Expert: Stephen Levine - 10/1/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hi.  I'm back.  And the villagers rejoice.  This time the question's about violins.  I'm aware that various family estates, foundations, etc. own valuable instruments which are loaned out to promising students.  For instance, the violin on which Ferdinand David premiered the Mendelssohn violin concerto is now in the possession of the concertmaster of the San Francisco Orchestra.  How does that work?  What's the arrangement?  How do the owners of the instruments find the next borrower?  Anything at all that you can tell me will be a huge help.

Hope all's well with you.  All's OK in Los Angeles, where we don't have weather, we have climate.

All best . . . Sharon Goldstein

ANSWER: it's a huge question...the answer is that most of the great and well established artists can afford to buy their own...for instance Perlman has a Strad and a del Gesu...so did Heifetz and Stern and so on...what normally happens is some rich philanthropist buys a great instrument and makes a bequest..it's usually to a young and upcoming artist but most of the great orchestras also have at least one great instrument that although owned privately goes with a particular job.eg the LA phil lets it's principal cellist use the Strad that belongs to A.Nonymous. the royal college and royal academy in London and all the great schools own and administer the loan of fine instuments...and also the BIG violin dealers such as Charles Beare in london and Wurlitzer in NY own and lend instruments...that about scratches the surface of the subject...hope it was useful and do i get a mention in your book????!!!!
Steve

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Of course you get a mention.  You're already on the Acknowledgments page.

"Stephen Levine, for all the information on violins and violinists, and for enduring my pestering with grace.  You can find him at:  www.allexperts.com under Classical Music."

How does that sound?  Also, if/when we get published, you get a free copy.  

And yes, that's a very useful answer.  So, since the concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony, Alexander Barantchik, has the 1740 Guarneri that was once owned by Ferdinand David, who premiered Mendelssohn's violin concerto with it, I can figure that he either bought it, is using it because the SF Symphony owns it, or because he got it as a bequest?  For the purposes of my story, my heroine plays that violin.  It's a long story, about 100,000 words.


Answer
i had no idea you were talking about Sascha Barantchik...of course i know him..i did a lot of work with the london symphony orchestra when he was concertmaster..i knew he was somewhere in the states..i just didn't know where...he always thought i played a little sharp and i always thought he was a little soulless...however, i would give a year of my life for his technique...but i always found his playing a little on the cold and analytical side..i suspect a lack of personal warmth was there...his colleagues in the lso thought the same..this is confidential of course...he also has a huge ego, which is i think, justified...he is what my old teacher, Emmanuel Hurwitz would have called, a little unkindly, "an expert violinist"...make of it what you will...
please tell me you hated the movie "the red violin"..what a bunch of crap...however, for sheer enjoyment, get hold of an out of print novel called "Philharmonic"....if you go to alibris.com my favourite website,they should have a few cheap copies and it's a masterpiece of kitsch...but essential reading..in fact if you don't love it i will personally return your money...
Steve