[CPProt.net] Stolen violin returns for an encore

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Stolen violin returns for an encore

Sophie Kirkham
Friday August 19, 2005

Guardian

A rare 18th century violin has been reunited with its owner more than a year
after it was stolen.
The violin, worth £20,000, was found by experts when it turned up at an
auction house this month.

The instrument is one of few made by Edward Lewis still in existence.

Alan Brind, a former BBC young musician of the year, thought he would never
see his 265-year-old violin again after it was stolen from the back of his
car in June last year.

The 36-year-old, who won the BBC contest in 1986, has used the instrument at
concerts all over the world.

"It was a bit like going into mourning or splitting up from a long-term
girlfriend," he said. "It had travelled all around the world with me and the
relationship was very personal.

"I was not sure I would be able to [replace it] because it had a particular
quality that was unique.

"I will be interested to rediscover what it is actually like because I think
I had managed to wean myself off it.

"I thought that if someone who knew nothing about musical instruments had
stolen it, then it would end up at the tip or in a car boot sale in
Skegness.

"If someone did know its value, then I assumed it would be sold abroad."

The violin, which is dated to around 1740, was recovered when an
unsuspecting dealer took it in to Bonhams auction house, which checked it
against an insurance company list of stolen items.

Philip Scott, the head of musical instruments at Bonhams, said he had
immediately recognised it as a "very special piece".

"This was a much finer instrument than those usually offered by this dealer,
so we decided to do some more research," he said.

"After a thorough investigation, it transpired that our violin was indeed
the one listed as stolen.

"There are few surviving examples of Lewis's work, so it really is
delightful that we have recovered this one.

"The dealer who brought it to us has confirmed in writing that he has no
further interest or claim to ownership of the instrument, so we are now free
to return this superior violin to its rightful owner."

Brind, who lives in Fulham, west London, temporarily abandoned music in
favour of snooker, but returned to lead the European Union youth orchestra
and has made a number of recordings, including one of Sibelius's violin
concerto - the composition that won him the young musician title.

He went on to work with the Russian violinist Viktoria Mullova, with whom he
now has a daughter, and plays with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the London
Chamber Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra.