped at Beare's London office and found that it was about to be sold to a German industrialist. "It made me nauseous, the thought of that," he said. He put the violin to his chin again and played. "I was practically in tears, and I said, 'You cannot take this violin.' " Mr. Bell talked with Mr. Brainin. Negotiations took just two days. "Which is very unusual," Mr. Bell said. "You usually spend months trying to make sure it's the right violin. "I could only go so far with price, and I think he liked the fact that I'd be playing his violin." Mr. Bell had to sell an old friend, his 1732 Strad, the one he played for the Oscar-winning score of The Red Violin. The escalating market for Strads quickly brought him more than $2 million from a collector who will lend the violin to a young performer. The Gibson Strad, it so happens, has a "glorious varnish" that's "extremely red." "It's ironic for me that I'm ending up with the red violin," Mr. Bell said.
It will be with him from now on, his performance violin on stage and in the studio, he said, making the promise of countless love affairs.
"Always."

by Mark Wrolstad

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		A Famed Violin's Fantastic Journey "Long-lost Stradivarius Strikes a Chord in Heart of Modern Master" The Dallas Morning News -28 October 2001 The mystique of the name Stradivarius has resonated beyond classical music for generations, finding a place in the popular imagination and even urban legend. You don't have to know a violin from a viola to know the stories - some apocryphal - about one of the exquisitely rare instruments turning up in an attic or junk shop. Now add another stanza to what may be the most contorted tale of all the world's prized violins - a masterwork lost for half a century, today in the hands of a new master. Joshua Bell, the young superstar violinist who played the solos for a movie about a violin's travels through the ages, took his role in the true-life version this month by paying nearly $4 million for the famed Gibson Stradivarius, which is nearly three centuries old. Dealers in Dallas who work for the leading restorer and seller of stringed instruments helped complete the sale. "I instantaneously fell in love with the instrument like I never have before with a violin," Mr. Bell, 33, said Friday from his home in New York. "This is like a dream come true." Mr. Bell, hailed for his lyric musicianship and varied musical interests that have made him an international crossover hit, bought a violin whose history is almost as dark as the grime that covered it when the instrument resurfaced after a deathbed confession in 1985. The Strad - a conversational abbreviation in concert and collector circles for violins made by Antonius Stradivarius - has been stolen twice, last disappearing from New York's Carnegie Hall in 1936. Even after a cafe musician, dying in jail, admitted he had the stolen violin all those years, an insurer's payment to get it back led to litigation between the thief's heirs. "It's a bit ironic that he's buying an instrument with so much intrigue surrounding it," said Michael Selman, general manager of J&A Beare Ltd. in Dallas, the company that sold the violin for well-known British violinist Norbert Brainin. "If the movie The Red Violin hadn't been made, this would have been the one to write a book about," Mr. Selman said of the 1999 film in which Mr. Bell played the music. Among the yarns of famous violins reappearing, Mr. Selman said, "This is the story, and it involves one of the very fine violins in the world." This one was constructed in 1713, during what's known as the Golden Period - when Stradivarius made instruments renowned for unequaled tone. The violin later became known as the Gibson Strad, taking its name from early owner Alfred Gibson, as is customary for valued instruments. Of the more than 1,100 violins made during Stradivarius' lifetime, about half are thought to still exist. (Through the centuries, manufacturers around the world usurped the famous name, producing hundreds of thousands of violins stamped "Stradivarius" - explaining all of those garage-sale discoveries.) Ninety years ago, the Gibson Strad was owned by Polish virtuoso Bronislaw Huberman, from whom it was stolen twice. In 1919, the violin was taken from his hotel room in Vienna but was quickly returned after the thief supposedly offered it to a dealer. The next time, Mr. Huberman didn't get it back. He was on stage at Carnegie Hall in 1936 when the violin was stolen from his dressing room. Eventually, he accepted a full settlement of about $30,000 from the insurer, Lloyd's of London. For the next 51 years, the violin was officially missing, though it apparently frequented cafes and clubs in the New York area with a violinist named Julian Altman. Its trail went undetected until 1987 when a 69-year-old widow with an evolving story contacted Lloyd's about the long-lost violin. Marcelle Hall said Mr. Altman had revealed his lifelong secret in 1985 while dying of stomach cancer: He bought the Gibson Strad for $100 the day after a friend stole it from Carnegie Hall. Mr. Altman died at age 70 shortly after he and Ms. Hall were married. Lloyd's agreed to pay Ms. Hall a finder's fee of $263,475 - one-quarter of its value. A half-century of filth was lifted from the Strad - "like taking dirt off the Sistine Chapel," Mr. Bell said - and in 1988, the insurer sold it to Mr. Brainin for $1.2 million. Nearly a decade later, Mr. Altman's daughter, Sherry Schoenwetter, gave up trying to get her share of Ms. Hall's payment. The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in 1996 that Ms. Hall should have included the money in her husband's estate. But Ms. Hall had spent the small fortune and had few assets left. The lengthy court fight did elicit from Ms. Hall a second detailed account of the stolen Strad. She testified that Mr. Altman confessed to stealing the violin in a plot concocted with his mother and that she found old newspaper stories about the theft in the violin case. Mr. Altman, who was known around Carnegie Hall, had ducked out of his job with a gypsy orchestra at the nearby Russian Bear cafe, Ms. Hall said. He diverted a security guard with a fine cigar, went to the dressing room and hid the violin under his coat, she said. A trial judge described the testimony as "more dramatic than the most contrived TV mystery show." Chris Donohue, Ms. Schoenwetter's attorney, said Ms. Hall's story was "probably true," but his client was never paid. "Not one red cent." About the time the litigation ended, Mr. Bell appeared at a concert with Mr. Brainin and had his first encounter with the violin that one day would be his. "He let me play a few notes, and I thought it was the most amazing-sounding violin I'd ever heard," Mr. Bell said. He recalled the owner's joking response: "Maybe someday you'll have this violin. Well, if you can come up with $4 million." Five years later, they met again - Mr. Bell and the Gibson Strad, that is. In August, he stopped at Beare's London office and found that it was about to be sold to a German industrialist. "It made me nauseous, the thought of that," he said. He put the violin to his chin again and played. "I was practically in tears, and I said, 'You cannot take this violin.' " Mr. Bell talked with Mr. Brainin. Negotiations took just two days. "Which is very unusual," Mr. Bell said. "You usually spend months trying to make sure it's the right violin. "I could only go so far with price, and I think he liked the fact that I'd be playing his violin." Mr. Bell had to sell an old friend, his 1732 Strad, the one he played for the Oscar-winning score of The Red Violin. The escalating market for Strads quickly brought him more than $2 million from a collector who will lend the violin to a young performer. The Gibson Strad, it so happens, has a "glorious varnish" that's "extremely red." "It's ironic for me that I'm ending up with the red violin," Mr. Bell said. It will be with him from now on, his performance violin on stage and in the studio, he said, making the promise of countless love affairs. "Always." by Mark Wrolstad back to news...