WEBVTT - Selects: What's the deal with Stradivarius violins?

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, everybody, it's me Josh, and for this week's select,

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<v Speaker 1>I've chosen our episode from September of twenty sixteen, on

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<v Speaker 1>the Strata Various Violin. It's where we get to the

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<v Speaker 1>bottom of whether strata various violins really are that much

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<v Speaker 1>better than others, or whether everyone in the music world

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<v Speaker 1>is just really into brand names. I think you'll be

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<v Speaker 1>pleasantly surprised. And I mentioned the movie The Red Violin

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<v Speaker 1>that like, this episode is worth checking out too, so

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<v Speaker 1>enjoy them both.

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<v Speaker 2>Welcome to Stuff you should know, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, There's

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<v Speaker 1>Charles W Chuck Bryant, and there's Jerry Roland. Yeah, Jerry said.

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<v Speaker 2>Right before she pressed record, I'm sleepy three two to one.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh really, Yeah, I didn't hear you didn't even notice that,

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<v Speaker 1>did you. I was just remember or practicing what I

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<v Speaker 1>was going to say.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, sorry, we'll go ahead.

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<v Speaker 1>I just did. Oh it was successful.

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<v Speaker 2>You're practicing. Hey, welcome to the podcast. Should we talk fiddles?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, Chuck fiddle d D let's do.

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<v Speaker 2>I bought one a few years ago. By the way,

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<v Speaker 2>it took one lesson.

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<v Speaker 1>And you became an expert.

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<v Speaker 2>Yep, No, that's just me, man, That's how things go

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<v Speaker 2>with me. I have a lot of things that I've

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<v Speaker 2>been like, I'm going to do this.

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<v Speaker 1>Got a lot of balls in the air.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, specifically musically. I bought a steel guitar and didn't

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<v Speaker 2>learn to play that and sold it. I bought a

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<v Speaker 2>keyboard and was going to learn to play piano, didn't

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<v Speaker 2>do that, Okay, bought the violin. I'm keeping a violin.

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<v Speaker 1>Though, So you're stimulating the economy.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, pretty much. And I usually keep just like sell

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<v Speaker 2>that and use that money to buy the next thing.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't play. Yeah, but I don't know, like I

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<v Speaker 2>know how to play guitar. So I'm kind of realizing

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<v Speaker 2>at my age, like maybe that's all it's going to be.

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<v Speaker 1>You're a guitar man. And like Bread said, yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>But used I used to want to be like man

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<v Speaker 2>by the time I die. I want to be able

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<v Speaker 2>to play all the stringed instruments. Yeah, that was my goal,

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<v Speaker 2>and I've learned one.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean that's more than some people. I don't I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know how to play any stringed instruments.

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<v Speaker 2>So yeah, but you don't care too it sounds like no.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean I well, so you consider the piano a

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<v Speaker 1>stringed instrument. It's got strings, so yeah, is it percussion

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<v Speaker 1>or is it string or is it both?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, a little hammer hits the string percussion interesting, where

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<v Speaker 2>as a harpsichord is plucked.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, talking piano, Yeah, I wish I could play the piano.

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<v Speaker 1>I'd like to learn that one day.

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<v Speaker 2>Right. My brother took lessons as a kid and my sister,

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<v Speaker 2>but I didn't. Oh yeah, Scott can still play a

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<v Speaker 2>little bit today of.

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<v Speaker 1>Course, Hey Scott, super bro.

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<v Speaker 2>Uh So the fiddle a little history here before we

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<v Speaker 2>get into the man the fiddle or violin. There's no difference,

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<v Speaker 2>by the way, is that right? Yep?

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<v Speaker 1>It's one pronounced one way and the others pronounced it

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<v Speaker 1>the other way.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's a little and I thought there was a

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<v Speaker 2>difference when I bought mine. I was like, well, what's

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<v Speaker 2>the difference, And it's just in how you play it.

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<v Speaker 1>They were like, hillbillies play fiddles, yeah, other people play

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<v Speaker 1>violins exactly.

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<v Speaker 2>So the fiddle at first was not a well regarded instrument.

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<v Speaker 2>It was thought of as a sort of a cheap

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<v Speaker 2>tavern instrument, you know, like you'd get drunk and hop

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<v Speaker 2>upon the table at the tavern, really and beat out

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<v Speaker 2>a little Irish jig. Really yeah, and it didn't have

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<v Speaker 2>a good reputation. Wait when, well, I mean this is

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<v Speaker 2>the sixteenth century.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, So then initially yeah, okay, yeah, I'm with you.

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<v Speaker 1>Then I'm with you, okay, hanging on.

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<v Speaker 2>And even in parts of Italy, at first the church

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<v Speaker 2>ordered the destruction of violins. They were so like look

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<v Speaker 2>down upon. And then a lady named Catherine de Medici

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<v Speaker 2>got on board and she was like, this thing is wonderful. Sure,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm gonna order thirty eight of them for my court

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<v Speaker 2>from the guy named Nicholas Amati, who was the grandson

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<v Speaker 2>of the great violin maker Andrea Amadi. Actually she probably

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<v Speaker 2>bought them from Andrea if it was the fifteen hundred, right,

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<v Speaker 2>and yeah it was fifteen sixty four, and that was it.

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<v Speaker 2>Things started to change, and that's literally what kind of

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<v Speaker 2>led the violin down a path of respectability.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Once you introduce it into court, sure people tend

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<v Speaker 1>to follow suit. Yeah. Yeah. So the Amades lived in

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<v Speaker 1>a place called Cromona, Italy, right, and Crimona because the

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<v Speaker 1>Amadis lived there, who were basically the de factor inventors

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<v Speaker 1>of the violin, cello, and viola as we recognize them today.

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<v Speaker 1>Because that's where they were from. Kromona became the center

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<v Speaker 1>of violin production. Yeah, stringed instrument production, plain and simple. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>which is pretty neat, like the idea that that's where

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<v Speaker 1>violence came from and that they're that recent in origin. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>And of course that goes further back than that, like

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<v Speaker 1>loots were obviously around long before the violin. Sure, but again,

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<v Speaker 1>if you look at a violin today and say, oh,

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<v Speaker 1>it's a violin, you can thank the Amadis of Cremona

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<v Speaker 1>for making that recognizable to you.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. And here's another cool little fact. The the you know,

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<v Speaker 2>the fancy beautiful shape of a violin is not for esthetics.

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<v Speaker 2>It is all about the sound that it makes.

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<v Speaker 1>The violin doesn't give a damn weather you think it

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<v Speaker 1>looks good.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, it turned out to look beautiful. But all those

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<v Speaker 2>curves allow for equal resonance of all the notes, which

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<v Speaker 2>if it was more basically shaped, Yeah, certain notes would

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<v Speaker 2>be sound better than others.

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<v Speaker 1>Huh.

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<v Speaker 2>So that allowed the entire fingerboard to sound wonderful.

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<v Speaker 1>Well. Plus, also, if you look at a violin face on. Sure,

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<v Speaker 1>if you go down the sides in the middle, it's

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<v Speaker 1>cut in. Yeah, those are called seabouts. Those actually have

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<v Speaker 1>a practical purpose, I'm sure, in addition to helping produce sound,

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<v Speaker 1>but it allows the bow to play the strings on

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<v Speaker 1>either side without hitting the body of the violin. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>pretty clever.

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<v Speaker 2>It's really hard to play. I can't stress that enough.

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<v Speaker 2>It's like I thought, this is not so different than

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<v Speaker 2>a guitar, Like I'm just holding it under my neck

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<v Speaker 2>and using a bow instead of fingers.

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<v Speaker 1>That's got to be a pretty big difference.

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<v Speaker 2>It's a huge difference.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, fingers, bows totally different. You're born with one the other.

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<v Speaker 1>You have to like buy well.

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<v Speaker 2>It's a combination of pressure on a string, angle of

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<v Speaker 2>the bow on the.

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<v Speaker 1>String, pressure from your parents.

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<v Speaker 2>Placement of the bow on like as far as how

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<v Speaker 2>far down it is, up and down the violin speed.

