A (or "Strad") is a Stringed Instrument built by members of the Stradivari family, especially by Antonio Stradivari .
The playable instruments are highly prized by world-class musicians, and others who can afford them. Their individual qualities are considered worth distinguishing, and a Strad is often identified by the name of someone (often a famous musician) who formerly owned it, or regularly performed on it.
A Stradivarius made in the 1680s or during Stradivari's Brescian period ( 1690 - 1700 ) could be worth several hundred thousand dollars or more at today's prices in auction. If it was made during Stradivari's "golden period" ( 1700 to 1720 ), depending on condition, the instrument can be worth several million. They rarely come up for sale and the highest price paid for a Stradivarius (or any musical instrument) at public auction was 'The Lady Tennant ', made in 1699 which sold for US$2,032,000 in 2005. Private sales of Stradivari instruments have exceeded this price.
The world's only complete set of Stradivarius instruments (string quintet) belongs to the Spanish Government and consists of two violins, two cellos, and a viola. They are exhibited in the Music Museum at the Royal Palace ( Palacio Real ) of Madrid . Another important collection is the collection of the Royal Academy Of Music (York Gate Collections) in London.
Many people find violins labeled or branded as "Stradivarius," and believe them to be genuine. It is believed that there are fewer than 700 genuine Strads left in existence, very few of which are unaccounted for.
These instruments are famous for the quality of their sound. There have been many failed attempts to explain and reproduce the sound quality. One theory stated that Stradivari used wood from an old cathedral to build his instruments, but Tree-ring Dating has shown this to be false. Another theory is that the density of the wood grown during the Little Ice Age and used to build the instruments is responsible, and yet another theory states that the glue Stradivari used had a great effect on the sound.
The fame of Stradivarius Violins is not a modern phenomenon; the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes is supposed to have owned one. Another famous story is about a Stradivarius Cello, known as the " Duport " which has the spur marks of Emperor Napoleon , who scratched the cello when he tried to play it. They also played an important role in the James Bond film '' The Living Daylights ''.
The reputation of the Stradivarius is such that its name is frequently invoked as a standard of excellence in other, unrelated fields (such as ships and cars); for example, the Bath Iron Works ' unofficial motto is "A Bath boat is the Stradivarius of Destroyer s!".
- '' Aranyi '' 1667
- '' Ex Captain Saville '' 1667 - currently played by Andre Rieu
- '' Amatese '' 1668
- '' Oistrakh '' 1671 - David Oistrakh . Stolen in 1996, it is still missing. {Link without Title}
- '' Spanish '' 1677
- '' Paganini-Desaint (Paganini Quartet) '' 1680 - currently owned by the Nippon Music Foundation, on extended loan to Kikuei Ikeda of the Tokyo String Quartet
- '' Fleming '' 1681 - currently owned by the Stradivari Society , on extended loan to Cecily Ward {Link without Title}
- '' Bucher '' 1683
- '' Cipriani Potter '' 1683
- '' Cobbett Ex Holloway '' 1683
- '' Ex Arma Senkrah '' 1685
- '' Ex Castelbarco '' 1685
- " Mercur-Avery " 1687 - currently played by Jonathan Carney , concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra starting 2002.
- '' Auer '' 1689 - currently owned by the Stradivari Society, on extended loan to Vadim Gluzman {Link without Title}
- '' Arditi '' 1689
- '' Baumgartner '' 1689 - currently played by Alexandre Da Costa , courtesy of The Canada Council For The Arts {Link without Title}
- '' Bingham '' 1690
- '' Bennet '' 1692
- '' Falmouth '' 1692 - currently played by Leonidas Kavakos
- '' Baillot-Pommerau '' 1694
- '' Fetzer '' 1694 - currently owned by the Stradivari Society, on extended loan to Ruggero Allifranchini {Link without Title}
- '' Cabriac '' 1698
- '' Ex Baron Knoop '' 1698
- '' Joachim '' 1698 Currently owned by the Royal Academy of Music
- '' The Lady Tennant '' 1699 {Link without Title}
- '' Longuet '' 1699
- '' Countess Polignac '' 1699 - Currently played by Gil Shaham .
- '' Castelbarco '' 1699
- '' Cristiani '' 1700
- '' Taft Ex Emil Heermann '' 1700
- '' Dushkin '' 1701 - currently owned by the Stradivari Society, on extended loan to Frank Almond {Link without Title}
- '' The Irish '' 1702 - currently owned by the Finnish OKO Bank, currently on loan to Réka Szilvay .
- '' Conte Di Fontana '' 1702 - David Oistrakh's first violin. Currently owned by Massimo Quarta.
- '' King Maximilian Joseph '' c. 1702 - currently owned by the Stradivari Society on extended loan to Berent Korfker [http://www.korfker.com .
