General Kyd Stradivarius

The General Kyd; ex-Stern Stradivarius is an antique cello crafted in 1684 by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona.

It was used by the English cellist Leo Stern in the premiere of Antonín Dvořák's Cello Concerto in B minor in London in 1896.

Noted owners of the General Kyd-Stern are its namesakes, General Kyd and Leo Stern, as well as Lord Amherst of Hackney, W.E. Hill & Sons and Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume.

At the time of Stern's death in 1904, the General Kyd was valued at US$6,000; its current value is US$9.5 million.[1][2]

This cello, currently owned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and played by Robert deMaine, was previously played by Peter Stumpf, and was stolen from Stumpf's porch in 2004. The General Kyd was later recovered after narrowly escaping being turned into a fancy CD rack.[3] The "General Kyd" underwent 18 months of restoration by Rafael Carrabba Violins in Seattle and was returned in fine condition to the Los Angeles Philharmonic in March 2016.

References

  1. ↑ "Leo Stern Dead; The Noted Violoncellist Expires in London" (PDF). The New York Times. 12 September 1904. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
  2. ↑ "Cello by Antonio Stradivari, 1684 (General Kyd; ex-Leo Stern)". Cozio.com. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
  3. ↑ "Rare cello escapes CD rack fate". BBC News. 15 May 2004. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/6/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.