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<v Speaker 2>It's like there's like ten different things that go into

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<v Speaker 2>making a sound on a violin that you have to

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<v Speaker 2>do successfully all at once. It's really really hard. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>Like I was intimidated and went in the closet. You go,

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<v Speaker 2>maybe my daughter will play one day and then we'll

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<v Speaker 2>be waiting for her. Nice so we'll see. But should

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<v Speaker 2>we go over the parts? I know you mentioned the seabout.

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<v Speaker 1>Sure, seabout's my favorite. So you take it from there.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, if you look at a violin, you got the

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<v Speaker 2>very above those little tuning pegs which are contained in

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<v Speaker 2>the peg box. You've got the scroll, which is that

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<v Speaker 2>kind of a curvy, lovely fancy piece at the top.

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<v Speaker 2>Then you have the neck and the fingerboard. The neck

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<v Speaker 2>goes from basically down to the body of the violin,

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<v Speaker 2>but the fingerboard continues on through it. The upper about,

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<v Speaker 2>the lower about, and then that seabout you mentioned, which

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<v Speaker 2>is also called the waist. Then you have your two

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<v Speaker 2>f holes cut on either side.

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<v Speaker 1>Ye, the fancy holes, Yeah, they look like f's.

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<v Speaker 2>Then you have your bridge, which is the very thin

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<v Speaker 2>piece of wood that keeps the strings you know, off

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<v Speaker 2>of the violin body itself and taut. Then you have

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<v Speaker 2>your tail piece at the bottom where the strings end,

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<v Speaker 2>and then the all important chin rest. And that's a violin.

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<v Speaker 1>Bam, go make one. Now I'm leaving. So again, there

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<v Speaker 1>was the amadis that came up with the violin you

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<v Speaker 1>just described, that's right, And one of the amadis the

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<v Speaker 1>grandson of Andrea Amadi, who I think is credited with

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<v Speaker 1>inventing the violin basically. But his grandson, Nicola taught a

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<v Speaker 1>young man by the name of Antonio and Antonio Strataviri.

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<v Speaker 2>Ooh, that name sounds familiar.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, Antonio STRATAVII was born in Cremona. They're not sure

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<v Speaker 1>when they think, probably about sixteen forty four.

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<v Speaker 2>His life is a bit of a mystery, his young

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<v Speaker 2>life at least, right, not a lot of great records

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<v Speaker 2>on it.

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<v Speaker 1>You know what, This just jogged my memory. We never

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<v Speaker 1>explained why Alexander Hamilton would shave two years off of

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<v Speaker 1>his age, even though we specifically said we were going to.

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<v Speaker 1>Well that's all.

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<v Speaker 2>Should we follow up now?

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<v Speaker 1>Probably not, okay, I think people would get mad.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, if you want to know, right in and we'll

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<v Speaker 2>tell you, or maybe we'll post it on such means.

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<v Speaker 1>I think that's better. Yeah, but who cares. We're talking

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<v Speaker 1>Strataveri now.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, we've moved on, all right.

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<v Speaker 1>So Strativery there's not very good records about his youth,

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<v Speaker 1>I think, as you said, but he pops up in

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<v Speaker 1>sixteen sixty six at the very latest.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right.

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<v Speaker 1>A violin pops up in sixteen sixty six. I should

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<v Speaker 1>say it has an inscription on it and a label actually,

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<v Speaker 1>and if you translated to English, it says made by

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<v Speaker 1>Antonio Stradiveri of cremona pupil of Nicoro Amadi in sixteen

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<v Speaker 1>sixty six, well done the year of Satan.

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<v Speaker 2>And that means he was either a pupil, which it

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<v Speaker 2>clearly says, sure, or a bit of a bit of

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<v Speaker 2>a stretch of the truth and a bit of a

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<v Speaker 2>ruse in a career move.

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<v Speaker 1>Really.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, there's some people that say, and that's why I

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<v Speaker 2>was wondering it says people believe some people believe he

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<v Speaker 2>was a pupil.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I didn't get with the well it says he was.

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<v Speaker 2>A pupil and the inscription right. But the other thought

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<v Speaker 2>is that maybe it was a bit of a career

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<v Speaker 2>move to say I was taught by the grade Amadi.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, who's dead now and can't say otherwise?

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<v Speaker 2>Maybe, but uh, who knows. I bet he was probably

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<v Speaker 2>a pupil.

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<v Speaker 1>Actually he wasn't dead, so that would have been pretty

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<v Speaker 1>gut seacher to have done that, because Amadi didn't die

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<v Speaker 1>for many years, many more years after sixteen sixty six.

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<v Speaker 1>So I think the common consensus is that he was

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<v Speaker 1>a pupil of Amadi.

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<v Speaker 2>He would have said, he's stealing my business, so what up?

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<v Speaker 1>But with that, right, man, this thing is going to

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<v Speaker 1>be lousy with that, all right?

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<v Speaker 2>So sixteen sixty six, you are correct. He builds his

0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:53.079
<v Speaker 2>very first violin on his own. He continues to build

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<v Speaker 2>violins on his own in his attic, which was apparently

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<v Speaker 2>the tradition attic violin building.

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<v Speaker 1>Was it?

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<v Speaker 2>That's what it said?

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<v Speaker 1>Huh.

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<v Speaker 2>I guess that was just like where you would put

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<v Speaker 2>your workshop. Okay, who knows, maybe it I don't know.

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<v Speaker 1>Have you ever seen the movie The Red Violin? Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>great movie, agreed, like, stick with it.

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<v Speaker 2>I think I might have seen that on your recommendation

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<v Speaker 2>years ago, probably if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, really good

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<v Speaker 2>movie though. Yeah. So he's making violins. He moves into

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<v Speaker 2>a home in sixteen eighty and he started to get

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<v Speaker 2>some recognition as a great builder and maker of violins,

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<v Speaker 2>a great craftsman.

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<v Speaker 1>He did, and he was still kind of living in

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<v Speaker 1>the shadow of the Amadis. But when Nikola Amadi died

0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:47.840
<v Speaker 1>in sixteen eighty four, by this time everyone said, this

0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:52.360
<v Speaker 1>guy is Kremona's best maker. Of violins. Yeah, which since

0:11:52.440 --> 0:11:55.240
<v Speaker 1>Kromona was the world capital of violin making. They were

0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:57.920
<v Speaker 1>made elsewhere, but Kromona was like the place where the best.

0:11:57.720 --> 0:11:59.360
<v Speaker 2>Were made, the krem of the Cromona.

0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:02.440
<v Speaker 1>Right. That made him the world's best violin maker. And

0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:04.960
<v Speaker 1>he hadn't even entered his golden period yet.

0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:08.400
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and he's making more than violins. He's making cellos

0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:13.600
<v Speaker 2>and guitars and mandolins and harps pretty much anything with.

0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:15.720
<v Speaker 1>Strings except harpsichords.

0:12:16.840 --> 0:12:18.359
<v Speaker 2>Who knows, he might have made a harpsichord.

0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:20.520
<v Speaker 1>I'll bet that'd be worth a lot probably.

0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:23.880
<v Speaker 2>So all right, should we take a break here, Yes,

0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:27.880
<v Speaker 2>all right, we'll get into more craftsmanship right after this.

0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:51.760
<v Speaker 2>All right, So Strativari is following in Amadi's Amadi his footsteps,

0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:54.520
<v Speaker 2>but he's also like, you know what I'm gonna. I'm

0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:57.760
<v Speaker 2>gonna start tweaking this thing, Yeah, and craft my own

0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:01.480
<v Speaker 2>brand of violin. And he does so. He said, I'm

0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:04.640
<v Speaker 2>going to use some new materials, maybe some new finishes.

0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:09.000
<v Speaker 2>I'm gonna I'm gonna make that seabout a little straighter

0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:10.520
<v Speaker 2>then you're used to.

0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:14.680
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, man, then f's a little straighter the f holes

0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:16.760
<v Speaker 1>is it straighter? Was that the deal, I think so.

