How actually do you care for something that is at once invaluable and yet has to have a life? We can’t keep them in a bubble; they were and are meant to be experienced. Enter the conservationists, foundations, musicians, philanthropists, patrons, auction houses, and bean counters—also known as the insurance companies.
While with the cantatas, the preservation of the physical scores is important to their interpretation—with all the secret meanings embedded there in the composer’s hand—the Stradivari instruments (and those by others of that period) also embody something seemingly inexplicable: part function and part theory of magic—since we don’t actually know how to replicate such things.
And in simple practical terms, the wood itself comes from a world that no longer exists.
So why write a book about the value of Strads and their counterparts—this family of instruments that lives rent-free in the minds of every string player? We already know they are worth millions, but what else should we know?
The answer is worth thinking about and can be found in a very concise read, written by the conductor (and notable oenophile) John Axelrod. It’s called Big Notes. Of course, since we know the maestro is also a wine fan, the double entendre of notes is not lost on us.
Let’s see what hints (sorry, another wine reference) we can have from the maestro about his book: Big Notes: How A Stradivarius Makes Money and Music.
Kathy Geisler Maestro, I wanted to talk with you today about the book you wrote that deals with Stradivarius violins and other valuable instruments from that period. I’d like to start by asking you why you decided to write such a book?
John Axelrod Well, in a nutshell, there are three reasons why I decided to write this book. The first of which is the fact that my wife is a violinist, and that probably has something to do with it. But you know, as a conductor, having performed with most of the best soloists around the world who play rare instruments, I can say that I have the best seat in the house. I mean, I’m standing right next to them and hear these instruments in a more intimate expression—better than really anybody else, other than the players themselves.
I’m reminded of what Wynton Marsalis says about this: “Who is more important—the audience, the listener, or the musician?” Then Marsalis answers, “Well, the first listener is the musician.”
So, music doesn’t exist without the listener, in a way. And these rare instruments are just pieces of wood—albeit extraordinary creations—but they require the player, and they require the listener.
There is a funny anecdote where somebody asked Heifetz, “Oh, your Stradivarius sounds amazing,” and Heifetz puts the violin up to his ear and says, “I don’t hear anything.”
It takes the performer to make the instrument sound fantastic.
But it’s important to understand what kind of performer it is. You can’t just put anybody behind the wheel of a Formula One car and expect that person to win the race. I write about it in the book. You have to have a master driver, like Lewis Hamilton, to get the most out of a Formula One car. And you need a great violinist—somebody who really is a genius in what they do, a real maestro of the instrument—to get the most out of it and demonstrate its potential with respect to sound and performance.
The technique of the musician is subject to the musician, but the instrument itself can bring the best out of the musician. So the second reason why I wrote this book is because I have the best seat in the house.
The third reason why I wrote about it is because of COVID. We were all faced with cancellations and a lot of time on our hands, sitting at home and depending upon the internet to connect with the world. So I thought about what would be an interesting project to do and what would be an interesting book to write. I already knew a lot about the instruments and I wanted to learn more. So what I did was take advantage of the closures during COVID to contact many of the people I know within the industry: collectors, dealers, performers, luthiers, insurers—even the Carabinieri of Italy, who are most responsible for the recovery of stolen patrimonial artworks and pieces of culture, such as rare instruments.
I put this book together based both on anecdotes and interviews, as well as my own personal observations to establish a particular point, which at the time had to do with the volatility in the stock market. As we all know, in March of 2020, the stock market crashed because of COVID.
Cryptocurrency, NFTs, and other collateral assets were subject to similar volatility, and I was intrigued to discover, and to share with the readers of my book, that rare instruments, as an investment in a collateral asset, never depreciate in value. This is an incredible thing to understand. These rare instruments, which are important assets of cultural patrimony, are also important assets of investment value.
People who have been collectors—including somebody of my own last name, Herbert Axelrod, and many of the other great collectors, including Sir Jonathan Moulds, CBE, whom I interviewed in the book, and quite a few others—understand the value of that collateral asset in terms of monetary appreciation.
