When we lose or have something stolen, we can have many different sensations and, between anger and sadness, we will try at all costs to recover what was taken from us. It is a drama that increases as the value of the object is higher, both materially and sentimentally. Now imagine yourself, whether it is a work or hobby instrument, but one that brings you satisfaction in performing the activity. Well, a story told on the NPR website can make you feel in the victim's shoes and feel the drama that, after all, has been resolved.

The situation is curious in several ways, including the fact that the victim in question was the father of the reporter responsible for the matter, Nina Totenberg. Roman Totenberg was a violinist and had his instrument stolen in 1980 after a performance when he was paying attention to some fans, and the violin simply disappeared from his office at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, United States. The problem is that the piece is not just any instrument, but a rare stradivarius violin, produced in 1734, that had been accompanying Totenberg for a long time, at least 38 years, in performances and music lessons.

Violinist teacher Roman Totenberg in concert with his stradivarius violin

Roman Totenberg was a teacher and passed away in 2012 at the age of 101, taking with him the eternal frustration of never seeing his "music buddy" again. According to his daughter Nina's account, the music teacher suffered from the loss, not only because of the feeling of prejudice, but also because he had to readjust and adapt his entire repertoire to another violin, one of the Guarneri type, which he acquired. after losing hope of finding the stolen stradivarius. The reporter also says that during the 32 years he was alive after the incident, Roman dreamed of finding his "beloved instrument" in his violin case again.

Unfortunately for Roman, the reunion didn't happen, but a call received by Nina in late June, certainly, wherever the late father was, made him feel extremely happy. The call was from FBI Special Agent Christopher McKeogh, and he said, "We believe the FBI has recovered your stolen violin from your father." According to Nina Totenberg, excitement overwhelmed her and her sisters, whom she called after hearing the news, even if not yet fully confirmed.

The NPR correspondent says it was hard to believe the news, but in her report that after everything was cleared up, she confirmed that the 35-year-old violin was back in possession of the Totenberg family. With this incredible story, Nina also took the opportunity to make an appeal on behalf of the FBI officers. This is because there is another famous case of stolen stradivarius violin, which happened in 1995, in the apartment of the then owner of the instrument, the violinist Erica Morini. Nina says Special Agent McKeogh believes Totenberg's violin situation may motivate someone who has information about Erica Morini's instrument to help the FBI find it.

The thief

Since the theft occurred, according to Nina, Roman Totenberg would have had only one suspect, a young man named Phillip Johnson. He was unknown to the violinist teacher and the Totenberg family, but was seen near Roman's office near the time the instrument was stolen. Also, a while later, a Johnson ex-girlfriend went to her family to report her ex-boyfriend, saying that he had actually stolen the item.

On the left are Roman Totenberg's violin stradivarius documents and on the right the instrument as found by FBI agents

At the time, officials said that would not be enough to issue a search warrant. This realization even caused Nina's mother, Roman's wife, to look for some friends asking if anyone was willing to break into the alleged thief's house to see if he really had the violin and then retrieve the artifact. .

After moving to California, Johnson had a failed music career and died of cancer at age 58 in 2011. Four years later, in a house cleaning with his new boyfriend, the suspect's ex-wife found a box of violin that was left by her ex-husband. They then popped the lock and discovered the instrument. As there was information from the year 1734 and the renowned violin maker Antonio Stradivari, the woman turned to a friend to verify the authenticity of the object.

Illustration of stradivarius violin stolen from Roman Totenberg 35 years ago

On the recommendation of his friend, in contact with violin maker and appraiser Phillip Injeian it was found that the artifact was true. When the appraiser was sure it was really the 1734 stradivarius, Injeian said that you had two news for the thief's ex-wife, one good and one bad. “The good news is the violin is really a stradivarius. The bad news is that it was stolen from Roman Totenberg about 35 years ago. ”

He knew that the object was stolen because of the great repercussion of the case and the fame surrounding, in particular, the play that belonged to Professor Totenberg. It came to a conclusion after analyzing a catalog of known stradivarius pieces containing information about the history of the instrument. With this finding, Injeian contacted the FBI authorities and from there the object was returned to the Totenberg family.

The stradivarius violins and Roman Totenberg's instrument

They are called stradivarius all instruments made by the Italian family Stradivari, especially the violins and cellos. The most notable member of the family is Antonio Stradivari, responsible for producing over a thousand violins between the 17th and 18th centuries. Of those 1, 000, some 550 are still in circulation and all have an extremely high value. The differential of the violins of one of the most famous luthier in history is precisely the unusual sound they produce and which, for centuries, were pointed out as the result of a mystery never solved. In 2012, the Curious Mega brought the news that the mystery might have been unraveled with an experiment by a Swedish teacher.

Roman teaches daughter Amy how to play the violin

It's not just the sound that makes a stradivarius a high-value item coveted by musicians and collectors. Each piece of stradivarius has a history, after all are 3 or 4 centuries of existence. In the case of Roman Totenberg's item, its great fame is that it was played by George Ames, famous violinist, in the late eighteenth century. Thus, Totenberg's violin is also known as “Ames Strad” (short for stradivarius).

In addition to the exemplary Ames Strad and Erica Morini's stolen instrument, another stradivarius was famous for its history. This is Wallace Hartley's violin, who is none other than the band leader who played for the passengers of the most famous wreck in history, the Titanic. This copy made by the Italian luthier was auctioned in 2013 for 900 thousand pounds, which at the current price, would be worth almost $ 5 million.

New owner for Ames Totenberg Strad

Roman Totenberg embraced his wife Melanie and with his three daughters Amy, Nina (left) and Jill (right)

After recovering her father's lost instrument, reporter Nina Totenberg explains that now the family's idea is to sell the violin, but not simply to get rid of the object. Having lived with the story of Roman Totenberg and his stradivarius violin, the family knows how much a violinist can handle and cares for such a rare item. With this, the idea is to try to ensure that the instrument is sold to a musician worthy of importance, who will guarantee successful concerts and concerts around the world.

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