0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:19.520
<v Speaker 2>And then we altered the f hole some and uh

0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:21.480
<v Speaker 2>something with a scroll too, Is that right?

0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:24.160
<v Speaker 1>He made it more amazing.

0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:30.040
<v Speaker 2>And he made the the scroll larger scroll, the f

0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:35.079
<v Speaker 2>holes not only straighter but longer, larger scroll, and a

0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:39.559
<v Speaker 2>and a straighter and stronger seabout that was like mechanically

0:13:40.160 --> 0:13:42.720
<v Speaker 2>that those were the biggest differences.

0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:44.720
<v Speaker 1>Right, But he also crucially came up with his own

0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:49.199
<v Speaker 1>formula for a varnish. It's a very easily recognized, deep,

0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:53.320
<v Speaker 1>deep red brown varnish. That's right, that his violins have.

0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:56.360
<v Speaker 1>It's very handsome. But a lot of people, as we'll

0:13:56.360 --> 0:14:00.000
<v Speaker 1>see later, believe that it's possibly the varnish that made

0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:06.959
<v Speaker 1>Strata various violins so great because when he made these changes,

0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:11.080
<v Speaker 1>not only was he making these changes to the shape

0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:16.520
<v Speaker 1>and appearance of the violin, he was also like a

0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:22.120
<v Speaker 1>master wooden layer. Like. The craftsmanship that his violins had

0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:26.240
<v Speaker 1>were just unparalleled. There were flawless, flawless works of art

0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:29.480
<v Speaker 1>as musical instruments, So in addition to just being a

0:14:29.520 --> 0:14:32.720
<v Speaker 1>flawless work of art, they also sounded better than anything

0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:38.600
<v Speaker 1>anything that could possibly compare be compared to it. And

0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:42.640
<v Speaker 1>what's really exceptional about strata varius is it's not just

0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:44.840
<v Speaker 1>one of those things where like, oh the name is

0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:49.840
<v Speaker 1>actually what is really driving it. A stratavarius violin that's

0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:54.560
<v Speaker 1>three hundred years old today is probably better than any

0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:57.840
<v Speaker 1>violin that's been produced in the last three hundred years,

0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:02.320
<v Speaker 1>including a brand new one, only now getting to the

0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:06.960
<v Speaker 1>point where they can they've discovered techniques where they can

0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:10.320
<v Speaker 1>start to replicate the sound of a strata varius. That's

0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:13.880
<v Speaker 1>how good this guy's violins were. That that it's not

0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:17.040
<v Speaker 1>a joke, it's not hyperbole of how great the strata

0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:19.280
<v Speaker 1>various violins were. They are still the ones that this

0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:21.600
<v Speaker 1>guy made by hand, are still the best violins in

0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:22.040
<v Speaker 1>the world.

0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:24.040
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's the most really.

0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:26.600
<v Speaker 1>Saying something for sure, considering how much progress we've made

0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:28.479
<v Speaker 1>in the last three hundred years and just about.

0:15:28.200 --> 0:15:31.280
<v Speaker 2>Everything, and and these are you know, for the the

0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:38.320
<v Speaker 2>finest tuned ears in the world. Like clearly there are flawless,

0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:43.960
<v Speaker 2>amazing instruments and violins being produced since then. But for

0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:48.120
<v Speaker 2>the true like aficionado, they can spot the difference. Apparently,

0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:49.880
<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, like you and I can't.

0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:55.760
<v Speaker 1>No, But people whose job it is to identify and

0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:59.600
<v Speaker 1>praise strata various violins. Say that comparing it to a

0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:03.480
<v Speaker 1>non stratavarius, like a knockoff or something, is like comparing

0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:06.080
<v Speaker 1>a Ferrari to a school bus. Yeah, well, it's like

0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:07.120
<v Speaker 1>that obvious.

0:16:06.800 --> 0:16:08.560
<v Speaker 2>For people like saying things like that.

0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:10.280
<v Speaker 1>It's a great quote.

0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:12.920
<v Speaker 2>We're just a couple of schmumps. What do we know?

0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:15.560
<v Speaker 1>So it just went.

0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:20.920
<v Speaker 2>It might be a new gag. So he and his

0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:25.160
<v Speaker 2>first wife had six kids. He was good at having kids.

0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:28.120
<v Speaker 2>He and his second wife, His wife sadly died in

0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:31.640
<v Speaker 2>sixteen ninety eight. He got remarried and had five more

0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:35.080
<v Speaker 2>kids with wife number two. He was great at making

0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:42.440
<v Speaker 2>violins and making children. Yes, crafting children. He's great at it,

0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:43.440
<v Speaker 2>crafting little babies.

0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:46.560
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, they called them the mice tro in the bedroom,

0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:47.200
<v Speaker 1>you know what I mean?

0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:50.200
<v Speaker 2>And I think a couple of his sons even went

0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:51.360
<v Speaker 2>on to follow in his footsteps.

0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:52.880
<v Speaker 1>Is that right from his first marriage?

0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:55.400
<v Speaker 2>Right? They were at second lot they.

0:16:55.280 --> 0:16:58.720
<v Speaker 1>Were schmumps, though they couldn't hold a candle to their

0:16:58.760 --> 0:16:59.520
<v Speaker 1>father's work.

0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:03.480
<v Speaker 2>So let's talk about the golden period from seventeen hundred

0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:07.000
<v Speaker 2>to seventeen twenty to twenty five, depending on who you

0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:10.960
<v Speaker 2>had talked to, This was the Golden Period where these violins,

0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:13.960
<v Speaker 2>I mean, he had really honed his design at this point,

0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:17.480
<v Speaker 2>and the materials that he used and everything kind of

0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:21.720
<v Speaker 2>all coalesced into making the best violins in the history

0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:22.080
<v Speaker 2>of the world.

0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:24.640
<v Speaker 1>Right, it was like Lebron's tenure at the Heat.

0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:30.800
<v Speaker 2>Oh, well, we'll see his career is not over yet. Yeah, wow,

0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:33.800
<v Speaker 2>you're calling it now, huh.

0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:38.160
<v Speaker 1>I mean he he made a case for a resurgence

0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:41.880
<v Speaker 1>this past season, but we'll see if he can repeat it. Okay,

0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:46.320
<v Speaker 1>he was playing on five hundred cylinders with the Heat.

0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:48.199
<v Speaker 1>It was just perfect because he didn't have to be

0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:52.280
<v Speaker 1>the team leader. He could be one of like the leaders.

0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:54.520
<v Speaker 1>That team had several leaders, and he could be one

0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:57.600
<v Speaker 1>of them. It wasn't like the whole team just pushed

0:17:57.680 --> 0:17:58.880
<v Speaker 1>upward towards Lebron.

0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:01.040
<v Speaker 2>See, a lot of people have the opposite view that

0:18:01.040 --> 0:18:02.920
<v Speaker 2>that was. You know, anyone can get on a team

0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:05.720
<v Speaker 2>of superstars and win championships, but no, not necessarily to

0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:08.320
<v Speaker 2>be the one leader is a bigger accomplishment.

0:18:08.400 --> 0:18:12.840
<v Speaker 1>I'm very curious to know how, say, like the Golden

0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:15.960
<v Speaker 1>State Warriors are going to be next season with Durant

0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:19.320
<v Speaker 1>and Steph Curry and Klay Thompson on there. Thompson knows

0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:21.800
<v Speaker 1>so much. But like Steph Curry and Kevin Durant, they're

0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:23.879
<v Speaker 1>like two of the greatest players that have ever lived,

0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:26.160
<v Speaker 1>ever lived, not just their playing right now, how are

0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:29.440
<v Speaker 1>they going to gel the idea that Dwayne Wade and

0:18:29.840 --> 0:18:33.840
<v Speaker 1>Chris Bosh and Lebron James were all able to keep

0:18:33.880 --> 0:18:36.800
<v Speaker 1>their egos in check and come together to work together

0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:40.880
<v Speaker 1>and lead a team together. I think that's harder than

0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:43.080
<v Speaker 1>this just being like, forget it, I'll do it myself,

0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:44.560
<v Speaker 1>you think, yes.

