Jump to content

Stolen Stradivarius Found (cello played Williams' Soundings)


Recommended Posts

LOS ANGELES -- A $50,000 reward was offered Thursday for the safe return of a priceless Stradivarius cello stolen from a musician's home by someone who hauled it away on a bicycle, police said.

"This instrument would be very quickly identified ... it would be very difficult to sell it," said Gail Samuel, the orchestra's general manager.  

The 1684 cello was valued at $3.5 million but is considered priceless because it cannot be replaced, she said.  

"The value of this instrument is in its being played and being heard," she said.  

It was one of only about 60 made by master craftsman Antonio Stradivari and was purchased by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association about three decades ago.

San Mateo County Times

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 9
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

They must have excellent security...

a priceless Stradivarius cello stolen from a musician's home by someone who hauled it away on a bicycle, police said.

Sounds like Police Chief Wiggum. "We woulda caught him but those bikes just go so darn fast." :thumbup:

Justin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fools. Stradivarius cellos were all built with a GPS tracking unit. See, Antonio Stradivari knew that they would need to be returned if stolen, and he knew that OnStar could find them, or the police, so on....

~Conor

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The cello has been found. A nurse from Los Angeles did not know about the news, she was planning to turn it into a CD cabinet :shocked:

Stevens, 30, turned the cello over to police last weekend after seeing a TV news report about the theft -- the first in the Los Angeles Philharmonic's history, police said.  

"Last night, the Los Angeles Philharmonic was reunited with a member of its family, our great General Kyd Stradivarius," Philharmonic president Deborah Borda said at a Tuesday news conference at Walt Disney Hall. "When I announced this to the orchestra there was an enormous cheer that went up."  

Stumpf said General Kyd's return made him "probably the happiest man in Los Angeles today."  

"I'm just incredibly relieved the cello has been found. It's been an enormous weight on me for the last three weeks," he said. Stumpf, the orchestra's tenured cellist, will continue playing General Kyd as soon as it is repaired, Borda said.  

The cello was returned with cracks that string repair technician Robert Cauer called "routine."

Yahoo! News

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.