The Most Expensive Violin

The final concert before Christmas was a private event hosted by a major benefactor of Live Music Now. A Christmas celebration, if you like. Daniel and I took along a few short pieces, including his beautiful new arrangement of Irving Berlin's White Christmas. We arrived and began to rehearse at the venue, a beautiful house in Central London, and the host casually asked me if I would like to try a violin he had to hand. "Incidentally, it used to be Vieuxtemps' violin. It was his del Gesu. It's the most expensive violin left in private hands". It turned out that this was a 1741 Cremonese instrument, as used for recordings by Yehudi Menuhin.

I played it... what an incredible tone. The RAM Gagliano I am using at the moment has a beautiful sound, yet the power and projection of this instrument was just extraordinary! "Would you like to play the violin for the 'White Christmas' encore? I'll introduce the violin before you play." Well, what do you think?!

'Don't drop it', joked the audience, collectively.

-Gulp-

So there I was, playing a Bing Crosby number on one of the most valuable violins on the planet. The moment we finished, I grabbed a case, and took off out of the ground floor window with the instrument, running as fast as my legs could carry me, with the outraged owner running after...
...well, the thought did cross my mind :)

The beauty of such a glorious experience is tempered by the reality that few instruments I will play in the future will match the intensity and richness of tone I heard and created today. But such instruments exist, and that fact alone is an endless source of wonder.

Link: Cozio.com - massively comprehensive website of italian instruments.