0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:49.240
<v Speaker 2>All right, So Stratavari is making his mark on the world,

0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:54.320
<v Speaker 2>getting his reputation, and he's making a lot of money.

0:18:54.320 --> 0:18:56.440
<v Speaker 2>He wasn't one of these. It's like after he died

0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:59.240
<v Speaker 2>they later realized how great he was. He was a

0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:01.680
<v Speaker 2>rich man. Yeah, making and selling these violins.

0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:05.160
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, apparently there was a phrase richest stretta vari Yeah,

0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:08.119
<v Speaker 1>like richer than an astronaut is what we would say today.

0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:10.080
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. He was one of the more famous guys in

0:19:10.119 --> 0:19:11.400
<v Speaker 2>Italy at the time, for sure.

0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:12.600
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and rightfully so.

0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:18.560
<v Speaker 2>His crowning achievement supposedly is in seventeen sixteen when he

0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:22.560
<v Speaker 2>built the Messiah And this is the only violin that

0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:25.240
<v Speaker 2>he never sold that he kept in his workshop till

0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:25.840
<v Speaker 2>the day died.

0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:27.560
<v Speaker 1>It was his head stash violin.

0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:34.280
<v Speaker 2>And this violin has rarely been played. Apparently. One of

0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:38.320
<v Speaker 2>the sort of things unspoken rules when this thing's been

0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:41.879
<v Speaker 2>sold and passed down is that don't even play it.

0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:43.520
<v Speaker 2>This one should remain pristine.

0:19:43.640 --> 0:19:46.520
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's basically as close to a mint condition strata

0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:49.440
<v Speaker 1>various as you can find in the world. Oh it's

0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:52.400
<v Speaker 1>not close, it's meant yeah, but I mean a couple

0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:55.840
<v Speaker 1>of people have played it. Oh really, Yeah, it's not

0:19:56.119 --> 0:19:57.960
<v Speaker 1>been unplayed.

0:19:58.480 --> 0:20:02.720
<v Speaker 2>Okay, a couple of bad eggs in there, a couple

0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:05.639
<v Speaker 2>of super lucky violin plays that screw your unwritten rules.

0:20:05.760 --> 0:20:08.879
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, well this is before the Ashmullyan got their hands

0:20:08.920 --> 0:20:09.159
<v Speaker 1>on it.

0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:13.960
<v Speaker 2>Okay, So post seventeen twenty, post golden period, he still

0:20:14.000 --> 0:20:19.080
<v Speaker 2>produced violins and things, but apparently his eyesight was going,

0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:22.040
<v Speaker 2>his hands were not as steady, and they weren't quite

0:20:22.080 --> 0:20:24.040
<v Speaker 2>what they were during the golden period. I'm sure they

0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:25.399
<v Speaker 2>were still wonderful violence.

0:20:25.440 --> 0:20:27.960
<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, he's still churning out the good stuff, but

0:20:28.240 --> 0:20:29.600
<v Speaker 1>nothing like that golden period.

0:20:29.640 --> 0:20:32.119
<v Speaker 2>And he worked into his nineties, so he was building

0:20:32.200 --> 0:20:35.480
<v Speaker 2>violins for you know, seventy years.

0:20:35.200 --> 0:20:37.480
<v Speaker 1>He worked up to his death. As far as I understand,

0:20:37.520 --> 0:20:41.199
<v Speaker 1>I think so so yeah. But that golden period stuff

0:20:41.240 --> 0:20:44.399
<v Speaker 1>that was there was the Messiah from seventeen sixteen, the

0:20:44.640 --> 0:20:48.240
<v Speaker 1>Allard from seventeen fifteen, the Bets from seventeen oh four.

0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:52.400
<v Speaker 1>Those are just a few of the ones that he

0:20:52.440 --> 0:20:55.320
<v Speaker 1>made during this period that are still around today. He

0:20:55.359 --> 0:20:59.320
<v Speaker 1>made I saw a thousand, also saw fifteen hundred stringed

0:20:59.359 --> 0:21:03.119
<v Speaker 1>instruments during his career, amazing about six hundred and fifty

0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:08.720
<v Speaker 1>survived today. And there they tend to have names, especially

0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:10.840
<v Speaker 1>the ones from his golden period. As you just heard,

0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:15.080
<v Speaker 1>they have names, and they're usually the name of the

0:21:15.080 --> 0:21:18.600
<v Speaker 1>most famous UH player who owned it.

0:21:20.040 --> 0:21:25.439
<v Speaker 2>They weren't like a skippy and old roy right, Barnabas

0:21:25.880 --> 0:21:27.400
<v Speaker 2>Barnabas the violin right.

0:21:27.520 --> 0:21:34.800
<v Speaker 1>So there's a there's a superstition among violinists that the

0:21:34.920 --> 0:21:37.320
<v Speaker 1>more you play a violin, the more a particular person

0:21:37.320 --> 0:21:40.480
<v Speaker 1>plays violin, the more that violin takes on the character

0:21:40.800 --> 0:21:44.760
<v Speaker 1>of that player, right, so much so that a violinist

0:21:44.840 --> 0:21:47.720
<v Speaker 1>or even a cellist or a violist can come along

0:21:47.800 --> 0:21:52.399
<v Speaker 1>afterward and play that person's violin. Yeah, and it will

0:21:52.880 --> 0:21:56.400
<v Speaker 1>say it will sound much more like the person who's

0:21:56.480 --> 0:21:58.280
<v Speaker 1>violin it is than the person playing it.

0:21:58.600 --> 0:21:58.879
<v Speaker 2>Wow.

0:21:59.119 --> 0:22:02.199
<v Speaker 1>And there's there's a further superstition that the more you

0:22:02.240 --> 0:22:04.560
<v Speaker 1>play a violin, the better it sounds.

0:22:04.640 --> 0:22:07.560
<v Speaker 2>Well, that's not a superstition, that's fact, right, any instrument.

0:22:07.680 --> 0:22:10.520
<v Speaker 1>So there is a study from I think nineteen ninety

0:22:10.520 --> 0:22:14.160
<v Speaker 1>six that I came across that found that the more

0:22:15.119 --> 0:22:23.280
<v Speaker 1>violin wood is vibrated, the more the dampening coefficient is lowered.

0:22:23.680 --> 0:22:27.760
<v Speaker 1>The lower the damping coefficient, the longer a note resonates.

0:22:27.920 --> 0:22:30.879
<v Speaker 1>The longer a note resonates, the richer the sound. And

0:22:30.960 --> 0:22:34.080
<v Speaker 1>so just playing it right, because you're vibrating the wood

0:22:34.119 --> 0:22:36.480
<v Speaker 1>when you're playing a violin, the more you do that,

0:22:36.720 --> 0:22:39.920
<v Speaker 1>the more frequently you do that, the better the violin's

0:22:39.920 --> 0:22:42.400
<v Speaker 1>actually going to sound. So astoundingly, the more you play

0:22:42.400 --> 0:22:43.800
<v Speaker 1>a violin, the better it sounds.

0:22:43.840 --> 0:22:46.280
<v Speaker 2>Well, that's true for any instrument, is it. Yeah, it's

0:22:46.280 --> 0:22:50.320
<v Speaker 2>called breaking it in. Oh, So it's like a pair

0:22:50.320 --> 0:22:53.720
<v Speaker 2>of genes you can identify with that.

0:22:53.840 --> 0:22:55.520
<v Speaker 1>Sure, I love genes.

0:22:56.000 --> 0:22:58.879
<v Speaker 2>You know, a pair of genes five years in or

0:22:58.960 --> 0:23:01.879
<v Speaker 2>better than they are when you come off the shelf. Yeah,

0:23:01.960 --> 0:23:05.720
<v Speaker 2>it's the same thing. It's breaking it in, especially strings

0:23:05.720 --> 0:23:09.320
<v Speaker 2>with anything with the fingerboard. That fingerboard just you know,

0:23:09.520 --> 0:23:11.919
<v Speaker 2>wears in those frets wear down a little and it

0:23:11.920 --> 0:23:14.359
<v Speaker 2>does get a little bit attuned I think to your style.

