Stolen Stradivarius violin is recovered after 35 years

My father would dream of opening his violin case and seeing the Strad there again, but he never lay eyes on it again.

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation didn’t have enough for a search warrant”, she said.

Nina Totenberg, NPR’s legal affairs correspondent, is one of Roman’s daughters. I am going to inform them to not get their hopes up, ‘ however he stated, ‘You do not have to try this.

Nina Totenberg said that the woman had inherited the violin from the man Nina Totenberg’s father had suspected all along of stealing the instrument. “I stated, ‘I’ve to name my sisters”.

In July 2012, a Stradivarius was handed in to a Swiss railway lost-and-found department after an acclaimed violinist forgot it on a commuter train.

Fast forward another four years.

Johnson had been an aspiring violinist who had been seen outside Mr Totenberg’s office. Injeian owns a violin shop on Penn Avenue in the city’s Cultural District where the violin was certified. “It’s easily recognisable. So when I saw this one, it was truly a Eureka moment”, explained Injeian.

There are about 550 Stradivarius violins in existence, as complied in the Violin Iconography of Antonio Stradivari. But when the woman sent him a photo, he became confident it was real.

The violin was crafted in 1734 by acclaimed luthier Antonio Stradivari, a crown jewel among string instruments. Renowned violinist Roman Totenberg left his beloved Stradivarius in his office while greeting well-wishers after a concert in 1980. He was a musical prodigy, making his debut at age 11 as a soloist with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, according to his New York Times obituary. They agreed to meet at a hotel in Manhattan in June.

“He’s been instrumental just in the care and maintenance of so many instruments in the symphony”, said Mr. Cardenes, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Nina Totenberg and her sisters received the violin at a ceremony Thursday at the U.S. attorney’s office in New York. “‘The good news is that this is a Stradivarius”.

He contacted specialists from the FBI’s art theft team, who arrived within two hours.

A uncommon and worthwhile Stradivarius violin, stolen in 1980, was recovered in New York Metropolis after a lady took it to be appraised.

She got in touch with Phillip Injeian, an expert based in Pittsburgh.

That was a Friday.

“Stradivarius owners”, she said, “are just guardians of these great instruments”.

When Johnson’s former wife showed Injeian the violin, he immediately called authorities. A third confirmation would come later from another appraiser.

“The mystery was solved”.

The violin was in good condition but sustained marks of wear and tear over all these years. Injeian, who has held about 100 Stradivarius violins, said they are like masterpieces from Leonard da Vinci and Rembrandt.

Manhattan US attorney Preet Bharara is expected to reveal more details about the instrument’s recovery at Thursday’s press conference. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can. “All of us feel very strongly that the voice has been stilled for too long”.

Newsweek reported that he thief’s ex-wife recently found the violin while cleaning her house and took it to an appraiser, who made the connection.