- Biden official says port strike deal not as far as parties think
- Mexico's new president offers apology for 1968 student massacre
- Historic funding round values OpenAI at $157 billion
- Mixed US car sales in Q3 as industry hopes for post-election bounce
- Thunderstorms are a 'boiling pot' of gamma rays, scientists find
- Scientists unlock secret of 'Girl With Pearl Earring'
- Dolphins flash friendly grins when they're ready to play
- Facing backlash, EU moves to delay deforestation rules
- US private sector adds more jobs than expected in September: ADP
- Boys out of critical condition after Zurich stabbings
- Spain logs record summer tourism as inflow draws protests
- Hedi Slimane quits as Celine's artistic director
- Oil prices extend rally on Iran attack
- Spain welcomed record number of tourists this summer
- France says coming tax hikes on the wealthy to be 'temporary'
- Why are Thailand's roads so deadly?
- Oracle to invest $6.5 bn in Malaysian cloud services region
- Parkrun marks 20 years of a free weekly jog, run... or walk
- Oil extends rally after Iran attack, Hong Kong soars again
- Prostitutes, prospectors drive spread in DR Congo mpox capital
- Oil extends rally after Iran attack, Hong Kong resumes surge
- Extreme heat another form of death sentence in Texas jails
- Can music help plants grow? Study suggests sound boosts fungus
- Nike earnings drop, says turnaround will take time
- US dockworkers launch mass strike a month before election
- Iron Dome: Israel's key anti-missile shield
- Cranes stand still as US dockworkers fight for 'future'
- GM reports US sales dip, but says EVs grew
- Sheinbaum takes office as Mexico's first woman president
- Webb telescope detects carbon dioxide on Pluto's largest moon
- Stock markets slump, oil jumps on Middle East concerns
- French PM vows more taxes and spending cuts ahead of budget fight
- Germany inaugurates IBM's first European quantum data centre
- Stock markets diverge as eurozone inflation drops further
- France's richest man takes control of Paris Match magazine
- Anger meets tear gas as Nigeria hardship protests fizzle out
- US dockworkers launch mass strike month before election
- Evacuations from Lebanon: what we know
- Feathers fly at Chanel's Paris fashion return
- UAE oil giant ADNOC swoops on German chemicals firm Covestro
- Eurozone inflation falls under 2% for first time since 2021
- Coldplay ticket scalping fiasco sparks backlash in India
- Droughts drive Spanish boom in pistachio farming
- Tokyo recovers some losses to lead Asian markets higher
- Rural schools empty in North Macedonia due to exodus
- US dockworkers launch strike after labor contract expires
- Thousands evacuated as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan
- Kenya airport whistleblower fears for his life
- Sheinbaum to take office as Mexico's first woman president
- Scientists fear underfunded Argentina research on verge of collapse
RBGPF | -2.18% | 59.5 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.43% | 6.9 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.04% | 24.78 | $ | |
GSK | -2.15% | 39.45 | $ | |
VOD | -2.16% | 9.74 | $ | |
NGG | -1.85% | 68.78 | $ | |
RIO | -0.48% | 70.82 | $ | |
RELX | -0.11% | 47.29 | $ | |
AZN | 1.14% | 79.58 | $ | |
BTI | -1.33% | 35.97 | $ | |
SCS | -2.56% | 12.87 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.04% | 24.93 | $ | |
BCC | -1.33% | 139.53 | $ | |
JRI | -1.12% | 13.38 | $ | |
BP | 0.86% | 32.37 | $ | |
BCE | -1.13% | 34.44 | $ |
Rare Stradivarius sells for near-record $15.3 million
A rare Stradivarius violin that belonged to a Russian-American virtuoso and was used in the "Wizard of Oz" soundtrack sold at auction in New York Thursday for $15.3 million, just below the record for such an instrument, according to auction house Tarisio.
The violin, made in 1714 by master craftsman Antonio Stradivari, belonged to virtuoso Toscha Seidel, who not only used it on the score for the 1939 Hollywood classic, but also no doubt while teaching his famous student Albert Einstein.
"This violin has set side by side with the great mathematician scientist as they played quartets in Albert's home in Princeton, New Jersey," said Jason Price, founder of Tarisio, which specializes in stringed instruments.
Seidel, who immigrated to the United States in the 1930s, and Einstein, who fled the Nazi regime in Europe, participated in a New York concert in 1933 in support of fleeing German Jewish scientists.
Of the thousands of instruments made by Stradivari, there are still around 600 known today.
"Of those, many are in museums, many are in foundations and are in situations where they won't be sold," Price said.
"There's a select few which are known as the Golden Period examples, which is approximately between 1710 and 1720," he said.
"And these, for the most part, are those which are most desired and most highly valued."
The violin had previously belonged to the Munetsugu collection in Japan. Tarisio did not reveal who the buyer was.
The record for a Stradivarius at auction was set in 2011, when a violin baptized "Lady Blunt," said to have belonged to Lady Anne Blunt, granddaughter of the poet Lord Byron, was sold for $15.9 in London.
In 2014, another Stradivarius whose auction price was set at a minimum of $45 million did not sell.
D.Avraham--CPN