This upcoming Monday afternoon at Christie's New York, a 1729 (Faciebat Anno 1729) Antonio Stradivari violin will be up for auction, starting at the minimal bid of $1 million USD (fascinating lineage here). ///hahaha.. only 1 mil for a Stradivarius?? Let's talk when ur ready to spend some real $$$$ to play with the big dawgs ;-p
It was manufactured slightly after the :golden period: (1700-1720) from the Cremonian violin craftsman, who started making violins in the 1660s. Only 600 of the total 700 crafted instruments survive.
As part of the auction process, violin-enthusiasts are allowed to take said violin for a test-drive from its exhibition room in Rockefeller Plaza, for a few days before the auction (subject to Christie's discretion relying on instinct and trust). Only a smattering of musicians and admirers have stepped-up to the challenge, both professional violinists and violin aficionados alike. From an article in the IHT, one of the intrepid few was a young student at Juilliard, Albert Cheng:
A graduate student studying the violin at the Juilliard School, Cheng approached the Stradivarius with striking verve. When it was taken from its glass case, Cheng took the violin by its neck and twirled it as if it were a tennis racket. A label hung from the violin, like the price tag on Minnie Pearl's hat. Cheng played Bach for a minute or so. "Of course, it's the best instrument in here," he said. "This has a purer, more brilliant sound than the others and projects more." [ed: 125 other rare violins can be currently found in the same Christie's exhibition room.]
Previous Stradivarius Christie's auctions include a historic bid last year for a 1707 Stradivarius, that was sold for a record $3.5 million, the most for any stringed instrument.
Opera Chic is putting this little baby on her Amazon wish list, and will wait patiently for one of her admirers to DHL this overpriced hunk of polished dolomite wood to her Milan palazzo. tia tia t00dles~~
