Talk:Stradivarius

message: "According to their reputation, the quality of their sound has defied attempts to explain or equal it, though this belief is disputed.[1][2][3] The many blind experiments from 1817[4][5] to as recently as 2014[2][6][1] have found no difference in sound between Stradivari's violins and high-quality violins in comparable style of other makers and periods, nor has acoustic analysis.[7][8]"
'No difference' is disputable, while which one is 'better' is of course subjective. I'm not sure this link belongs in wikipedia but one can quite trivially find comparisons to listen for yourself on youTube, such as this:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e0Tuvitkgs  — Preceding unsigned comment added by CW (talk • contribs) 11:53, 18 November 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: Stradivarius listen for yourself

message: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13258256
"An exceptionally well-preserved Stradivarius violin, the Lady Blunt, which fetched $10m at its last sale in 2008, is to be auctioned for charity."
"The Lady Blunt set a record price every time it was sold last century."
These values seem way bigger han anything currently quoted in the article.2.24.54.216 (talk) 15:21, 2 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Prices of Strads

message: Re Davidov I gots no source & i won't make the change even to "being played by", but i'm pretty sure (even if i may have originated the wording "owned by") that i recently heard Ma has it on indefinite loan, i suppose from her estate.  (I think what i heard also said he usually chooses a custom made modern instrument over it.) --Jerzy·t 02:44, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Davidov cello 

message: re: Joban-Horsteiner-Stradivarius. A German made violin built almost 100 years after Antonio Stradivari's death is outside the scope of true Strads. I have removed the reference. Listed instruments should be confined to Stradivarius instruments made during the lifetime of Antonio Stradivari by AS in Cremona, Italy (or in later years with help from his sons Francesco and Omobono). --JeremyLydellHaugen 05:40, 24 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:   Removed entry 

message: Currently, this page's ranking is about 0% on the verifiability scale.  While it's somewhat common knowledge that there are really nice old musical instruments called Stradivarius in existence, practically everything else included in the article is not.  A vast majority of the listed extant instruments link to empty pages (where no citations will be found) and we have only the word of the editor who included them to document that these instruments do, indeed, exist.  This simply isn't acceptable.  Tomorrow I will remove any instruments which link to empty pages since they aren't supported with citations, and will then remove any who do have individual pages which don't include citations.  They can be added back in once citations are available.  Freaking Wonderful 18:34, 24 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Verfiability and Citations 

message: The two references I added contain information on the type of wood used.  The National Geographic article states Stradivari used violins built from spruce wood contemporary to his lifetime, while the Physics Web article says: The front plate of the violin is carved from a solid block of fine-grained pine. Maple is usually used for the back plate and pine for the sides., which seems to distinguish them.  If Strads are or were indeed distinctive in this way, it should be pointed out.  The Wiki article says that the top is usually spruce, so perhaps the Physics Web article stumbled on this (though it won an award from the Acoustical Society of America). I am happy to defer to experts who can sort this out.  --Blainster 17:26, 27 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Violin materials

message: if Stradivarius never made any harps, then why is there even a section about it?  I see no reason to have the "harps" section in the main article and am requesting it be removed.  i will check back here in 5 days and see if anyone objects to having the section removed. Osmo250 04:03, 5 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I added a foot-note on the single Strad harp. It is in the Naples music conservatory. I have a photo of it. Not quite sure where to load it. Jeffmatt 06:02, 25 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: harps