0:23:14.720 --> 0:23:16.720
<v Speaker 1>Yeah for sure. Yeah, very interesting.

0:23:16.880 --> 0:23:20.479
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I'd like to do more on musical instruments here

0:23:20.520 --> 0:23:22.800
<v Speaker 2>and there. Okay, I'm putting it out there, all right,

0:23:22.880 --> 0:23:25.439
<v Speaker 2>all right, well let's take another quick break and we

0:23:25.480 --> 0:23:30.320
<v Speaker 2>will get into all the controversies surrounding just why these

0:23:30.520 --> 0:23:34.200
<v Speaker 2>things sound so good and all those theories. Pretty interesting stuff.

0:23:49.320 --> 0:23:51.800
<v Speaker 1>So, Chuck, I gotta say, you did a good job

0:23:51.840 --> 0:23:57.639
<v Speaker 1>putting this one together. Okay, sure, I'm interested in it.

0:23:58.080 --> 0:24:00.600
<v Speaker 2>You know we I had that stuff from the B

0:24:00.760 --> 0:24:04.600
<v Speaker 2>Side podcast for like two months back in the day.

0:24:04.680 --> 0:24:06.000
<v Speaker 1>People still call for it.

0:24:06.000 --> 0:24:09.800
<v Speaker 2>And we covered this very briefly. Oh really, yeah not.

0:24:10.520 --> 0:24:12.199
<v Speaker 2>We didn't do right by it. So that's why I

0:24:12.200 --> 0:24:13.800
<v Speaker 2>was like, you know what, that's a good topic. Nice,

0:24:13.920 --> 0:24:18.320
<v Speaker 2>I mean, dust that one off. Nice. So there have

0:24:18.359 --> 0:24:22.000
<v Speaker 2>been many many theories over the years, like if the

0:24:22.280 --> 0:24:28.080
<v Speaker 2>strat is so revered in legendary that people experts, scientists

0:24:28.119 --> 0:24:30.600
<v Speaker 2>are bound to want to crack that nut. Yeah, like

0:24:30.680 --> 0:24:32.399
<v Speaker 2>why yeah, like what's the deal.

0:24:32.960 --> 0:24:35.840
<v Speaker 1>And it's not. Again, this is it's objectively better than

0:24:35.960 --> 0:24:40.000
<v Speaker 1>other violins, the ones that strata vary made.

0:24:40.119 --> 0:24:44.320
<v Speaker 2>Correct some of the theories. The old theories back then

0:24:45.040 --> 0:24:46.640
<v Speaker 2>was that he would soak the wood in salt water.

0:24:47.080 --> 0:24:51.280
<v Speaker 2>Not true, that the wood was coated with volcanic ash,

0:24:51.480 --> 0:24:55.760
<v Speaker 2>not true. That dragon's blood was used in the varnish.

0:24:55.760 --> 0:25:00.560
<v Speaker 1>That may have been true, Okay, George R. Martin came

0:25:00.640 --> 0:25:01.200
<v Speaker 1>up with that one.

0:25:01.640 --> 0:25:04.480
<v Speaker 2>Probably so, and then i'll, you know, we'll get into

0:25:04.520 --> 0:25:09.800
<v Speaker 2>the more modern theories. There's really well, there's a couple

0:25:09.880 --> 0:25:16.360
<v Speaker 2>of leading theories. One is the wood, yeah, this ice

0:25:16.400 --> 0:25:19.240
<v Speaker 2>age wood, which we'll talk about, and the others the varnish.

0:25:19.160 --> 0:25:25.720
<v Speaker 1>Right, go, okay, Well, the Strativari was working during what's

0:25:25.840 --> 0:25:29.080
<v Speaker 1>known as Europe's Little Ice Age, which is a period

0:25:29.119 --> 0:25:35.280
<v Speaker 1>of unusually, very unusually colder temperatures, and I think they're

0:25:35.320 --> 0:25:38.200
<v Speaker 1>still trying to figure out what the heck happened. And

0:25:38.240 --> 0:25:39.560
<v Speaker 1>as a matter of fact, we need to do like

0:25:39.600 --> 0:25:42.320
<v Speaker 1>an irregular ice age podcast and we'll talk about it then.

0:25:42.440 --> 0:25:43.240
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, But the.

0:25:43.240 --> 0:25:46.719
<v Speaker 1>Upshot of it was that because of the colder temperatures,

0:25:47.119 --> 0:25:52.840
<v Speaker 1>the spruce that was used by Strativari in the manufacture

0:25:52.840 --> 0:25:58.040
<v Speaker 1>of these violins grew slower but more evenly steadier, so

0:25:58.080 --> 0:26:00.760
<v Speaker 1>that the wood that was harvested from these bruce trees

0:26:01.359 --> 0:26:07.760
<v Speaker 1>was much more uniformly grained. Right, So just basically really

0:26:08.240 --> 0:26:11.840
<v Speaker 1>high end wood was produced by this little ice age.

0:26:12.200 --> 0:26:15.160
<v Speaker 1>The problem with that being the reason that Strata Vari's

0:26:15.760 --> 0:26:18.480
<v Speaker 1>violins were so great, is that that wood was also

0:26:18.600 --> 0:26:23.080
<v Speaker 1>available to violin makers elsewhere in Europe, and their violins

0:26:23.080 --> 0:26:24.800
<v Speaker 1>don't sound anything like a Strata Vary.

0:26:25.040 --> 0:26:25.240
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:26:25.280 --> 0:26:27.600
<v Speaker 1>So the little ice age theory, while still I think

0:26:28.880 --> 0:26:31.840
<v Speaker 1>out there has I think that really kind of goes

0:26:31.880 --> 0:26:33.320
<v Speaker 1>a long way to undermining it.

0:26:34.000 --> 0:26:36.919
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, like they were, people were really excited about that

0:26:36.960 --> 0:26:39.000
<v Speaker 2>at first, and I think they're like, yes, not proof.

0:26:39.080 --> 0:26:41.800
<v Speaker 1>It's a cool theory. It is cool, little ice age.

0:26:42.119 --> 0:26:45.200
<v Speaker 2>There's another dude at Texas A and M I named

0:26:45.320 --> 0:26:54.200
<v Speaker 2>Joseph Nagavary nagie Vary, what a unique name. And he said,

0:26:54.280 --> 0:27:00.879
<v Speaker 2>it's all about this varnish, this cremones. Cremones varnish. Is

0:27:00.880 --> 0:27:01.360
<v Speaker 2>that not right?

0:27:01.480 --> 0:27:02.800
<v Speaker 1>Yeah? Cream and ease.

0:27:03.080 --> 0:27:04.720
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I think that's what they say.

0:27:04.640 --> 0:27:06.320
<v Speaker 1>Start your morning right with cremin ese.

0:27:07.880 --> 0:27:11.080
<v Speaker 2>So he published an article in Scientific Journal Public Library

0:27:11.160 --> 0:27:16.040
<v Speaker 2>of science one. It's capitalized for some reason, and he says,

0:27:16.080 --> 0:27:20.199
<v Speaker 2>you know what's going on here. It's this varnish that

0:27:20.240 --> 0:27:24.520
<v Speaker 2>he used. Let me analyze it chemically, and what he

0:27:24.560 --> 0:27:29.200
<v Speaker 2>found out was it's very unique in that it has

0:27:29.359 --> 0:27:32.320
<v Speaker 2>these things in there that you would not expect to

0:27:32.359 --> 0:27:37.359
<v Speaker 2>be in a varnish, like borax and chromium. And he said, so,

0:27:37.400 --> 0:27:40.600
<v Speaker 2>what I think is going on is this stuff. He

0:27:40.680 --> 0:27:43.719
<v Speaker 2>added this stuff to the varnish to protect it that

0:27:43.800 --> 0:27:47.640
<v Speaker 2>would against damage an infestation, But what it really did

0:27:48.320 --> 0:27:52.360
<v Speaker 2>was actually weakened the wood and made it porous where

0:27:52.359 --> 0:27:55.960
<v Speaker 2>it should not be, and that created more tone, a

0:27:56.000 --> 0:27:58.960
<v Speaker 2>more booming, rich, powerful tone. Right.

