When Totenberg, who was the school’s musical director at the time of the May 1980 concert, returned to the room, the instrument was gone.
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Roman, who died three years ago at the age of 101, always thought he knew who stole his beloved Stradivarius, but he never had enough evidence to pursue a suspect. Mr. Totenberg’s violin was valued at $250,000 when it was stolen.
His daughter is NPR journalist Nina Totenberg.
No one has been arrested or charged in connection with the stolen violin, which was presented and returned to family in a special ceremony in New York City today, according to authorities.
“It was a crushing loss for my father”, Totenberg said. I am going to inform them to not get their hopes up, ‘ however he stated, ‘You do not have to try this.
Pertaining to the violin’s origins, the instrument was crafted in 1734 by Antonio Stradivari, a luthier based in Cremona, Italy.
One fetched about €11 million ($13.5 million) in a 2011 charity auction for victims of the Japanese tsunami.
A Pittsburgh violin maker helped the FBI crack a 35-year-old case of a missing Stradivarius violin.
“We believe that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has recovered your father’s stolen violin”, he said. (You can hear more on the ceremony on Thursday’s All Things Considered, and we will update this post after the event in New York.). Injeian said he has seen more than 100 of them, commenting that each is as distinctive as “family members”.
The woman, who said the violin had been given to her by a former husband, surrendered the instrument.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. She has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Totenberg said the individual was the ex-wife of the violinist her father suspected of stealing the violin. The couple broke the lock and opened the case, unearthing a violin.
“It’s nice to return something of great value to a family or a country or an institution”, says U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, adding, that these “are moments of celebration that we don’t have that often here”.
Johnson’s obituary described him as “a noted violinist of 40 years” but did not detail where or for whom he played.
“The appraiser looks at her and says, ‘Well, I have some good news and some bad news, ‘ ” Totenberg said.
Roman Totenberg, father of Nina Totenberg.
Although he bought another 18th century violin, a Guarneri, he had to rework his fingering to play his entire repertoire. He kept performing into his 90s and taught at Boston University until he died.
Because Stradivarius instruments are so treasured and rare, thefts are all too common. It was the only violin he performed with until it was stolen while he was greeting well-wishers after a performance in Cambridge, Mass., in 1980.
When she got in touch with a violin expert, she was shocked to be told that it was indeed one of only 550 Stradivariuses left in the world, but it had been reported stolen.
Another famous Stradivarius, the Gibson, was stolen in 1936, and the thief, a journeyman violinist, confessed on his deathbed in 1985. The driver returned it to its owner.
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Due to the rarity of the originals, stolen Stradivarius violins are hard to sell.