message: It appears a violin by Stradivari has been found in the hungarian city of Debrecen, which was left in a cellar by a jewish musician before he was taken to the WWII eastern front for slave labour, where he was killed. His grandson found it a month ago. Many are skeptic of this.
http://groups.google.co.cr/group/rec.music.makers.bowed-strings/browse_thread/thread/2724938b21d67b62/844169537ae4eed0?hl=es#844169537ae4eed0
213.178.103.162 12:08, 19 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: That violin is said to have been made in 1727. It is claimed the great grandfather of the family, a violinist himself, became a POW in the WWI, where his russian captor gave him this violin from war loot to him, so he can amuse the prison camp guards. He was able to return with the violin to Hungary during the turmoil of russian bolshevik revolution and white-red civil war. It is said the violin was recently authenticated also by a certain Bela Szabo living in the Uzhgorod region of Ukraine, he is a elderly master violin maker who has already restored two confirmed Stradivariuses, one in 1963 and other in the late 1970's, so he should know the issue. 213.178.103.162 12:17, 19 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Another stradivarius 

message: Is there a good reason to have so many red links to articles for individual instruments? Might we at least thin the ranks to those that are likely to be created soon (or are of particular importance and ought to be created)? —ptk✰fgs 12:48, 4 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Red links 

message: Sure sounds like Lord Dunraven to me. (America's Cup trivia runs in my family.) --Wetman 09:16, 17 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Lord Dunn-Raven? 

message: I will make this as brief as possible: One sentence does not explain a disputed and deep scientific theory about how he may have made his violins. Take a look at the following websites, and tell me where somebody gets the power to write off this complex theory with one completely basic, weak, and unsupported claim: 
http://www.primidi.com/2003/12/06.html
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f03/web3/s1kim.html
What about the fact that you would not build them the way Stradivarius did? From what I have heard there was virtually no sanding but rather many repetitions of shaving and planing the wood with successively smaller tools. When I prune bushes around my house, I use only manual instruments. Therefore you could attempt to copy how I prune a bush, once you see exactly what I have done. But when you do one on your own, your approach will be based on the tools you are using. Mea (talk) 01:06, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  One unsourced sentence not enough 

message: Much of the content in the list in this article overlaps the list in Antonio Stradivari. Anybody want to attempt a section merge? If not, I can do it, but somebody might be planning on reworking the list anyway. — atchius (msg) 21:41, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I think a separate page "List of Stradivarius violins" is appropriate here, since there are so many. ALTON .ıl 01:26, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

text: The two lists are overwhelmingly similar, and maintenance of two separate lists is an unnecessary duplication of effort.  I would support the creation of a separate page titled "List of Stradivarius intruments".  On a separate note, the design of the table in Antonio_Stradivari#Stradivarius_instruments is more visually appealing. +A.0u 01:44, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

text: I think the two lists should be merged onto this page (Stradivarius). The layout should be redone as a table for clarity (as on the Antonio Stradivari page). Columns should include 'Instrument' 'Year' 'Current Owner/Current Player' and 'Notes' All instruments that do not already have an individual entry (those with 'dead' links) should have the links removed. Great stress should be put on making sure there is verifiable citations where they exist, and an overall progress in getting outside citations for all instruments should be made. Instruments should be grouped by type and then sorted by year of manufacture first and name second. All references to 'The' can be removed (except with a titled as opposed to named Strad - 'The Lady Tennant' strad for example is probably better rendered as that full title. Any reference in the name to Stradivarius can be assumed and dropped. Any 'ex' at the beginning of the name (where it is the only name associated with the instrument) can be assumed and dropped (but left on where there are two or more names associated with it, as in Gibson ex Huberman). Biography of Antonio Stradivari should be largely confined to his bio page and the list and history of his instruments should belong on the Stradivarius page. Quotes in names should be eliminated. Internal wiki links on the year entry can be dropped. --JeremyLydellHaugen 23:29, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  List merge 

message: My grandmother is in the possession of a Stradivarius not in the best of conditions, I checked and inside the violin is a Stradivarius label.  Who, where, and how can I verify if the violin is authentic or a copy?  
Sharain Jones
<email address removed>
Thanks
There is a modern instrument brand named 'Stradivarius'. Most likely, that is all it is, especially if it has a label on the inside.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 153.91.70.187 (talk) 15:42, 6 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Found Stradivarius 

