Russian Violin Makers

In terms of fame, and very likely in terms of expertise, Italian, French, and German violin makers have the Russians beat by a long shot. At least that’s the general opinion. Whether that is so because the violin was actually invented in Italy (around 1530) and the most prolific makers worked from there and were the first to become famous is anyone’s guess.  The names of da Salo, Amati, Stradivari, Tononi, Guarneri, Maggini, Carcassi, Storioni, Gagliano, Guadagnini, Ventapane, Rogeri, Ruggieri, Pressenda, Albani, Gobetti, and Montagnana, are certainly very well known.  Their violins are prized above all others.  On the other hand, Russian makers are not known at all.  This peculiarity is striking since the whole world knows that most of the world’s celebrated violinists are Russian.  To filter them further, most among these superlative Russian players are Jewish – Oistrakh, Goldstein, Kogan, Heifetz, Elman, Zimbalist, Seidel, Milstein, and Gitlis, to name a few.  So, why aren’t there any great Russian violin makers – makers whose names are household words – Jewish or otherwise?  Perhaps it has to do with tradition – like the tradition of exceptional French wine making or fine watch making by the Swiss.  After Amati (and his relatives) and other early makers started violin making enterprises, the violin construction economic engine took off; soon, imitators sprang up elsewhere in Italy - some of them really good.  Entire families (such as the Guarneris and the Stradivaris) got involved in the trade and the tradition of fine Italian violin making was thus established.  By the time the ideas and patterns for violin making spread to other parts of Europe, the Italians had been at it for more than fifty years.  Then the Italian violin virtuosos got going as well.  Up until 1750, they were dominant in the violin playing sphere.  Italian violinists like Corelli, Somis, Pugnani, Tartini, Geminiani, Vivaldi, Tommasini, and Locatelli had few (if any) corresponding contemporaries in the other European countries or Russia. There was a time when Spain ruled the seas.  There was also a time when the Roman Empire ruled the world.  Nothing lasts forever.  Who knows whether the Russian violin makers will not someday soon take over the business?  

