The Batta-Piatigorsky Stradivarius is a cello made in Cremona, Italy in 1714 by

Antonio Stradivari Antonio Stradivari (, also , ; – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, ''Stradivarius'', as well as the colloq ...

. The Batta-Piatigorsky was acquired by the Dutch cellist, Alexandre Batta, in 1836. It had also been played by the prominent French virtuoso cellist,

Adrien-François Servais Adrien-François Servais (6 June 180726 November 1866) was one of the most influential cellists of the nineteenth century. He was born and died in Halle, Belgium. He is one of the founders of the Modern Cellistic Schools of Paris and Madrid, whic ...

. In 1893, Batta sold the cello to W.E. Hill & Sons in London. Hill then sold it to collector

Baron Johann Knoop Baron Johann Knoop (22 July 1846 in Moscow – 9 May 1918 in Wadhurst), was a collector of musical instruments who possessed a total of 29 great violins, violas, and cellos at one time or another including some four Stradivari violas. Several i ...

, from whom the renowned Ukrainian-American virtuoso cellist,

Gregor Piatigorsky Gregor Piatigorsky (, ''Grigoriy Pavlovich Pyatigorskiy''; August 6, 1976) was a Russian Empire-born American cellist. Biography Early life Gregor Piatigorsky was born in Ekaterinoslav (now Dnipro, Ukraine) into a Jewish family. As a child, ...

, acquired it. Of the Batta Stradivarius (as it was known at the time he acquired it), Piatigorsky wrote in his autobiography, ''Cellist:'' "I played the Batta for a long time before appearing in concert with it. In solitude, as is befitting honeymooners, we avoided interfering company until then. . . While all other instruments I had played prior to the Batta differed one from the other in character and range, I knew their qualities, shortcomings, or their capriciousness enough to exploit their good capabilities to full advantage. Not so with the Batta, whose prowess had no limitations. Bottomless in its resources, it spurred me on to try to reach its depths, and I have never worked harder or desired anything more fervently than to draw out of this superior instrument all it has to give." The Batta-Piatigorsky Stradivarius is generally regarded as being among Stradivari's finest cellos, along with the

Duport Stradivarius The ''Duport Stradivarius'' is a cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four ...

, the

Davidov Stradivarius The ''Davidov Stradivarius'' (also: ''Davidoff'' or ''Davydov''; russian: Давыдов), is an antique cello made in 1712 by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona, Italy. It is very similar in construction and form to the equally famed '' ...

and the

Servais Stradivarius The ''Servais Stradivarius'' is an antique cello crafted in 1701 by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona (1644–1737). One of only sixty-three extant cellos attributed to Stradivari, it was crafted from exceptional wood reserved by ...

. It is on display at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York City.

References

{{reflist * * * * Stradivari cellos Italian musical instruments 1710s establishments in Italy Stradivari instruments