message: 1727 “Vesuvius” (or “Vesuvio”) ex Brosa, left by Remo Lauricella to the comune di Cremona and now in the collection “Gli Archi di Palazzo Comunale”.
A good bit more on the violin and its owners at http://www.arteliutaria.it/article_lauricella_page_1.shtml (and the three pages following; text in both English and Italian). Cozio.com page is . I’d add it myself, of course, but I am not quite sure how the table is intended to work.
Incidentally, does anyone know what relation Cozio the collector was to Carlo Cozio (also count of Salabue) the chess player? —Ian Spackman 21:18, 13 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: One to add

message: I am concerned that hoaxes may have been inserted in the article. I have no expertise on the subject, so I'm reluctant to take action myself.
I am referring to:
# Edits  and :this is highly likely to be a hoax.
#Edit : This would be a very elaborate hoax. I have also found a page through google: where ostensibly the same person John A. Thornton claims to be in possession of the violin and presents some history. See also:
--Atavi 14:24, 16 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Hi JohnAThornton. As I've said on your talk, I'm going to seek help on your behalf.--Atavi (talk) 11:19, 22 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I am now completely convinced that John A. Thornton has acted in good faith in adding the information about the Lauterbach Stradivarius. Per the above policy I should have assumed so. Citations and documents are still needed of course.--Atavi (talk) 11:44, 24 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I am baffled by this forum topic.--Atavi (talk) 13:55, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

text: And this one. John Thornton is stradivari1719.--Atavi (talk) 14:27, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

text: Assuming the above to be true, would it not constitute "original research", which Wikipedia works so diligently to exclude from its pages?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.95.43.249 (talk) 22:53, 17 April 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Goddard and Lauterbach violins

message: Andre Rieu claims to perform with a 1667 violin made by Antonio Stradivarius. This isn't reflected in this article.
http://www.andrerieu.com/site/index.php?id=music-violin
24.128.237.232 (talk) 22:22, 24 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I am not sure the article absolutely needs to have this piece of information, especially since it's not complete, i.e. we only know the current owner and the date of manufacturing and not much else.--Atavi (talk) 12:00, 26 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Andre Rieu 

message: Sorry, I don't know how to edit the table- the news reports that David Garrett damaged the San Lorenzo Strad have now changed - it was in fact a Guadagnini, so somebody should take that out.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.30.249.139 (talk) 14:39, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Corrected. Thank you for pointing it out. Oda Mari (talk) 17:02, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  San Lorenzo 

message: This past weekend, Akiko Meyers played her strad here in San Diego and they both did quite well. From her website: In 2005 Anne was fortunate to acquire the "Royal Spanish" violin made in 1730 by the legendary Italian maker Antonio Stradivari. The "Royal Spanish" earned its name because it previously belonged to the King of Spain. Shouldn't it be on the list?
207.167.97.18 (talk) 22:59, 25 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Akiko Meyers and the Royal Spanish 

message: :Category:Stradivarii has been nominated for renaming. If you would like to participate in the discussion, you are invited to add your comments at the category's entry on the Categories for discussion page. Thank you. – 
The question at this point is whether it should be  or . Your input would be much appreciated. Cgingold (talk) 02:41, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: CfD nomination of Category:Stradivarii

message: I have my violin since the age of 10 years old. The violin has a lable inside that reads "antonius stradivarius cremonensis faciebat anno 1713, made in czechoslovakia." On the corner left side of the lable it has a loin with its pews on a shield, on the bottom lignalone, St 103-6418.  I need information about my violin.   
Thanks
Mornstarjdh (talk) 06:22, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Need Information About My violin 

message: Recently attended a concert by the Perlman Music Program at Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the bio for Kristin Lee, currently studying at Juilliard, it states she "is currently playing on a 1697 Antonio Stradivarius through the generous support of the Juilliard School." There are no 1697's listed in the article.
--74.73.140.216 (talk) 03:26, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Another Strad