But there’s one other aspect, which is the real motivation for writing this book: it was to recognize that by investing in a rare instrument, one actually invests in immortality. By owning an instrument of significant patrimonial and cultural value, with incredible provenance in terms of historical performance and a true pedigree, the owner becomes more than just a custodian of an instrument. In fact, it allows them to see their name live beyond their lifetime, as associated with an instrument that certainly lives beyond any one human lifetime.
These instruments are over 300 years old—they will continue to live for another 300 years, provided they’re not stolen, destroyed, or subjected to any other bad thing that might happen to them.
So here are some questions:
What do you do with these instruments?
How do you protect them?
How do you conserve them?
How do you ensure they appreciate in value as the owner of one or more of these instruments?
Now, let’s understand something about the instrument itself—Stradivarius being the most familiar name, but also Guarneri del Gesù, Amati, Bergonzi, Gagliano, and quite a few others: these Italian rare instruments (and let’s not forget Vuillaume, the French luthier) are intended to be played. That is the entire reason for their existence—to be played, not just collected.
Stradivarius couldn’t have known when he made these instruments that they would be so collectible and valuable 300 years later. But I mean, the man was a force of nature. He lived longer than most people in his lifetime and was kind of the Methuselah of the 18th century.
Of all the instruments that he made, there was one—known today as the Messiah—which was the only instrument he never sold. And this particular instrument is now preserved in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford University. It is in perfect condition—as if it had just come out of the atelier of Stradivari. Whereas all the other instruments have been played regularly and consistently by some of the greatest musicians in our musical history.
Conservation, then, is a very big part of the discussion of the ownership of the instruments, because they not only have patrimonial value and investment value, but they also have an important performance pedigree. So, an instrument that might be owned by Itzhak Perlman—or, going back even to Heifetz, Kubelik, Vuillaume himself, Ysaÿe, or Enescu—any of the great violinists over time—their ownership and performance history actually adds value to the instrument itself.
Say you have one instrument that is perfectly preserved and probably, if sold today, would set all records for the value of an instrument just because of its perfect condition. Then you have other instruments that might not be in absolutely perfect condition, but because of who played them, that also makes them valuable. And those two different criteria have an impact on the value of the instrument, as well as on the conservation of the instrument.
Sometimes people don’t take care of the instruments, and that has an impact on their value. Sometimes people take very good care of the instruments, but they’re not played by a world-class soloist, so it doesn’t necessarily impact the value of the instrument. From my perspective, by writing this book, I learned that it’s about more than just that an instrument can make beautiful music; it’s also something that makes incredible money. And that’s why I wrote the book.
KG Most of us are not in a position to take on the ownership of such an instrument. But there is something interesting to think about: how, at the present time, modern instruments are starting to take the lead in orchestras more and more—and how this affects the future of the orchestra’s sound, and how we experience that as listeners.
There are some orchestras that have had the means to purchase large numbers of these older, more valuable instruments, which give their orchestras a sound that embodies the old craft. For some, it’s just the principal players who are offered the opportunity to upgrade their instrument in order to create a certain sound for the orchestra. But I would imagine, more and more, that musicians are taking up modern-made instruments.
I am wondering if you can comment on how the sound of orchestras is changing—and will continue to change—given these two directions: one preserving the sound of the golden era of instrument making from three hundred years ago, and the other embracing the sound of the newer generation of luthiers’ creations.
JA As I write about it in the book, there are luthiers like Florian Leonhard who make copies of the Stradivarius and the Del Gesù instruments. And these are extraordinary instruments. They sound wonderful, and musicians play them regularly. Even in blind hearings—you know, like in wine, we call them blind tastings—these are called blind hearings, where people don’t know what the instruments are, and they have to guess which one is the vintage rare instrument of a golden period (or non-golden period), and which are modern instruments. And consistently, Florian Leonhard’s instruments, for example, have outperformed even some of the rare instruments.
