Press Comments

Four new volumes of Jost Thöne´s hugely ambitious Stradivari catalogue are now available, and it is a good moment to assess this achievement. Some 290 Stradivari instruments - violins, violas,cellos and guitars - have now been photographed for this project by the photographer Jan Röhrmann. This is a substantial proportion of the known output of the master, plausibly estimated at around 700 instruments altogether. This is above all a brave project, given the value and importance of these instruments and their often sensitive histories and attributions. It is probably impossible to be definitive. New research on the life of Stradivari and analyses of his work are being carried out on a daily basis, refining what we do know and gradually refilling in the lacunae that we don´t.

Placing this large crossection of his output together in these eight volumes is a huge aid to this process, and is an important part of the ongoing course of discovery. In these beautifully detailed photographs we can follow the tiny developments in workmanship, and ebbs and flows of concept and design, from the very beginnings in 1666 to his last year of 1737. This is an opportunity that was in the past open to only the most determined connoisseurs and dealers; those who could handle and compare such instruments as a matter of course. It is undoubtedly a very luxurious catalogue. The photographs are glorious ab´nd comprehensive, showing all the useful views of each instrument. Dendrochronology and CT scans are all here, although I am personally old-fashioned enough to feel little uncomfortable, with having to rely on the DVD included with the books provide much of the technical data.

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There is generally a great deal of information provided about the historical owners, which is often fascinating as social history in general, and sheds light on the status these instruments through the ages. They have passed through the hands of kings, politicians, crooks, thieves and peddlers, as well as the great musicians of every area, and collectors enchanted both by their beauty and by their investment value.

The text contain a colorful gallery of human characters. How these instruments were first teased out of Italy to become, in effect, one of the world´s strongest currencies as well as the vehicles of expression for the great violinists from Viotti to the virtuosos of the present is embedded here. In between we find such characters as William Curtis, who made his fortune selling ships`biscuits to the Royal Navy and became Lord Mayor of London in 1795. He sold the 1703 `Henry Ford`Stradivari to a brewer named William Goding. Among the array of aristocrats is the slightly spurious Duc de Camposelice , a Belgian singer who married the American sewing machine heiress Isabella Singer. He became one of the major collectors of the 19th century, and his name is scattered throughout these volumes. Then there are the dramatic stories of war and refuge: the 1716 `Baron Wittgenstein`was smuggled out of Germany in 1938 by its owner, Paul Wittgenstein, along with other instruments belonging to that astonishing family.

Taken together, these eight volumes are a massive achievement, a substantial resort of the standards and quality of documentation, and a valuable contribution to our understanding of the work of the greatest violin maker who ever lived.

John Dilworth, THE STRAD, March 2017