message: * Virtuoso to play, thanks to driver who returned $4M violin. Ling.Nut (talk) 02:56, 6 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  1723 Antonio Stradivari "Ex-Keisewetter" 

message: This section has been moved to Mr. Nagyvary's page, since it is about him and his experiments, which have been controversial within the musical/lutherie community and have been rebuked.
Makers who are indeed getting much praise for their modern instruments are Samuel Zygmuntowicz, Stefan-Peter Greiner, Joseph Curtin and Gregg Alf to name a few.
These makers are also involved in intensive scientific research of old instruments.
" Texas A&M University biochemist Joseph Nagyvary succeeded in making a violin somewhere near the quality of a Stradivari by leaving the wood to soak in brine. Because of the lack of land in Venice, during that period imported wood was often stored in the seawater of the Venetian Lagoon, where a type of decomposition had a slight effect on the wood. Nagyvary managed to acquire wood shavings from a Stradivarius violin, and under a microscope he found the natural filter plates in the pores between the tracheids were gone. He also treated the wood with a preparation of borax in the manner of Stradivari, who used it to prevent infestation. 
By late 2003, Nagyvary refined his techniques and produced a violin that was tested in a duel with the Leonardo da Vinci of 1725, an instrument not from Stradivari’s golden period. Both violins were played in each of four selections of music by violinist Dalibor Karvay behind a screen to an audience of 600 attended by 160 trained musicians and 303 regular concert goers. This was the first public comparison of a Stradivari with a contemporary instrument before a large audience where the audience would cast ballots on the performance quality of each violin. The consensus was that Nagyvary's instrument surpassed the Stradivarius in each category by a small margin.  "   Milliot (talk) 20:13, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Joseph Nagyvary

message: The Stradivarius on loan to Edvin Marton is billed as a "1697 Stradivarius" on loan from a "Swiss Bank". Since Marton and his Strad are involved in the winning song "Believe" in the 2008 Eurovision contest— a Strad makes everything so tasteful— shouldn't we identify the Strad in question— "it was actually played by Paganini over 300 years ago" says Marton here (hmm)—  in the table of this article?--Wetman (talk) 05:21, 25 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Edvin Marton

message: Simple question. Why do many of the instruments have "ex-" as part of their soubriquet? What does it mean? 91.105.14.40 (talk) 20:24, 1 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Ex-cess 

message: Should "psychoacoustics" be mentioned as a possible explanation for the unique sound of Stradivarius violins?  Here are some possible references: Telegraph article, Reader's Digest and Forbes article mentioned here, and this radio interview.  There may be more, I just saw one and then took the other two from the top two google links. --Bescoto (talk) 04:31, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I added the Telegraph article (which I should have done earlier).  The second one has an off-putting polemical quality, and I don't have the patience to listen to radio interviews unless I'm in my car, but maybe the third one should go in.  —JerryFriedman  (Talk) 04:15, 8 August 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Should "Stradivarius Myth" be included? 

message: The Martinelli-Josef Gingold violin (1683) is lent to the winner of the Indianapolis Competition: it should be listed by someone more competent than I.--Wetman (talk) 14:21, 20 December 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Martinelli-Gingold

message: I have always heard that one reason Stradivarius' are so highly valued is that the sound of any good violin improves as they age. There are many reasons suggested for this. I don't know if this is true, but it seems to be widely believed, and should probably be included among the hypotheses for the quality of the sound. Does anyone have a reference? —MiguelMunoz (talk) 01:23, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Age of instrument" hypothesis 

message: Just added the "Baillot" of 1732, which is under ownership of Fondazione Casa di Risparmio in Bologna, Italy. I took this information from the liner notes of Giuliano Carmignola and Viktoria Mullova's Vivaldi double violin concertos CD from last year. I'm not sure who to reference as the author of the booklet (the overall booklet, not the booklet's essay, which was written by Linsday Kemp), so I used the booklet editor's name: Eva Zollner. Mikenike504 (talk) 05:08, 15 April 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  1732 "Baillot" 