- '' Lyall '' 1702 - currently owned by the Stradivari Society, on extended loan to Stefan Milenkovich {Link without Title}
- '' La Rouse Boughton '' 1703 – currently owned by the Austrian National Bank , on loan to Boris Kuschnir of the Kopelman Quartet
- '' Allegretti '' 1703
- '' Alsager '' 1703
- '' Emiliani '' 1703 - currently owned by Anne-Sophie Mutter
- '' Betts '' 1704 - part of the collection of the Library Of Congress
- '' Ex Brüstlein '' 1707 – currently owned by the Austrian National Bank {Link without Title}
- '' La Cathédrale '' 1707 - currently owned by the Stradivari Society, on extended loan to Tamaki Kawakubo {Link without Title}
- '' Hammer '' 1707 - currently owned by Kyoko Takezawa
- '' Burstein, Bagshawe '' 1708 - currently owned by the Stradivari Society, on extended loan to Janice Martin. {Link without Title}
- '' Duc De Camposelice '' 1708
- '' Ruby '' 1708 - currently owned by the Stradivari Society, occasionally used by Leila Josefowicz ; currently played by Vadim Repin {Link without Title}
- '' Berlin Hochschule '' 1709
- '' Ernst '' 1709
- '' Viotti '' 1709 Currently owned by the Royal Academy Of Music
- '' Lord Dunn-Raven '' 1710 - currently owned by Anne-Sophie Mutter
- '' Ex Roederer '' 1710 - currently played by David Grimal
- '' Ex Vieuxtemps '' 1710
- '' Liegnitz '' 1711
- '' Boissier '' 1713
- '' Gibson Ex Huberman '' 1713 - currently owned by Joshua Bell
- '' Cremonese Ex Joachim '' 1714 currently owned by the Royal Academy Of Music
- '' Dolphin '' 1714 - currently owned by the Nippon Music Foundation , formerly owned by Jascha Heifetz
- '' Soil '' 1714 - currently owned by Itzhak Perlman
- '' Ex Berou Ex Thibaud '' 1714
- '' Le Maurien '' 1714 - Stolen in 2002, it is still missing. {Link without Title}
- '' Leonora Jackson '' 1714
- '' Lipinski '' 1715 - Missing since 1962.
- '' Titian '' 1715
- '' Alard '' 1715
- '' Ex Bazzini '' 1715
- '' Cessole '' 1715
- '' Ex Marsick '' 1715 - currently played by James Ehnes
- '' Berthier '' 1716
- '' Booth '' 1716 - Currently played by Julia Fischer
- '' Colossus '' 1716 - Stolen in 1998, it is still missing. {Link without Title}
- '' Monasterio '' 1716
- '' Provigny '' 1716
- '' Messiah '' 1716
- '' Ex Wieniawski '' 1717
- '' Gariel '' 1717
- '' Windsor-Weinstein '' 1716 - currently owned by The Canada Council For The Arts Musical Instrument Bank
- '' Firebird Ex Saint-Exupéry '' 1718 - currently owned by Salvatore Accardo
- '' Madrileño '' 1720
- '' Ex Beckerath '' 1720
- '' Red Mendelssohn '' 1720 - currently played by Elizabeth Pitcairn and inspired the Red Violin movie.
- '' Artot '' 1722
- '' Jupiter '' 1722 - currently owned by the Nippon Music Foundation, formerly used by Midori Goto
- '' Laub-Petschnikoff '' 1722
- '' Jules Falk '' 1723 - currently owned by Viktoria Mullova
- '' Kiesewetter '' 1723 - currently owned by the Stradivari Society, currently on loan to Stefan Jackiw {Link without Title}
- '' Le Saraste '' 1724 - currently owned by the Real Conservatorio Superior De Música in Madrid , Spain
- '' Earl Spencer '' 1723 - formerly played by Emmy Verhey
- '' Brancaccio '' 1725
- '' Barrere '' 1727 - currently owned by the Stradivari Society, on extended loan to Janine Jansen . {Link without Title}
- '' Davidov-Morini '' 1727 - Stolen in 1995, it is still missing. {Link without Title}
- '' Ex General Dupont '' 1727
- '' Holroyd '' 1727
- '' Kreutzer '' 1727 - currently played by Maxim Vengerov
- '' Hart Ex Francescatti '' 1727 – currently owned by Salvatore Accardo
- '' Paganini-Comte Cozio Di Salabue (Paganini Quartet) '' 1727 - currently owned by the Nippon Music Foundation, on extended loan to Martin Beaver of the Tokyo String Quartet
- '' Benny '' 1729 - Jack Benny , bequeathed to the Los Angeles Philharmonic
- '' Lady Jeanne '' 1731 - Currently owned by the Donald Kahn Foundation, on extended loan to Benjamin Schmid {Link without Title}
- '' Herkules '' 1732 - belonged to Eugène Ysaye . Stolen in 1908, it is still missing. {Link without Title}
- '' Des Rosiers '' 1733 currently owned by Angèle Dubeau
- '' Khevenhüller '' 1733 - belonged to Yehudi Menuhin .
- '' Rode '' 1733
- '' Ames '' 1734 - Stolen, still missing. {Link without Title}
- '' Ex Baron Von Feilitzsch '' 1734
- '' Habeneck '' 1734 currently owned by the Royal Academy Of Music
- '' Lamoureux '' 1735 - Stolen, still missing. {Link without Title}
- '' Muntz '' 1736 - currently owned by the Nippon Music Foundation.
- '' Comte D'Armaille '' 1737
- '' Lord Norton '' 1737
- '' Chant Du Cygne - Swansong '' 1737
There are 13 extant Antonio Stradivari violas. {Link without Title}
Antonio Stradivari built between 70 and 80 cellos in his lifetime 63 of which are extant. [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian/issues02/dec02/small.html
Antonio Stradivari made a single Harp during his lifetime. {Link without Title}
There are two known surviving mandolins by Stradivari.
- ''The Cutler-Challen Choral Mandolino'', 1680, in the collection of the National Music Museum (http://www.usd.edu/smm/) at the University Of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States of America.
- As Of 2006 the other was privately owned in London.
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