Lipinski Stradivarius - Jan 1923 Shadowland

The ''Lipinski Stradivarius'' is an

antique An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

constructed in 1715 by the Italian

luthier A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers o ...

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 ...

Cremona Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...

, during Stradivari's "golden period" between 1700 and 1725. There are fewer than 650 extant

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 ...

violins in the world today, and the Lipinski is considered to be a particularly fine example. In 2012, it was appraised at US$5 million.

History

The earlier history of ''The Lipinski'' is unclear; Italian violinist and composer

Giuseppe Tartini Giuseppe Tartini (8 April 1692 – 26 February 1770) was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era born in the Republic of Venice. Tartini was a prolific composer, composing over a hundred of pieces for the violin with the majority of ...

is the first reputed owner. Tartini, who in 1713 experienced a dream in which he allowed the devil to play his violin, heard a beautiful sonata which he was unable to compare with anything he had ever heard. Tartini, two years later, tried to reproduce the sound in his ''

Devil's Trill Sonata The Violin Sonata in G minor, B.g5, more familiarly known as the ''Devil's Trill Sonata'' ( Italian: ''Il trillo del diavolo''), is a work for solo violin (with figured bass accompaniment) by Giuseppe Tartini (1692–1770). It is the composer's bes ...

''.

Lipinski

Tartini presented the violin to his pupil, Signor Salvini. According to a reminiscence of a certain von Krockow, who met the Polish violinist

Karol Lipiński Karol Józef Lipiński (30 October 1790 – 16 December 1861) was a Polish music composer and virtuoso violinist active during the partitions of Poland. The Karol Lipiński University of Music in Wrocław, Poland is named after him. Life ...

in Dresden in 1849, the young Lipinski, provided with a letter of recommendation from

Louis Spohr Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig, was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten symphonies, ...

, met Salvini in Milan, probably at the end of his concert tour (1817–18). After Lipinski performed for Salvini, the teacher asked to see his violin, which he then smashed to pieces against the corner of a table. Salvini handed the shocked Lipinski the Stradivarius: "...as a gift from me, and, simultaneously, as a commemoration of Tartini."

Post-Lipinski

Following Lipinski's death, the violin passed through numerous collections enumerated by Herbert Goodkind, until it came into the possession of Dr José Martinez Cañas, Havana, Cuba.

Contemporary ownership

In 1962, the ''Lipinski Stradivarius'' was sold to Rosalind Elsner Anschuetz of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, for

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

19,000. Anschuetz gave the violin to her daughter-in-law,

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n violinist

Evi Liivak Evi Liivak (7 May 1924 – 1 November 1996) was an American violinist of Estonian origin. Life Born in Viljandi, Liivak was born the daughter of the music-loving lawyer Henn Liivak and his wife Johanna. She took violin lessons at an early age ...

, and upon her death in 1996, Liivak's husband, Richard Anschuetz, took possession of the instrument. After Anschuetz moved to the

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

area, the violin was stored in a local bank vault. Upon Anschuetz' death in February 2008, ownership of the violin passed to an anonymous family member, who lent the ''Lipinski'' to

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The orchestra performs primarily at the Bradley Symphony Center in Allen-Bradley Hall. The orchestra also serves as the orchestra for Florentine ...

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

Frank Almond.

2014 theft

On January 27, 2014, a Monday, at around 10:20 pm (22:20 CST), Almond was assaulted with a

Taser A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to ...

, and the violin, including two bows, was stolen during an armed robbery in a parking lot in the rear of

Wisconsin Lutheran College Wisconsin Lutheran College (WLC) is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and located on the border of Milwaukee and Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. It has an enrollment of about 1,200 students and is accre ...

on West Wisconsin Avenue. Almond had just performed at Wisconsin Lutheran as part of his "Frankly Music" series.http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/stradivarius-violin-stolen-in-armed-robbery-in-milwaukee-b99193907z1-242463151.html. On 31 January 2014, a US$100,000 reward was announced for the return of the violin. Milwaukee police worked with international police organizations on recovery efforts. The original getaway vehicle and violin case were both found a short time after the original attack, which appeared to have been carefully planned in advance.http://www.jsonline.com/news/100000-reward-announced-in-stradivarius-violin-theft-b99195751z1-242983311.html. Three suspects were arrested by Milwaukee police on February 3, 2014. On February 6, 2014, Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn announced that the violin had been recovered.http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/two-are-charged-in-theft-of-stradivarius-violin-from-frank-almond-b99200515z1-244294801.html.

Provenance

*Signor Salvini, Milan *Karol Lipinski *Richard Weichold, instrument dealer, Dresden, 1861 *

Engelbert Röntgen Engelbert Röntgen (30 September 1829 – 12 December 1897)Obituary
''

, Leipzig *''owner not known'' * W. E. Hill & Sons, instrument dealers, London, 1899 *Unknown amateur musician, Holland *Hill & Sons, instrument dealers, London *''owner not known'' *Hamma, instrument dealers, Germany *''Unknown'' *

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

, New York, 1922 *Alfredo de Saint Malo, 1927 *Roger Chittolini *José Martínez Cañas, Havana, 1941 *Wurlitzer, instrument dealers, New York, 1960 *Rosalind Elsner Anschuetz / Richard Anschuetz, Evi Liivak, 1962 *Anonymous Anschuetz family member, Milwaukee, 2008

Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of ...

, Liivak, Malonzenoff, and Persinger are also known to have possessed the ''Lipinski Stradivarius''.

References

External links

* {{cozio, 497
''The Lipinski'' (2016), a short film by Fourth City.
1715 musical instruments Stradivari violins 1715 works Stradivari instruments