message: shouldn't the intro in some way mention that it is a violin, and not some unique instrument called the Stradivarius? 188.176.142.95 (talk) 09:12, 22 December 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Probably.  I just changed it. —JerryFriedman  (Talk) 15:26, 22 December 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Intro 

message: At different points in the article it talks about violins having exceptional sound quality because the wood used for their construction is either high density or low density. This obviously seems a little counterintuitive. Can somebody confirm this is correct? –CWenger (talk) 02:34, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Good point.  High density, low density, or consistent density.  Maybe the real question is the one brought up by Badger Drink: How much discussion of the reasons for Strads' superiority should the article have when the evidence suggests they're not superior? —JerryFriedman  (Talk) 03:36, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Wood density 

message: The following text was cited only to an e-mail on the violin maker's own Web site.  I don't think we should use sources like that.  A quick google didn't turn up any independent source.
:A blind test in 2011 in New York with 21 instruments including 4 Stradivarius put a modern Stradivarius copy by Peter Westerlund as the winner. Great success for Peter Westerlunds instruments in a new blind test in New York, USA, February 15, 2011
—JerryFriedman  (Talk) 04:30, 28 December 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Removed text on Westerlund 

message: Diff There are too many difficulties with these edits to make it worth while attempting to fix them in place. For one thing, 
:"The varnish. Many violin makers, luthier, say varnish is essential to the beauty of a violin, and the secrets of the varnish are jealously guarded. Luthier swear by oil-based varnishes. However, oil penetrates deep into wood, dries, becomes gummy and can dampen down the vibrations." 
shows complete ignorance of the varnishing systems used on violins. Cooked oil/resin varnishes are applied over sealer and ground layers which prevent the oil from penetrating the wood. 
Unencyclopedic tone ("tickle the ear and brain with their flickering, transient change") and possible copyvio ("© 2000 Discover magazine") are other problems with the reverted blocks of text. __ Just plain Bill (talk) 00:34, 29 January 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  recent anon edit reverted 

message: I just reverted a good-faith edit which claimed "The spruce used was a particular form of spruce called haselfichte...", unsupported by WP:RS citation. Some Stradivari violins show this figure in the top wood, but not all. Michael Darnton, a respected Chicago luthier, has written that "this figure is favored by the Germans, but not the old Italians, which I don't consider to be a good sign." The first page of that Maestronet thread shows some images of spruce with bearclaw figure, if anyone wants to see what it looks like. Just plain Bill (talk) 23:24, 21 May 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Haselfichte (bear claw, abete maschiatto) 

message: I am a bit uncomfortable with this source: "Distillations". It is a somewhat lengthy article; it would be nice if brief quotes could be included, showing where and how the article supports the encyclopedia's text. Of more concern to me is that it seems to be written for a popular audience, motivated by the story of the Ames Strad stolen from Roman Totenberg. The author seems to have done a fair amount of diligent interviewing and research, but his condensation or paraphrasing of some technical matters contains a few rookie-level simplifications which make me wonder if this source is suitable as a reference for this article. Just plain Bill (talk) 18:19, 14 June 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Recently added reference: "Distillations" 

message: The seasoned woods may have been varnished with a mix of warm linseed oil and honeybee's wax (candle wax), with some coloring added from beetroots, grapes and carrots. The sound is always good.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Philotrio (talk • contribs) 01:45, 23 March 2023 (UTC)
thread_title: Varnish

message: Selecting the German language for this article from the English version, it links to a subsection on the article on Antonio Stradivari. This would be the correct article to link: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stradivari_(Musikinstrument) 84.57.69.250 (talk) 22:27, 19 February 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: . –CWenger (^ • @) 14:32, 20 February 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Wrong article linked for German language