| Private Sales vs Auction
As works of art, the instruments of Stradivarius and del Gesu command high collectible prices, ranging from $2 million for an unexceptional instrument to the $20 million that was paid in 2008 for a master cello made by Stradivarius and formerly played by the great late cellist Rostropovich. One violin by del Gesu is currently being offered for sale through a dealer for $18 million. History shows that these instruments have steadily and continuously increased in value, from the early days during Strad's lifetime when only the nobility had the resources to order instruments from the maker himself, until today, when the top instruments are generally sold privately -- an example of a recent private sale that attracted great media attention was the private sale for $10 million in October 2009 of the Ex-Kochanski Guarnerius del Gesu violin dated 1741 by Aaron Rosand, one of the world's top violin soloists of his generation, to a Russian industrialist. Such sales generally occur outside of the auction houses because the ownership and location of each of these instruments is the focus of a tight-knit circle of highly-active dealers, collectors, foundations and also of top soloists who often rely on them to make their careers (players often wait to buy a specific instrument they want to play for decades). Even when an instrument of fair quality, one where there has not been an undue amount of restoration and the original wood is fairly intact with much of the original varnish still present, reaches the auction room, publicity reaches a fever pitch and bidders emerge from across the globe. In the Canadian fictionalized movie from 1999, "The Red Violin", the climax of the movie takes place in a Montreal auction room with bidders on the telephone from China and Germany and international bidders from many countries crowd the scene.
Increasing Demand
Tools of Trade—Upward Pressure on Prices
In the playing category, the old guard is giving way to the new. It was reported in April 2007 that ten million Chinese children are taking violin lessons, and the number is constantly increasing -- the best of them will be seeking more and more top instruments as they emerge as concert performers. Two out of the three most recent winners of the biennial Paganini competition -- probably the most prestigious violin contest in the world -- were Mengla Huang and Feng Ning, both young Chinese players. The string departments of the Juilliard School and other music conservatories are filled with Korean, Chinese and Japanese students. A passionate new generation of South American classical musicians is emerging -- witness the appointment of the young Venezuelan Gustavo Dudamel, a product of his country's "El Sistema" musical instrument-learning tidal wave, as Musical Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The conductor Valery Gergiev has prevailed on the Russian State to set aside funds to acquire top instruments for his orchestra at the Maryinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. Foundations such as the Nippon Foundation in Japan are acquiring top instruments to place on loan with young soloists. Similarly, the Chin-Mei Foundation in Taiwan is assembling a collection of top rare instruments. The Canadian Arts Council owns several top instruments that are placed on loan with young players. The Austrian National Bank has acquired many top instruments which are on loan to the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. The Stradivari Society of Chicago loans out top instruments to young soloists. The Stradivari Trust in Cambridge, England helps young soloists acquire instruments by buying instruments and assisting the soloists buy the instruments over time.
Tangible Alternative Investment
Today the market for the greatest instruments is also the subject of great interest by seekers of alternative investments. Over 200 years of sales of individual instruments by Stadivarius, del Gesu, their close Cremonese followers Carlo Bergonzi and Giuseppe Guadagnini, Venetians Domenico Montagnana and Matteo Gofriller (primarily a maker of cellos) have been tracked, showing a continued steady increase of approximately 4% per annum. Over the last 20 years or so, instruments in the top category have climbed in value by 12-15% per annum in many cases. Sales of instruments in the six, seven and ten million dollar range have become common and some of these instruments had been purchased in recent history (in the 60s and 70s) for less than $200,000.
The economic downturn beginning in 2008 does not seem to be having any impact on the upward trend and reports indicate that sales and prices are continuing on their upward path, with instruments continuing to change hands for higher and higher prices and instruments such as the Ex-Kochanski del Gesu attracting premiums because of the association with the famous artists that played them. The "artist-owned" factor is not a new one - Lord Yehudi Menuhin's "Lord Wilton" del Gesu sold for $6 million in 1999, significantly more than any del Gesu before that and the value of the association of Mstislav Rostropovich with his Duport Stradivarius cello as part of the huge $20 million price-tag cannot be denied.
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