0:28:00.280 --> 0:28:02.800
<v Speaker 1>Pushback his well, his theory is not entirely out of

0:28:02.880 --> 0:28:05.880
<v Speaker 1>left field, like it's it's pretty much accepted that if

0:28:05.920 --> 0:28:09.000
<v Speaker 1>you put the wrong kind of varnish on a violin,

0:28:09.080 --> 0:28:11.760
<v Speaker 1>it's going to ruin the sound. Sure, so his whole

0:28:11.800 --> 0:28:15.120
<v Speaker 1>thing was, well, why couldn't you stumble upon some varnish

0:28:15.160 --> 0:28:17.879
<v Speaker 1>that actually enhanced the sound, And that was his idea

0:28:17.920 --> 0:28:23.560
<v Speaker 1>that that's that accounted for strata areas violin sounding like that. Yeah,

0:28:23.600 --> 0:28:25.840
<v Speaker 1>I think he did get a lot of pushback. There

0:28:25.880 --> 0:28:28.159
<v Speaker 1>seems to be even if He's right. There seems to

0:28:28.200 --> 0:28:32.840
<v Speaker 1>be a desire among the people who collect and play

0:28:33.040 --> 0:28:37.560
<v Speaker 1>strata various violins is that we'll never understand what makes

0:28:37.560 --> 0:28:40.400
<v Speaker 1>it special. We don't really want to know what will

0:28:40.400 --> 0:28:41.160
<v Speaker 1>make it special.

0:28:41.280 --> 0:28:41.920
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:28:41.960 --> 0:28:45.640
<v Speaker 1>There's a guy who was widely quoted. He's a violinist

0:28:46.120 --> 0:28:56.400
<v Speaker 1>from America's name is James EANs Ends EANs Man, Well, James.

0:28:56.440 --> 0:28:59.440
<v Speaker 1>His his whole view is that he's played a number

0:28:59.440 --> 0:29:03.120
<v Speaker 1>of strata of various violins and other stringed instruments, and

0:29:03.120 --> 0:29:05.920
<v Speaker 1>he said that there's probably a thousand things that make

0:29:06.000 --> 0:29:09.440
<v Speaker 1>them special. Yeah, and we could never possibly know what

0:29:09.640 --> 0:29:11.760
<v Speaker 1>all those thousand things are, and there's never just going

0:29:11.840 --> 0:29:14.360
<v Speaker 1>to be just this one thing that is the key

0:29:14.400 --> 0:29:17.280
<v Speaker 1>to what made strata varius violins so great.

0:29:17.880 --> 0:29:21.760
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. I think I watched a BBC documentary that was

0:29:21.800 --> 0:29:25.440
<v Speaker 2>really pretty great and they interviewed another violin maker and

0:29:25.520 --> 0:29:28.600
<v Speaker 2>he said, you know, it was the right place, right time.

0:29:29.080 --> 0:29:31.719
<v Speaker 2>Thing like this guy came along. Maybe they had this

0:29:32.040 --> 0:29:34.640
<v Speaker 2>good wood that was special, maybe he had this varnish

0:29:34.640 --> 0:29:35.280
<v Speaker 2>that was special.

0:29:36.400 --> 0:29:38.880
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, but they were in the hands of somebody special too.

0:29:39.080 --> 0:29:43.040
<v Speaker 2>Well. That was his point was that other people were

0:29:43.120 --> 0:29:45.320
<v Speaker 2>using some of these same things and they turned out

0:29:45.480 --> 0:29:48.600
<v Speaker 2>very different. He said he was so good at what

0:29:48.640 --> 0:29:52.240
<v Speaker 2>he did, Like that's the secret. He was just better

0:29:52.400 --> 0:29:54.040
<v Speaker 2>at doing this than other people.

0:29:54.200 --> 0:29:56.840
<v Speaker 1>Right, Like how Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade brought the

0:29:56.880 --> 0:29:58.640
<v Speaker 1>best out of Lebron James.

0:29:59.040 --> 0:30:01.360
<v Speaker 2>Well, where I think this Texas A and M Professor

0:30:02.360 --> 0:30:05.920
<v Speaker 2>aired was that he was so bold as to even

0:30:06.520 --> 0:30:08.760
<v Speaker 2>posit the idea that it may have been an accident,

0:30:09.560 --> 0:30:10.160
<v Speaker 2>and that like.

0:30:10.280 --> 0:30:12.960
<v Speaker 1>I would say bold is an appropriate term.

0:30:13.080 --> 0:30:15.400
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, Like they turned out this good on accident. He

0:30:15.440 --> 0:30:17.080
<v Speaker 2>didn't know this varnish was going to do that, or

0:30:17.200 --> 0:30:20.240
<v Speaker 2>the wood may have been even pre treated with these chemicals,

0:30:20.840 --> 0:30:23.600
<v Speaker 2>and he kind of lucked into what it ended up being. Yeah,

0:30:23.680 --> 0:30:26.040
<v Speaker 2>and not that he wasn't talented, but like that's why

0:30:26.040 --> 0:30:26.760
<v Speaker 2>they are what they are.

0:30:26.800 --> 0:30:30.440
<v Speaker 1>And people were like, whoah, blasphemy.

0:30:29.960 --> 0:30:33.400
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, out heretic. So how much of these things cost

0:30:33.520 --> 0:30:34.320
<v Speaker 2>a lot?

0:30:35.000 --> 0:30:37.760
<v Speaker 1>The end I saw, I mean, the numbers are all

0:30:37.800 --> 0:30:40.520
<v Speaker 1>over the place. Like one thing, we'll say that the

0:30:40.520 --> 0:30:45.560
<v Speaker 1>the record was three point five four four million dollars. Yeah,

0:30:45.600 --> 0:30:48.280
<v Speaker 1>and then later on the record was broken with three

0:30:48.320 --> 0:30:52.440
<v Speaker 1>point six million dollars with the Molitor stratavaries owned famously

0:30:52.480 --> 0:30:57.000
<v Speaker 1>by Milwaukee brewer Paul Mollitor. That's where that one got

0:30:57.040 --> 0:30:57.520
<v Speaker 1>its name.

0:30:57.880 --> 0:30:59.960
<v Speaker 2>Well, yeah, I agree. And then this says, in June

0:31:00.000 --> 0:31:03.120
<v Speaker 2>twenty fourteen, the Kreutzer at a pre sale estimate of

0:31:03.160 --> 0:31:05.480
<v Speaker 2>seven and a half million to ten million, but it

0:31:05.520 --> 0:31:06.960
<v Speaker 2>failed to reach the reserve price.

0:31:07.080 --> 0:31:10.480
<v Speaker 1>Right But then later on another one sold in twenty

0:31:10.560 --> 0:31:15.360
<v Speaker 1>eleven for sixteen million, So apparently nobody's really keeping tabs here.

0:31:15.400 --> 0:31:18.840
<v Speaker 1>I looked down the internet. I couldn't find anything approaching

0:31:19.080 --> 0:31:22.680
<v Speaker 1>a comprehensive list of how much these things had gone for.

0:31:23.160 --> 0:31:26.600
<v Speaker 1>But the fact is millions of dollars, tens of millions

0:31:26.640 --> 0:31:29.920
<v Speaker 1>in some cases, from what I understand. And there are collectors,

0:31:30.080 --> 0:31:32.720
<v Speaker 1>very very wealthy collectors who are driving the price of

0:31:32.720 --> 0:31:36.000
<v Speaker 1>strata various violins and other string instruments through the roof,

0:31:36.680 --> 0:31:38.800
<v Speaker 1>where if you were smart enough to buy one for

0:31:38.840 --> 0:31:42.520
<v Speaker 1>a few hundred thousand dollars twenty thirty years ago, it's

0:31:42.520 --> 0:31:45.560
<v Speaker 1>worth easily ten twenty times that now.