Jose Luis Garcia

Jose Luis Garcia (Jose Luis Garcia Asensio) was a Spanish violinist born (in Madrid) on February 25, 1944.  He is best known for being the concertmaster of the English Chamber Orchestra for about 25 years.  Just as the names Ferdinand David, Raymond Gniewek, Glenn Dicterow, Norman Carol, and Richard Burgin unfailingly bring up the names of their respective orchestras (the Gewandhaus, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Boston Symphony, respectively), Garcia's biography is inextricably linked to the history of the ECO.  He spent nearly his entire career in England.  His first studies were with his father beginning at age 6.  If he studied with anyone else in Spain, I do not know who that was.  In 1960, he received first prize at the Sarasate competition in Pamplona.  He was 16 years old.  Thereafter (in 1961) he traveled to London to study with Antonio Brosa at the Royal College of Music.  He appeared in concert in a Vivaldi concerto (for four violins in B minor) at a Proms concert (in 1963) at age 19 with the BBC Symphony.  Malcolm Sargent was on the podium.  Two years later, in 1965, he joined the pit orchestra of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden.  In 1967, he toured South America with the English Chamber Orchestra (playing Principal Second Violin.)  However, by then, he had already (intermittently) played several concerts with the orchestra.  In 1968, he was appointed associate concertmaster of the orchestra.  He was 24 years old.  In 1970, he made his second debut as a soloist at another Proms concert.  On that occasion, he played Michael Tippett’s Fantasia Concertante (on a theme by Corelli) with the English Chamber Orchestra, of which, as previously mentioned, he was then Associate Concertmaster.  The composer was on the podium.  By that time, Garcia was already teaching at the Royal College of Music, where he had begun teaching at age 22, being the youngest to ever get a teaching appointment at that school. (Garcia taught at the Royal College of Music until 1982 - a total of fifteen or sixteen years.)  At age 23, he led the string section for one of the Beatles’ most famous albums.  With the English Chamber Orchestra, Garcia would also conduct and perform as soloist.  He eventually toured almost every country in the world.  Although he recorded as a soloist, he far more frequently recorded as an orchestral leader with the ECO.  His best-known solo recording is probably Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.  He also recorded Mozart’s five concertos and the Bach Double Concerto with the ECO.  The recordings are easily found on the internet.  It has been said that the English Chamber Orchestra is the most recorded chamber orchestra in the world, having recorded more than 1,500 individual works, even though multiple recordings of the same works (the Mozart piano concertos, for instance) are probably included in that number.  (Although the orchestra generates quite a bit of revenue on its own, the orchestra also has an outstanding Patron - the Prince of Wales.)  Garcia never wavered from his romantic interpretations of baroque works, unlike other British chamber ensembles (the English Concert, the Academy of Ancient Music, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, English Baroque Soloists, etc.) which embraced the period instrument (authentic performance practice) musical movements beginning in the late 1960s.  It is quite interesting that in 1983-1984 Garcia offered his services to the musical establishment in Spain to conduct master classes free-of-charge (in Spain) but never got a call in response.  Later on – between 1992 and 1999 – he taught at the Queen Sofia School of Music in Madrid and conducted the school’s orchestra with which he also toured extensively.  Garcia studied conducting with Sergiu Celibidache.  Among the orchestras he guest conducted (outside of England and Spain) are the National Symphony (Washington, D.C.), the Detroit Symphony, and the Israel Chamber Orchestra.  He also guest conducted the Ft Worth (Texas, USA) Chamber Orchestra many times, beginning with a concert going back to October of 1977.  His last concert with that orchestra was probably in October of 1992.  As does another famous concertmaster in the U.S. (from the Boston Symphony), Garcia loved golf.  He was also one of the very few musicians (and possibly the only violinist anywhere) who owned a Rolls Royce automobile.  Garcia played the (Fritz) Hirt Stradivarius from 1704, also known as the Prince (Serge) Obolensky Strad and now known as the Hirt-Garcia Strad.  Among the many other violins he played was a modern violin constructed by American luthier Terry Borman.  (Among the many players who also play Borman violins are Pinchas Zukerman, Jaime Laredo, Pamela Frank, and Joseph Silverstein.)  The Strad is presently owned by a private collector but is on loan to American violinist Esther Yoo.  If there are any videos of Garcia's myriad solo concerts out there, they have not yet been uploaded to YouTube.  Garcia died on August 11, 2011, at age 67.  (Photo is courtesy of the English Chamber Orchestra) 

Sidney Weiss

Sidney Weiss is an American violinist, teacher, and conductor born (in Chicago) on June 28, 1928.  There is not too much information about him on the internet.  He is best known as one of the former concertmasters of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.  He is also known for making violins, although I don’t know how many he has constructed.  I don’t know at what age he began studying but I do know he later studied at the Chicago Musical College.  Later still he attended De Paul University (Chicago.)  From 1956 to 1966 he played in the Cleveland Orchestra – in the first violins but I don’t know how far up.  He was 28 years old when he joined.  George Szell was the conductor back then.  From 1967 to 1972 he was concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony.  He then left for Europe with his pianist wife and toured Europe with her as the Weiss Duo while also serving as concertmaster of the Monte Carlo Philharmonic (the Orchestra of the Monte Carlo Opera) between 1972 and 1978.  In 1979 he came to play with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as concertmaster.  He remained until his abrupt departure in early May, 1994.  He soloed with the orchestra on several occasions, one being April 15, 1981 (with the Sibelius concerto and Simon Rattle - before he became a very famous conductor - on the podium) and another on March 21, 1991 (featuring the Korngold concerto, Lawrence Foster conducting.)  Among other orchestras, he has conducted the Glendale Symphony (1997-2001) and participated in numerous recording sessions in Los Angeles as well as undertaken tours as the violinist with the Weiss Duo.  You can find a few of his recordings here.  Sample sound files are available here and here.  One of them is of the Mendelssohn concerto for violin and piano, a seldom heard work.  As far as I know, his best-known pupil is Armen Anassian.  