But that’s not because the instruments are better, per se. I mean, one might argue that the rare instruments that were used in the blind hearing were not the best examples, number one. Number two, the people playing them were not Formula One drivers. They were not the best musicians to actually get the most out of the instruments. But with that being said, one might argue that what Florian is making today might, in 200 years, become the Stradivarius of tomorrow. And that is a very good sign.
Another thing one might say is that there are more musicians than at any other time in history playing in orchestras, and they, of course, need instruments. Now, there’s only a limited number of Stradivarius and Del Gesùs available. Some 600 Stradivarius instruments are available—and are known to exist—and that has an incredible inflationary value: huge demand and very limited supply. Guarneri Del Gesù is a good example as well, with very few instruments known to exist. And just recently, there was a Del Gesù—the Baltic—that was at an auction. It’s now the second-highest-priced instrument ever sold at auction.
So, the inflationary value is something to consider with the rare instruments themselves. However, the modern instruments, which are a balance between both quantity and quality, cannot be ignored. That said, they don’t necessarily have an impact—for better or worse—on the sound of an orchestra.
Now, let me just preface by saying: today the biggest collector of rare instruments in the world is Russia. When the Mariinsky Theater, with the support of the Russian government, purchased The Fulton Collection—which I write about in the book—they formed what is known today as the Mariinsky Stradivarius Ensemble.
When a musician is playing a Stradivarius—whether it be a young musician supported by the Stradivari Society or the Nippon Foundation, an established soloist who happens to get their hands on a rare instrument, an orchestra concertmaster, or a musician within the orchestra itself—it has an impact on the sound of the orchestra. This is because it motivates the musicians to play at a much better level; they are actually playing on a better instrument.
Again, you can drive a used car, or you can drive a Ferrari. You drive the Ferrari, you’re driving a better car. So, it’s an easy metaphor to make.
And I might also add that more and more orchestras would like to have their hands on rare instruments. You see more and more patrons and foundations purchasing instruments for orchestras or for musicians within the orchestras, not just for the soloists themselves.
I just want to also elaborate on the very first comment that you made, where you said not everybody is able to invest in these instruments—and that’s not true. One of the most unique ways that musicians are able to get their hands on instruments is through what we now know today as crowdfunding. There are consortiums of investors in England and elsewhere around the world, where you have an enormous number of people putting in small amounts of investment to become percentage-share owners of an instrument. This gives them that pride and joy of going back into the green room to say hello to the soloist and say, “Hi, I own a piece of your instrument.”
It allows somebody like you and me, and anybody else, to say, “Okay, I can spend however much money investing in a stock or however much money investing in a car, but I can also put the same amount of money into a rare instrument and invest in immortality.” And that is a unique selling point. What it means is that it’s not an exclusive club just for the high-net-worth individual or the collector who’s a millionaire to get their hands on these instruments. It gives the possibility for any kind of investor to actually participate in the purchasing and ownership of one of these rare instruments as a collateral asset investment.
KG What was the second-highest amount that the recent auction brought in for the Baltic Del Gesù?
JA If we’re talking about auctions, there’s a big difference between a public auction and a private sale. You have private dealers all around the world who get their hands on the best instruments, and they sell them privately to collectors at extraordinary levels.
You can surpass 20 million for a rare instrument from the golden period, like a Stradivarius. Public auction is a little bit different because it’s scrutinized—it’s public. There are more costs involved in a public auction than in private dealer sales. I don’t even want to call them “private dealer auctions”—they’re really private sales, because they’re not actually holding an auction, per se. But a company like Tarisio, which is probably the leader in rare instrument auctions, is responsible for the two highest-priced rare instruments ever sold at public auction.
The second of these was the recent Del Gesù, called the Baltic, which was sold for around 15 million. And the first, which I write about in my book, is the Lady Blunt—which was owned by Lord Byron’s daughter—and was sold for 16 million.
(Since our interview, the 1715 Baron Knoop violin by Antonio Stradivari has been sold to an anonymous buyer for $23 million—the highest amount ever paid for a violin in a private sale.)
There’s an extraordinary quote saying that the Lady Blunt has been photographed from more angles than a porn star—and it’s true. I mean, you can see this violin from every possible angle imaginable.
