is a 1707 violin made 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 ''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

'' reported that the instrument was named ''La Cathedrale'' for the "majesty of its tone". It fetched a record $483,000 at Sotheby's auction in 1984, the highest for any musical instrument sold at auction until ''The Colossus''

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the violins, violas, cellos and other string instruments built by members of the Italian family Stradivari, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), during the 17th and 18th centuries. They are co ...

was purchased by

Luigi Alberto Bianchi Luigi Alberto Bianchi (1 January 1945 – 3 January 2018) was an Italian violinist and violist. Life Bianchi was born in 1945 in Rimini, into a musical family, and from the age of six he had violin lessons.Nigel Kennedy Nigel Kennedy (born 28 December 1956) is an English violinist and violist. His early career was primarily spent performing classical music, and he has since expanded into jazz, klezmer, and other music genres. Early life and background Kenn ...

played ''La Cathedrale'' early in his career, but later purchased the ''Lafont'', an instrument made by

Guarneri del Gesù Bartolomeo Giuseppe "del Gesù" Guarneri (, , ; 21 August 1698 – 17 October 1744) was an Italian luthier from the Guarneri family of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737) with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his inst ...

. For a time ''La Cathedrale'' was part of the Mandell Collection; antique violins from this collection were loaned to young students. In 2014, the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' reported that the Mandells had sold ''La Cathedrale'' to raise funds for the purchase of additional instruments for Mandell Artists. Before the Mandells sold the instrument, ''La Cathedrale'' was loaned to

Tamaki Kawakubo (born October 10, 1979) is a Japanese-American violinist. A recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, she won the Silver Medal at the 2002 International Tchaikovsky Competition and the First Prize at the 2001 Sarasate International Violin Compet ...

, who won the 2002

International Tchaikovsky Competition The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 32 years of age and singers between 19 and 32 years of ...

References

Stradivari violins Stradivari instruments 1707 works {{violin-stub