| Last week I received a call from someone, like many | | | | collectors have paid large sums of money for fake |
| others who have phoned me, who found a | | | | Strads. |
| Stradivarius violin! This kind of discovery can only be | | | | Most buyers today consult an appraiser to avoid |
| met by stumbling upon a winning lotto ticket. Or | | | | being swindled. Other times an appraiser isn't |
| could it be? | | | | necessary since it is obvious the violin is a fake. One |
| Antonio Stradivari was a violin, viola, cello, harp and | | | | of my violins has the usual Strad label and date, |
| guitar maker in Cremona, Italy. He was born in 1644 | | | | followed by "Made in Germany." Identification such as |
| and died in 1737 and made over 1,100 instruments | | | | that was required by United States regulations on |
| during his lifetime. He is renowned for his superb | | | | imported goods in the late 1800s. It's not a real Strad. |
| violins and his "violin formula" has become the ideal | | | | Dang it. |
| design model for violin makers for more than 250 | | | | The Smithsonian Institution states that "a violin's |
| years. Famous violinists such as Itzak Perlman, Joshua | | | | authenticity can only be determined through |
| Bell and Issac Stern play on Stradivarius violins which | | | | comparative study of design, model, wood |
| are loaned to them by rich benefactors or museum | | | | characteristics, and varnish texture." In short, many |
| societies. | | | | hours of tests and comparisons by an experienced |
| Stradivarius violins have sold on auction for anywhere | | | | luthier (violin maker) who has seen hundreds of |
| from $50,000 to $3,000,000 (that's right, three million | | | | genuine and replica Stradivariuses can tell the |
| dollars). You can see why people get a bit excited | | | | difference. |
| about unearthing such a promising treasure, especially | | | | Don't throw that violin in the woodpile just yet! There |
| when the label says "Antonius Stradivarius | | | | is still hope for your fiddle's greatness. It may be a |
| Cremonensis Faciebat Anno 1720." It seems authentic | | | | copy, but it could be a really good copy. In fact, in |
| enough, right? | | | | 1851 Joseph Rocca made a convincing copy of the |
| Wrong. All 650 of the surviving Stradivarius | | | | world's finest violin, the "Messiah" Strad, and had the |
| instruments have been accounted for. Discovering | | | | experts duped until only recently. Any violinist would |
| "The Red Violin" of Stradivariuses is pretty much | | | | be only too happy to settle for a copy that sounds |
| impossible. Shucks. | | | | as good as that one. |
| How do so many people discover Stradivariuses in | | | | Really, cost and label aside, a violin is an instrument, a |
| the attic if they are all accounted for? Hundreds of | | | | tool for making music. Who cares if your fiddle was |
| thousands of violins have been made which copy the | | | | made by a Norwegian goat herder or a factory |
| Stradivarius design and bear labels that read | | | | assembler in China? What matters most is how it |
| "Stradivarius." This practice once was a kind tribute to | | | | sounds when you draw your bow across its strings. |
| Stradivari and his remarkable craftsmanship as well as | | | | So get that poor old beauty out of its case and learn |
| a way of specifying the model around which an | | | | to make it sing again. If you can't, then give it to |
| instrument was designed. | | | | someone who can make it sing, donate it to a |
| Recently, however, the confusion generated by the | | | | non-profit group who helps disadvantaged kids play, |
| false labels has led to commercial gain for scheming | | | | or trade it towards a finer instrument. |
| crooks. A sly seller can deceive an inexperienced | | | | Music created by the heart is far more valuable to |
| buyer with a battered old fiddle with a label and | | | | our souls than a Stradivarius ever could be. |
| phony certificate of authenticity. I am sure many | | | | |