Alina Pogostkina

Alina Pogostkina is a Russian violinist born (in Leningrad) on November 18, 1983.  She began her lessons at age 4 with her father and gave her first concert one year later.  When she was 8 years old (1992), her family moved to Heidelberg, Germany.  According to one source, she and both of her parents - both are violinists – for some time made a living playing on the street.  Marie Hall did essentially the same thing in England, though without her parents.  Pogostkina is said to favor modern music.  She attended the Advanced School for Music in Berlin, studying with Antje Weithaas.  Along the way, she participated in several competitions, eventually winning the Jean Sibelius Competition in Helsinki in December of 2005, using a modern violin by Falk Peters.  She had already won the Louis Spohr Competition in 1997 (Freiburg, Germany) at age 14.  She also participated in the Queen Elizabeth and the Indianapolis Violin Competitions (2001 and 2002, respectively.)  Pogostkina now plays all over the world, accompanied by the best orchestras and the best conductors.  She also participates in quite a few music festivals around the world.  Her sound and technique is similar to Hilary Hahn’s – very crisp, emphatic, and clean with flawless intonation - but her musicianship is different.  YouTube has a few videos of her performances.  One is here, showing a complete (and spectacular) performance of the Sibelius concerto.  For a while, she was playing a 1709 Stradivarius violin, a loan from the German Music Instrument Fund.  Pogostkina now plays a modern violin by ChristianBayon.  Of course, if you are a regular reader of this blog, you know I absolutely favor modern violins over any old instrument.  The reason is that they are at least equal to any Amati, Strad, Guadagnini, Goffriller, or Guarneri and, in most cases, much better.  

Dietmar Machold

It now comes to light that Dietmar Machold, a respected dealer in fine instruments is under investigation for supposedly dealing fraudulently with buyers and sellers.  He had offices all over the world and was well-known among high-end dealers.  He was known as Mr. Stradivarius and had built his business very quickly.  His father used to be a violin maker.  Spiegel Online has a rather comprehensive article about Machold's troubles, if you can make time to read it.  I wrote a story about Joseph Tang a few months ago and mentioned at that time that his victims had at least not suffered huge losses because they had not dealt in high-end instruments.  Dietmar Machold appears to be the Major League version of Joseph Tang.  He has been accused of perpetrating frauds to the tune of $35,000,000, selling fakes or inflating prices, or simply not paying owners for instruments he sold which had been placed with him on a consignment basis.  Some sources speculate that the swindles were in excess of $100,000,000.  I wouldn’t know.  The New Jersey Symphony was allegedly one of his victims.  A European bank made him loans of more than $4,000,000 which were secured by instruments purportedly worth a lot more than $4,000,000 but whose real value was closer to $5,000.  By the way, I am still very much of the opinion that the so-called Messiah Stradivarius is a fake.  It sits in a British Museum (the Ashmolean) away from any and all scrutiny.  I have very little respect for dealers who have everything to gain by issuing certificates of authenticity and giving opinions of value on violins they sell.  In fact, I prefer new violins to old, be they Guarnerius, Stradivarius, or Guadagnini. Fritz Reuter knows. 

Violin Labels and PayPal

You may have read the story about an “antique violin” and PayPal recently.  It appears that a lady named Erica sold a violin (advertised on Ebay) worth approximately $2,500 to a buyer in Canada.  The buyer used PayPal to pay Erica for it.  However, Erica never got the money because, before PayPal paid her, the buyer claimed the violin was a fake, even though it was accompanied by a certificate of authenticity by a well-known Australian expert.  PayPal agreed to return the money to the buyer but insisted that he destroy the “fake” violin (above shown) before it did so.  The buyer then obediently destroyed the violin and subsequently got his $2,500 returned to him.  Erica, of course, will never see her violin in one piece again.  To be fair, PayPal said it was merely applying its policies in this matter, even if they did immediately side with the buyer and not the seller who had actual proof that the violin was genuine.  Erica was quoted as saying that "In the violin market, labels often mean little and there is often disagreement over them.  Some of the most expensive violins in the world have disputed labels, but they are works of art nonetheless."  Even if Erica’s violin was a very, very cheap violin by professional standards, she was lucky the disputed label was not attached to a Strad – not that anyone would sell one through Ebay or transact the payment through Paypal, of course.  Cheap as it was, I hope Erica’s violin was insured. 