0:31:45.840 --> 0:31:47.360
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and it's kind of a shame that these aren't

0:31:47.360 --> 0:31:49.080
<v Speaker 2>in the hands of the great players of the world,

0:31:49.120 --> 0:31:49.400
<v Speaker 2>you know.

0:31:49.640 --> 0:31:51.360
<v Speaker 1>Well, they're in the hands of the great players of

0:31:51.400 --> 0:31:53.880
<v Speaker 1>the world who come from very wealthy families.

0:31:54.040 --> 0:31:56.320
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, or who, like you said, bought one twenty or

0:31:56.320 --> 0:31:58.840
<v Speaker 2>thirty years ago, right, and that's their you know, their

0:31:58.840 --> 0:31:59.480
<v Speaker 2>go to But.

0:31:59.520 --> 0:32:04.280
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's it's just another fat piggy thing to buy

0:32:04.320 --> 0:32:07.400
<v Speaker 1>and own and possess. The one I have is the

0:32:07.400 --> 0:32:13.240
<v Speaker 1>most expensive one, right, Fortunately, the one that's so so

0:32:13.480 --> 0:32:17.280
<v Speaker 1>valuable that it's frequently cited as priceless is the Messiah. Yeah,

0:32:17.320 --> 0:32:20.320
<v Speaker 1>and that is owned by the Ashmoley and at Oxford University,

0:32:20.520 --> 0:32:23.080
<v Speaker 1>so that one's not up for grabs, which is cool

0:32:23.400 --> 0:32:27.000
<v Speaker 1>because all the other ones are just operating under that level.

0:32:27.240 --> 0:32:29.880
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. And the lady in the BBC documentary as a violinist,

0:32:29.920 --> 0:32:32.520
<v Speaker 2>and she got to hold the Messiah with gloves.

0:32:32.200 --> 0:32:34.360
<v Speaker 1>And it's called that because there's a Nativity scene in

0:32:34.440 --> 0:32:35.640
<v Speaker 1>laid on the back I believe.

0:32:35.840 --> 0:32:38.320
<v Speaker 2>Oh I don't think it's the back. I think it's

0:32:38.320 --> 0:32:41.480
<v Speaker 2>in the little tail piece. Oh okay, But this thing

0:32:41.560 --> 0:32:43.240
<v Speaker 2>is gorgeous. And she was allowed to hold it with

0:32:43.280 --> 0:32:46.840
<v Speaker 2>gloves is like white cotton gloves, And the whole time,

0:32:47.040 --> 0:32:49.360
<v Speaker 2>even though I knew that wouldn't happen, I was like,

0:32:49.840 --> 0:32:53.560
<v Speaker 2>don't drop it. Yeah, you know those slippy little cotton gloves. Sure,

0:32:53.920 --> 0:32:55.680
<v Speaker 2>and it just made me nervous watching it.

0:32:55.720 --> 0:32:57.880
<v Speaker 1>Did you ever see that video of things that were

0:32:58.080 --> 0:33:00.880
<v Speaker 1>very expensive things that were accidentally oken that I made

0:33:01.080 --> 0:33:01.600
<v Speaker 1>years back?

0:33:02.200 --> 0:33:02.880
<v Speaker 2>I remember that.

0:33:03.120 --> 0:33:06.080
<v Speaker 1>It's just like it was tough to make. I bet

0:33:06.160 --> 0:33:07.280
<v Speaker 1>it's tough to watch too.

0:33:07.480 --> 0:33:11.560
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. So over the years there have been many, many,

0:33:11.680 --> 0:33:17.320
<v Speaker 2>many many fakes. As as soon as he died, they

0:33:17.360 --> 0:33:22.760
<v Speaker 2>started pumping out forgeries, and not even forgeries, like just

0:33:22.840 --> 0:33:26.320
<v Speaker 2>mass produced violins that they would throw a label on that.

0:33:26.480 --> 0:33:30.760
<v Speaker 1>At the time, in the nineteenth century, eighteenth and nineteenth century,

0:33:30.880 --> 0:33:34.160
<v Speaker 1>the people buying the violins knew that they were like

0:33:34.760 --> 0:33:36.760
<v Speaker 1>knockoff manufactured fakes.

0:33:36.840 --> 0:33:42.400
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, largely in Germany, right right, But they weren't like, yeah,

0:33:42.400 --> 0:33:42.840
<v Speaker 2>they weren't.

0:33:42.880 --> 0:33:45.280
<v Speaker 1>They weren't being duped. It was like this is this

0:33:45.360 --> 0:33:48.760
<v Speaker 1>is in the style of Stratavarius or whatever. Yeah, largely

0:33:48.800 --> 0:33:52.280
<v Speaker 1>in Germany and Czechoslovakia. And the thing is, though, is

0:33:52.400 --> 0:33:56.800
<v Speaker 1>over time these what are now pretty old violins because

0:33:56.840 --> 0:33:59.520
<v Speaker 1>they were again made in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Yeah,

0:33:59.600 --> 0:34:03.320
<v Speaker 1>they I had labels on them that would say like Stratavarius,

0:34:03.680 --> 0:34:10.240
<v Speaker 1>cremonsis fachibot Onoh, and then say like sixteen seventy nine

0:34:10.320 --> 0:34:12.879
<v Speaker 1>or something like that. Right, So, if you find one

0:34:12.920 --> 0:34:16.160
<v Speaker 1>of these violins and your attic, yeah, and it looks

0:34:16.200 --> 0:34:20.759
<v Speaker 1>pretty old. It literally says an Italian. This violin was

0:34:20.800 --> 0:34:24.719
<v Speaker 1>made by Stratavarius in sixteen seventy nine. You could be

0:34:24.800 --> 0:34:28.239
<v Speaker 1>forgiven to think that you have just found a Strativarius

0:34:28.320 --> 0:34:31.799
<v Speaker 1>violin and all of your money problems are over. You

0:34:31.840 --> 0:34:34.440
<v Speaker 1>can go buy more meth than you'll ever be able

0:34:34.480 --> 0:34:35.640
<v Speaker 1>to do in your entire life.

0:34:36.320 --> 0:34:38.680
<v Speaker 2>It might say made in Germany too, though.

0:34:38.560 --> 0:34:40.839
<v Speaker 1>That's a big giveaway, it is. Yeah, And apparently if

0:34:40.880 --> 0:34:42.600
<v Speaker 1>you're an appraiser of this kind of thing, you were

0:34:42.920 --> 0:34:45.680
<v Speaker 1>so sick of people calling you that you can't even

0:34:45.760 --> 0:34:48.399
<v Speaker 1>hide it when you're interviewed in an article. Yeah.

0:34:48.440 --> 0:34:51.440
<v Speaker 2>The one guy even said that. He's like, people get

0:34:51.480 --> 0:34:54.080
<v Speaker 2>angry when you tell them it's not he said, because

0:34:54.080 --> 0:34:56.640
<v Speaker 2>they think they've got a lottery ticket and you have

0:34:56.719 --> 0:34:58.080
<v Speaker 2>to break it to him. And he said, they get

0:34:58.120 --> 0:34:59.320
<v Speaker 2>mad on these phone calls.

0:34:59.239 --> 0:35:01.439
<v Speaker 1>Right, and they're like, well, do you have twenty bucks

0:35:01.480 --> 0:35:01.759
<v Speaker 1>from men?

0:35:04.200 --> 0:35:07.879
<v Speaker 2>It's pretty funny. Uh, do you got anything else?

0:35:08.080 --> 0:35:11.520
<v Speaker 1>Yeah? If you find a violin and you look it

0:35:11.560 --> 0:35:13.919
<v Speaker 1>over and it says Stratavarius and you look even further

0:35:13.960 --> 0:35:15.480
<v Speaker 1>and it doesn't say made in Germany.

0:35:15.560 --> 0:35:15.799
<v Speaker 2>Fake.

