Four strings and some wood




Antonio Stradivari set up a small workshop in Cremona, Italy in the late 17th century and began fashioning violins, violas, and violoncellos. He made somewhere around 1,000 instruments before he died in 1737.

Stradivari was a master craftsman for sure, producing instruments with unrivaled workmanship and beauty. But they had something else too, something ephemeral and hard to define. Something special.

His greatest works, especially those made in his "golden period" from 1700 to 1725, produce a powerful, crystal clear yet hauntingly sweet tone that by most accounts has no equal in any instrument, in any age. And each has a character of its own, a sort of personality that distinguishes it from every other example. Approximately 650 Stradivarius instruments survive to this day, and they are all cherished and irreplaceable.

But why are they so special? Well, much speculation has been put forth, most of it unsupported. There are theories of unique materials available, special techniques or wood treatments, and so forth. I tend to think the "secret sauce" was Stradivari himself. We know that he spent his entire life trying to perfect the shape and construction of his instruments to make them project further and sound better than the other instruments of his day. He was always striving to improve his designs, using feedback from musicians and ruthlessly self-criticizing and questioning his methods. He made many experimental instruments with different shapes and sizes, different bridge structures and sound boards - some turned out to be successes and he built upon those, many others were failures for one reason or another and ended up on the wood pile. As a result, not all of his instruments have that elusive quality that Stradivari is now famous for. But the examples that do, properly set up, have no peer.

In his lifetime, his works were commissioned by King James II of England and King Charles III of Spain. Some 300 years later his golden period instruments sit at the pinnacle of the world's great musical achievements.

That unique blend of artistry, musicality, and rarity makes these instruments very, very valuable. A Stradivarius violin just sold at auction this week for $15.8 million. That one is known as the "Lady Blunt", made in 1721 and named after its 19th-century owner Lady Anne Blunt, who was Lord Byron's granddaughter.

Many Stradivarius instruments have names like this, a reflection of the fact that they have had illustrious pasts, filled with famous owners and often many strange experiences*. There is "Lipinski", made in 1715 and owned by famous Polish violinist Karol Lipinski in the 1800's. And "Messiah", made in 1716 and considered to be the most valuable of all Stradivarius instruments because it is in stunningly pristine condition (in fact, it is in the permanent care of Oxford under the strict single condition that it never be played).

Strads, as they are often called, are now reserved for the elite of the music world - those rare musicians with both the talent to showcase their singular tone, and the connections to get access to one.

Such a musician is 23 year-old Scottish violin virtuoso Nicola Benedetti. The term virtuoso is thrown around with abandon sometimes, but Nicola qualifies in the strictest sense of the word. She's considered one of the best living violinists. She plays in concerts all over the world with pretty much any orchestra she chooses - London, Berlin, Vienna, Tokyo, anywhere.

And she plays a Stradivarius violin.




Nicola Benedetti and the "Earl Spencer" (1723)


* If you haven't seen the movie The Red Violin, you should, it's really good and the story is clearly inspired by the Stradivarius instruments. The violin music in the movie is played by Joshua Bell on his very own 1713 Strad called the "Gibson ex-Huberman".