Friday, March 10, 2017

The Return of a Stradivarius - Now, Finally... a Performance On That Instrument -

In a blog some years ago, I recounted the experience of the theft of  a rare Stradivarius  violin in the school I taught in for twenty seven years.
To reminisce:
The place - the Longy School of  Music, Cambridge, Ma.
The year  - 1980.  If I recall correctly, it was a Thursday in late spring or early summer.
I was teaching there on this day, and suddenly catapulted into a time of chaos and confusion, when it quickly became known that the rare Ames Stradivarius violin, owned by the director of the school, Roman Totenberg, had disappeared from his office.
Sadly,  Totenberg passed away  just a few years before this wonderful instrument was recovered and returned to the Totenberg family.
And; finally - on March 13, a private concert will be held somewhere in New York, I believe. The Totenberg Stradivarius will, at long last,  be  the instrument of performance, by a former student of  Totenberg, who had come from China to study with him many years ago.
I am full of happiness about this coming event. I found Roman Totenberg to be not only that wonderful violinist the world had known of for many years, but also the warmest and most  quietly  gracious  man I have ever worked with and for. The youngest little performer in his own private orchestra at the school was precisely as important to him as any professional he ever worked with during his illustrious career.
I can only wish that, somehow, Roman Totenberg knows that his beloved Strad is back...

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