A stolen Stradivarius is returned to family after 35 years
Thirty-five years after their father's Stradivarius violin was stolen, the FBI returns the instrument to his very grateful daughters.
CBC News ·
Sisters Jill Totenberg, left, Nina Totenberg, center, and Amy Totenberg pose for pictures with the Ames Stradivarius violin during a news conference in New York, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015. (The Associated Press)
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As It Happens6:48A stolen Stradivarius violin is returned after 35 years
Music to their ears.
Thirty-five years ago, virtuoso Roman Totenberg's Stradivarius violin was stolen. The musician never got to play his treasured instrument again -- he died three years ago. But earlier today, the decades old case was finally put to rest. At at press conference in New York, the FBI formally returned the Stradivarius to the violinist's three daughters.
"It is an absolutely joyous day for us...my sisters and I...and probably all those people who loved and adored my Dad...all his students," Jill Totenberg tells As It Happens guest host Peter Armstrong.
The day brings closure to a mystery that has troubled the family since the instrument first disappeared in 1980, after a performance in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Totenberg recalls the shock when she learned that it had been stolen. Her father compared it to "losing your arm."
"This instrument was an extension of his being...it was his musical partner," she tells Armstrong.
The daughters always suspected the violin was stolen by one of their father's students.
Totenberg explains that the suspect's girlfriend "came to my parents and said that she was sure that he had the violin...she was sure that she saw him leave the school with the violin case."
But even with this testimony Totenberg recalls "there wasn't enough information to get a search warrant."
She jokes that her mother considered alternative methods: ""I think this was a fantasy for her....she was hoping she could find someone that was in the Mafia to go burglarize it."
Eventually the family gave up and the case went cold. But the daughters assumed that once their father and the suspected man passed away, the violin would surface.
Finally, this June, one of Totenberg's sisters got the call.
Violin expert Phillip Injeian explains the identifying marks of the Ames Stradivarius violin during a news conference in New York, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) "They called Nina and they said we believe we have your father's violin," Totenberg explains.
The call was from the FBI. They had been contacted by Phillip Injeian, a respected violin expert, who had been asked to appraise the instrument by the ex-wife of the suspected thief. The former student had passed away and she discovered the violin while sorting through his belongings. But she picked the wrong appraiser. Injeian knew Roman Totenberg and his story well.
"He looked at this violin and he recognized it...he called his brother who works for the New York City Police Department and said 'I have the Totenberg violin,'" Totenberg explains.
The mystery was solved.
"Today was both excitement and relief...and a feeling that our father and mother were in the room with us which was really just extraordinary."
When asked what they plan to do with the violin, Totenberg explains "our end goal is to have that violin played by someone who is as an exquisite player as our Dad and have the violin come back to its full voice…we can't wait to go to the first concert with whomever it is who is lucky enough to get the violin!"
