Stradivarius' Italian violins: greatest ever?

Violins built by Italian master luthier/stringed instrument maker Antonio St­rad­ivari (1644–1737) have a special mystique in the cl­as­­sical music world. Antonio established a shop in Cremona where  he remained active, all his life. The earliest known Stradiv­arius violin was made in 1666, when the lad was only 22. He may have been an apprentice of Nicolo Amati, grand­­son of C16th violin-maker Andrea Amati. Or he was a woodworker by trade, perhaps expl­ain­ing his genius in design and drafting.

Stadivarius’ interpr­et­ation of violin-design serv­ed as a model for vio­lin makers for 250+ years. In the 1680s, he designed and crafted full-bodied violins with rich phy­s­ical and tonal charact­eristics. Alt­h­ough he cont­in­ued to use Amati’s basic structures, Stradivari eventually felt free to create his own vio­l­in models. His 2 sons joined the family bus­in­ess in c1698 but neither show­ed the same passion as their dad.

Antonio Stradivarius examining an instrument,
1860s, Wfmt

In his 60-year car­eer, Stradivari made c1,200 instruments, most­ly violins plus violas, cellos, guit­ars, mand­ol­ins and harps. He started creating violins in the classic Am­ati style, handed down over the generat­ions. And even by using tra­d­itional tech­n­iques, his skill was impressive eg his Hellier Violin (1679) showed an ab­il­ity to create better than any other maker then.

Stradivari manufactured his best instruments from 1700-25. It was in this era that he designed and perfected his violins, setting the stand­ard for artisans of the future. During his golden period, Stradivari created violins whose sound boxes are unmatched even today. Along with the final redesign of the soundbox, his violins also introduced a unique deep red varnish, black edging, broad edges and wide corners.

c500 of his musical instruments survive today, showing  how he was credited with some de­s­ign innovations that helped bring the violin to its modern form. Stra­d­ivari was consid­ered a master cr­aftsman in his own time and in the decades that fol­lowed, but his reput­at­ion as the best sol­id­­ified in the early C19th, when vio­lin perform­ances shifted to la­rger concert halls, where the better project­ion of the instruments was fully appreciated.

His instruments were sought for both their historical value and visual beauty. Musicians spoke of the C17th and C18th viol­ins’ sound as having special brilliance and depth. But mus­icians are still sear­ching for an explan­at­ion of what made the St­r­ad­ivarius special, viol­ins that were superior to any other instru­m­ent for a unique, brilliant, deep sound.

One suggestion focused on the wood itself. The wood that his viol­ins were made of, mostly spruce and maple trees, grew in the Litt­le Ice Age, a cooling era (c1300-1850) in which Europe was badly hit. Since it would have caused the alpine trees used for the up-facing front of the violin to grow more slowly, leading to den­ser wood and better sound. The re­duced sol­ar output, in normally warmer regions, limited tree-growth. Tree rings were comp­os­ed of a light spongy portion that was pr­oduced in rapid growth in spring, and a dark dense portion prod­uced in autumn and winter. Stradivarius violin wood had a less pro­noun­ced difference between the 2 portions and was denser over­all. The wood’s den­s­ity aff­ec­ted how sound vib­rat­ions travel through, ?explain­ing the high sound quality of his violins.

Thousands of violins were made in the C19th, based on Stradivarius’ model and bearing labels that read Stradivarius. These violins were made as inex­pensive copies of the great C17th-C18th Italian master’s work. Affixing a label with the master’s name was not in­t­ended to deceive the purchaser; at that time the buyer knew he was buying a cheap violin and the label was just a ref­erence. Bet­ter still, copied labels made after 1891 may also have had a coun­try of orig­in printed in English on the label, identific­ation that was requ­ir­ed by U.S rules on imported goods from 1891 on.

Authenticity could only be determined through compar­at­ive study of design, wood characteristics and varnish texture. This expertise was gained through examination of thousands of instruments. But the Smithsonian Institution, as a matter of legal and ethical pol­icy,  does not determine the monet­ary value of musical instruments.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History-NMAH has the 1701 Servais cello made by Stradivarius, famous for its pre­s­ervation and mus­ic­al excellence. It takes its name from the C19th Belgian, Adrien Francois Servais (1807-66), who played this cello. The Her­b­ert Axelrod Strad­iv­ar­ius Quartet of ornamented instruments is al­so housed in the NMAH. Some of his most famous violins created during his golden period include the 1715 Lipinski and the 1716 Messiah. Never sold or giv­en away, the Messiah remained with his maker until his death.

These instrum­ents can be heard in concerts. The Smithsonian Chamber Music Soc­iety's exhibitions, concerts, tours, broadcasts, recordings and educat­ional programs brought the Smithsonian’s priceless collection alive.

Value

Stradivarius originals are very expensive. In 2011 an anonymous buy­er paid $16 mill for the Lady Anne Blunt Violin (1716) named af­t­er a prev­ious owner. Experts cons­id­­er­ed it to be the second best-preserved of Stradivarius’ cr­eat­ions. The best Stradivarius, called The Messiah (1716) in the Ashmolean Museum Ox­ford, was val­ued at $20 mill. The Vieuxtemps Violin was owned by C19th French composer-violin­ist Henri Vieuxtemps. It became one of the most sought after ins­t­ru­ments in 2016, selling for $16 mill. Clearly his viol­ins are still the standard in form, sound and beauty. 

Violin display, Museo Stradivariano Cremona

The Strad

Statue of Antonio Stradivari, Museo Stradivariano Cremona
Stars and Stripes

Today artisans and scientists still try to recreate what can only be the beauty and sound of a Stradivarius instrument. Stradivarius violins and instruments are prized possessions housed in museums and personal collections around the world. At the Museo Stradiv­ar­iano in Cremona/now called Museo del Violino, visitors can see how violins are made. They can also hear a Stradivarius violin played by going to the Palazzo del Comune.