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A 311-year-old Stradivarius violin sold for $11.25 million at Sotheby\u2019s on Friday, in a closely watched auction that drew interest from investors, collectors and classical musicians.<\/p>\n
The violin was made by the famed Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari in 1714, during the so-called golden period of violin making. It was later owned by one of the greatest violinists of the 19th century, the Hungarian-born virtuoso Joseph Joachim, a close associate of Johannes Brahms.<\/p>\n
The Stradivarius was sold by the New England Conservatory, which plans to use the proceeds of the sale to endow a student scholarship program. The instrument was previously owned by an alumnus of the school, Si-Hon Ma, who died in 2009. His estate donated the instrument to the New England Conservatory in 2015 with a provision that it could one day be sold to finance student scholarships.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we really have the chance to have it benefit so many more students \u2014 generations of students to come,\u201d said Andrea Kalyn, the president of the conservatory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Among violins sold publicly at auction, the current record is held by the so-called \u201cLady Blunt\u201d Stradivarius, once owned by the granddaughter of Lord Byron, which sold in 2011 for $15.9 million.<\/p>\n
The instrument sold on Friday was one of several violins owned by Joachim, who premiered the Brahms violin concerto in 1879.<\/p>\n
Simin Ganatra, the chair of the strings department at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University in Bloomington, said the connection to Joachim, who was also a composer, was a major selling point.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a musician to play the instrument he once played is a magical experience and something you really cannot put a price on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The violin that sold Friday is known as the \u201cJoachim-Ma\u201d Stradivarius. Rare violins once owned by famed virtuosos like Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz and Yehudi Menuhin have sold privately in recent years for up to $20 million, according to dealers. The instruments they played typically bear their names.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The auction of the \u201cJoachim-Ma\u201d violin drew substantial news media attention in recent weeks. Sotheby\u2019s called the instrument a \u201cmasterpiece of sound\u201d and initially estimated the sale at $12 to $18 million. But the bidding began at $8 million, and it sold for $10 million. With buyer\u2019s fees, the price came to $11.25 million.<\/p>\n
Before the auction on Friday, the violinist Geneva Lewis, a graduate of the New England Conservatory, performed the Largo from Bach\u2019s Sonata No. 3 on the \u201cJoachim-Ma\u201d violin.<\/p>\n
While there is a booming market for Stradivarius instruments, the skyrocketing prices have put them out of reach for most violinists. Collectors and institutions sometimes buy them and lend them out to performers.<\/p>\n
The New England Conservatory allowed four students to use the \u201cJoachim-Ma\u201d Stradivarius over the past decade for a period of one to two years, according to Kalyn. She said that having a rare instrument of that caliber at the conservatory was a privilege, but that the school felt a sale could help even more students.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really about what\u2019s the most powerful use of the instrument,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n