By Laurie Niles: After much media hype and hope about a Golden-Period Stradivari violin poised to break the world record to become the most expensive musical instrument ever sold, the fiddle sold on Friday for $11.25 million - not breaking the record.
Sothebys of Manhattan had been promoting a price of $18 million for the 1714 "Joachim-Ma" Stradivari violin, hoping it would break a price record was set in 2011, when the 1721 "Lady Blunt" Stradivari violin was sold by Tarisio for $15,875,800.
![Joachim and his Strad]()
Left: The 1714 "Joachim-Ma" Stradivari violin. Image courtesy Sotheby's. Right: Violinist Joseph Joachim. Image courtesy Art Institute of Chicago.
"But the bidding began at $8 million, and it sold for $10 million," according to the New York Times. "With buyers fees, the price came to $11.25 million." The name of the buyer was not disclosed.
The instrument was sold by the New England Conservatory, which had received the instrument in 2015 as a gift from the estate of violinist Si-Hon Ma, an alumnus of the school. Ma had owned the instrument since 1967. NEC, which had loaned the violin to four students in the intervening years, plans to use the proceeds from Friday's sale to endow a student scholarship program.
On Friday, violinist and NEC graduate Geneva Lewis performed the Largo from Bachs Sonata No. 3 on the instrument as a demonstration before the auction.
If you would like to hear the instrument, the promotional video below, made by Sotheby's, features violinist Charlie Siem, who plays excerpts from the Brahms concerto, Bach and other works on the violin. It also describes the "Joachim-Ma" Strad's history, from being made in Cremona by Stradivari, to being in the possession of the great Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim. It makes a case that Joachim likely used it when he played the 1879 premiere of Brahmss Violin Concerto. Of course, there are many "Joachim" Strads (at least 10), including a 1715 Strad currently played by Ray Chen.
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Left: The 1714 "Joachim-Ma" Stradivari violin. Image courtesy Sotheby's. Right: Violinist Joseph Joachim. Image courtesy Art Institute of Chicago.
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