The Strange Case of Joseph Tang - the conclusion

While it appears that Joseph Tang got away with a lot, it could have been much worse - he never dealt in really pricy violins ($250,000 and above), though perhaps he did want to get to that top tier.  His downfall came as a result of his effort to fool everyone all the time.  Tang should have known it cannot be done.  Many people are attracted to beautiful masterpieces, be they paintings or violins or jewels or books or furniture.  Some take that appreciation for beauty to the level of an obsession.  They will do almost anything (that does not involve violence) to acquire a masterpiece – one or several.  There are many forgers too, who are gifted at replicating exact copies of instruments or paintings or anything worth the trouble.  They sell the copies in lieu of the originals or simply fabricate new works (forgeries) and masterfully antique them.  Elmyr de Hory, David Stein, and Han van Meegeren were three such artists.  They fooled the world’s greatest experts.  This is, of course, the key.  If you can’t fool an expert, then what’s the point?  Imagine discovering an old manuscript by Vivaldi or Bach or Mozart.  Who would authenticate it?  No one would call Jean Baptiste Vuillaume a forger, though he could replicate a violin so perfectly even the owner could not tell the difference.  As early as 1685, none other than Tomasso Antonio Vitali (the assumed composer of the famous Chaconne in g minor – the authenticity of the piece itself is very much in question) claimed to have been fooled by a violin dealer, Francesco Capilupi.  He purchased what was supposed to be a Nicolo Amati violin which turned out to really be a Francesco Ruggieri.  The dealer had placed a false label right on top of the real one and Vitali claimed he paid four times as much as the violin was really worth because he thought it was an Amati.  (Interestingly, today, those violins are of almost equal value.)  Nonetheless, labels are not the only things that can be faked - well-trained violin makers can artificially distress the varnish, simulate wear patterns, insert neck grafts for purported proof of conversion from baroque fingerboards and necks to a more modern neck length, and create strategically placed repaired cracks with interior studs and patches.  In 1997 and 1999, the estate of Englishman Gerald Segelman (who died in 1992, leaving a large collection of rare violins), alleged that several violin dealers and investors defrauded Segelman's charitable trust by providing low appraisals of the instruments (in the collection) before purchasing them from the estate, then selling the instruments to one another at steep markups.  Some of the transactions involved highly reputable dealers in London and Chicago (who need to remain anonymous.)  The estate claimed that investors made six and seven-figure profits on individual Segelman instruments.  In one instance, one dealer allegedly acquired a Guarnerius violin from Segelman for $950,000 and quickly resold it for $2.3 million.  Shortly after the start of the London trial in 2001, one dealer settled, agreeing to pay the estate $4.5 million.  By 2004, every single case had been settled out of court.  Nobody pled guilty and nobody went to jail.  However, not every case of this sort has a happy ending.   In November, 2008, a violin teacher in Rome who was caught selling fake antique violins to his students for vast sums, hanged himself in his apartment.  Sergei Dyachenko, the teacher, had already confessed that he had bought violins at a flea market in Rome and sold them to his students at hundreds of times their true value.  One of his students had bought a violin from him for $830,000.  Dyachenko claimed the instrument had been made in Italy in 1784.  Experts found that the violin was a much newer German model, worth only $3,800.  In addition to all this chicanery, there are also several very valuable stolen violins out there which have never been recovered.  When a valuable instrument is stolen, the insurance company will cover the loss but it will never forget.  Such a thing occurred when the famous Gibson Stradivarius (1713) was located in 1987, after having been stolen in 1936.  The insurance company initially paid the owner $30,000 for the loss but, in 1987, again had to pay a $263,000 finder’s fee in order to acquire it.  They could have paid a lot more but they didn’t.  In 1988, after the instrument had undergone some minor repairs, the company sold it for $1.2 million.  In 2001, violinist Joshua Bell paid $4 million for it.  Had Joseph Tang worked himself up to this level of dealing, he may well have made himself a fortune.  Instead, he decided to cheat a little girl out of $1,250.