But that’s 16 million. Now, that very same instrument, back in the 1970s, might have been valued at only $200,000. So you can see the appreciation of the instrument over a 50-year period—from 200,000 to 16 million. There are stocks that do better, but this is an asset that never depreciates in value. A stock can go up, and a stock can go down—but the instrument will only go up in value, as long as it is well preserved, well protected, well insured, and well performed on.
KG The book is a really fun read, and I love that there’s a bunch of anecdotes and mentions of current performers and their experiences with the instruments. It makes the book fun and very engaging. You don’t have to be an investor to want to learn about this subject.
JA What is interesting is you say you don’t have to be an investor, but it’s interesting to me how many musicians—how many instrumentalists—actually don’t know anything about the instruments themselves. This is something that this book can certainly help with as an element of education. I mean, it’s a very short read; somebody can buy it and read it on an airplane and still gain a lot of insight and education about the instrument.
You would be surprised how many young violinists, cellists, and viola players know very little, actually, about the history of these instruments and about what it takes to upgrade their own level of performance by having access to them. Sometimes people have the insight: they make the application, or they get nominated by a foundation. They’re given access to the instrument, and they get to play it for a couple of years. Sometimes people say, “I love this instrument; I don’t want to lose it.” They go out and develop the patronage—a consortium of investors—to buy the instrument for them. And then it’s a little bit like an usufruct (the right to enjoy the use and advantages of another’s property), where an investor might buy it but give the right to the performer to play it for life.
But those are exceptional situations. More often, the case is that a foundation—like the Nippon Foundation, which has a very large collection of wonderful instruments—will choose certain soloists who meet the criteria of their application process and jury. They decide who is worthy of having the instrument, giving young soloists the opportunity to develop their careers with it.
It’s an asset—not just in terms of investment value, but also as an asset for a career. When the media, promoters, and others know who the person is—playing the Stradivarius or a Del Gesù—it has an impact on how they perceive that soloist. It really does create career opportunities.
But again, while the book was intended to give investors an opportunity to understand how they can invest in these instruments and actually help develop artists’ careers, it’s also a book for musicians themselves—so they can learn more about the history and the value of the instruments they play.
KG What about how some crowdfunding efforts work for obtaining an instrument?
JA There are other consortiums around the world who do this, but it doesn’t prevent anybody from starting a consortium or a crowdfunding campaign. And I can tell you that I know, right now, at least a dozen violinists who are looking for people who can raise the money to help them buy the instrument they want to play. Very often, they’re always looking for people backstage who happen to be patrons of the orchestra, who have millions in their bank account, and they say, “Please, will you buy this instrument for me?” But it doesn’t always have to be this way, even if an instrument is worth a million dollars.
Let’s take a Guadagnini, a wonderful Italian instrument. Dorothy DeLay played on one for many years that recently sold at auction for over a million. So, if you know a hundred people, each putting $10,000 into it, suddenly you have a million. And when you think about crowdfunding today, a hundred people is not a huge number. And $10,000 is not the highest amount that people would be willing to pay for something they believe has value or is a substantive cause they believe in. It can be more than a hundred—you can get 500 people each to give $2,000. There are a lot of ways to be able to raise money for an instrument that could have an impact on an artist’s career or an orchestra’s sound.
The most important thing to understand is that it doesn’t have to be a Stradivarius, it doesn’t have to be a Del Gesù; it can be a new violin, it can be a Florian Leonhard, or it can be one of the lesser-known rare Italian instruments, like the Bergonzi, the Amati, or the Gagliano—some of the others like that. It’s really a question of becoming aware of who’s putting those instruments into the market. A little bit of research goes a long way.
The book is one small contribution to the ongoing dialogue about how these rare instruments not only have an incredible history and an incredible sound for today, but also have an incredible impact on the musicians who will carry them into the future. And the best way you can guarantee that future is by investing in immortality. M
Leave a Comment (Comments are Moderated)
You must be logged in to post a comment.