0:35:16.760 --> 0:35:18.920
<v Speaker 1>If it doesn't say that, I know, but it's still

0:35:18.920 --> 0:35:22.800
<v Speaker 1>probably a fake. Well you can. There's a Smithsonian article

0:35:22.840 --> 0:35:25.400
<v Speaker 1>about it that has basically step by step what you

0:35:25.400 --> 0:35:28.239
<v Speaker 1>can do and who you can submit photos to to

0:35:28.280 --> 0:35:31.840
<v Speaker 1>get it basically pre appraised, well not appraised, but just

0:35:32.000 --> 0:35:35.360
<v Speaker 1>looked at. And they can usually tell from the photos like, no,

0:35:35.440 --> 0:35:35.959
<v Speaker 1>it's a fake.

0:35:36.080 --> 0:35:38.520
<v Speaker 2>Like step one, leave it out in the sun and

0:35:38.600 --> 0:35:40.520
<v Speaker 2>let it let it get rained on a couple of

0:35:40.520 --> 0:35:44.560
<v Speaker 2>times if ants are attracted to it, not as strata exactly.

0:35:45.680 --> 0:35:49.160
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, but one of the appraisers makes the point like

0:35:50.000 --> 0:35:52.600
<v Speaker 1>they're about six hundred and fifty in the world and

0:35:52.719 --> 0:35:54.320
<v Speaker 1>they're all basically accounted for it.

0:35:54.760 --> 0:35:55.440
<v Speaker 2>We know where they are.

0:35:55.560 --> 0:35:57.680
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and even when we don't know where they are,

0:35:57.719 --> 0:36:00.719
<v Speaker 1>we know we would know the one that we don't

0:36:00.760 --> 0:36:02.240
<v Speaker 1>know where they are when they surface.

0:36:02.640 --> 0:36:04.040
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. They stolen one.

0:36:04.120 --> 0:36:07.640
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, there was one that was famously stolen thirty something

0:36:07.680 --> 0:36:10.640
<v Speaker 1>years ago from a concert violinist and it was a

0:36:10.680 --> 0:36:14.160
<v Speaker 1>stratavarius and it was in the attic of a Milwaukee

0:36:14.280 --> 0:36:17.560
<v Speaker 1>thief's house and I guess he died and his girlfriend

0:36:17.600 --> 0:36:20.320
<v Speaker 1>took it to an appraiser who's like, uh, this is stolen.

0:36:20.360 --> 0:36:21.920
<v Speaker 2>I know who's this is crazy.

0:36:22.000 --> 0:36:24.520
<v Speaker 1>So it's a very small community. So the idea that

0:36:24.560 --> 0:36:27.040
<v Speaker 1>somebody's just gonna walk up with like a real strata

0:36:27.080 --> 0:36:32.280
<v Speaker 1>varius that had previously been unknown is it's just most

0:36:32.360 --> 0:36:33.280
<v Speaker 1>likely not going to happen.

0:36:33.560 --> 0:36:36.560
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. The one of the other appraisers said, it's like

0:36:37.239 --> 0:36:39.759
<v Speaker 2>finding a new rem brand. He said, we know what

0:36:39.880 --> 0:36:41.520
<v Speaker 2>he painted, right, we know where they are.

0:36:41.719 --> 0:36:45.120
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, now they got computers painting rem brands.

0:36:45.320 --> 0:36:46.160
<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, I remember that.

0:36:46.280 --> 0:36:46.760
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:36:46.800 --> 0:36:49.080
<v Speaker 2>I think a guy left his strata in the cab

0:36:49.760 --> 0:36:51.000
<v Speaker 2>a few years ago too.

0:36:50.920 --> 0:36:54.279
<v Speaker 1>Was it, Joshua Bell? Sounds like something that I would do.

0:36:54.320 --> 0:36:54.920
<v Speaker 1>He's wacky.

0:36:55.040 --> 0:36:57.640
<v Speaker 2>I can't remember. I believe that happened, though I remember

0:36:57.840 --> 0:37:00.960
<v Speaker 2>to get it back. I think so.

0:37:00.520 --> 0:37:02.000
<v Speaker 1>Only in New York, right, jeez?

0:37:02.080 --> 0:37:03.239
<v Speaker 2>Can you imagine? No?

0:37:04.640 --> 0:37:09.000
<v Speaker 1>Because again, like these are concert violinists who have almost

0:37:09.040 --> 0:37:12.239
<v Speaker 1>been entrusted by humanity with these things like here, this

0:37:12.360 --> 0:37:15.240
<v Speaker 1>is a very expensive violin. Yes, but we are giving

0:37:15.280 --> 0:37:17.879
<v Speaker 1>this to you because we think you will enrich this

0:37:18.040 --> 0:37:21.720
<v Speaker 1>and with your playing and maybe someday it'll be called

0:37:21.920 --> 0:37:26.480
<v Speaker 1>your last name Stratavarius. Play it well, don't leave it

0:37:26.520 --> 0:37:27.400
<v Speaker 1>in the back of a cab.

0:37:27.960 --> 0:37:29.719
<v Speaker 2>And then that guy had to get on Craigslist and

0:37:29.760 --> 0:37:33.200
<v Speaker 2>buy a one hundred dollars fiddle right yep to play

0:37:33.280 --> 0:37:34.919
<v Speaker 2>first chair at the Philharmonic.

0:37:35.120 --> 0:37:42.319
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, Chuck, Yes, you got anything else?

0:37:42.360 --> 0:37:43.080
<v Speaker 2>I got nothing else.

0:37:43.120 --> 0:37:45.080
<v Speaker 1>I don't either. Good job putting this together, man.

0:37:45.239 --> 0:37:45.560
<v Speaker 2>Thanks.

0:37:46.120 --> 0:37:48.879
<v Speaker 1>If you want to know more about Stratavarius, you can

0:37:48.920 --> 0:37:50.680
<v Speaker 1>search the internet for it, because we don't have an

0:37:50.760 --> 0:37:55.480
<v Speaker 1>article on how stuff works. Since I said, uh, Internet,

0:37:55.920 --> 0:37:57.200
<v Speaker 1>it's time for listener mail.

0:38:00.400 --> 0:38:04.160
<v Speaker 2>Recall this from my good buddy Becks Rebecca Bloomfield. She's

0:38:05.440 --> 0:38:07.240
<v Speaker 2>one of my pen pals.

0:38:07.000 --> 0:38:08.640
<v Speaker 1>Okay from the stuff you should know want see in

0:38:08.640 --> 0:38:09.920
<v Speaker 1>prison over the years.

0:38:09.960 --> 0:38:13.719
<v Speaker 2>She sure is. No, she's not. She's a delight though,

0:38:14.120 --> 0:38:16.800
<v Speaker 2>and she backed me up on my comments about women

0:38:17.160 --> 0:38:19.960
<v Speaker 2>in science, so I felt good about it, so I

0:38:19.960 --> 0:38:23.040
<v Speaker 2>wanted to read it. She made me feel better. I

0:38:23.040 --> 0:38:24.600
<v Speaker 2>hope you guys had a great time in the UK.

0:38:24.800 --> 0:38:28.320
<v Speaker 2>By the way, she just missed our show and I

0:38:28.440 --> 0:38:30.400
<v Speaker 2>think in London by a couple of days, since she

0:38:30.440 --> 0:38:31.160
<v Speaker 2>was very bummed out.

0:38:31.200 --> 0:38:32.520
<v Speaker 1>Does she live there or was she visiting?

0:38:32.600 --> 0:38:36.200
<v Speaker 2>I think visiting. She now lives somewhere else, so she said,

0:38:36.400 --> 0:38:38.280
<v Speaker 2>I know you did. I just listened to the delightful

0:38:38.320 --> 0:38:41.960
<v Speaker 2>history of steam. Anyway, I'm writing to say, bloody well done.

0:38:43.600 --> 0:38:44.399
<v Speaker 2>Is that a curse word?

0:38:45.320 --> 0:38:47.080
<v Speaker 1>I think like it's like.

0:38:48.760 --> 0:38:52.879
<v Speaker 2>Very okay, great, well done, Chuck on your comment on

0:38:52.920 --> 0:38:55.840
<v Speaker 2>what we could have achieved of women had been allowed

0:38:55.880 --> 0:38:58.440
<v Speaker 2>into the stem fields from the start. I know this

0:38:58.480 --> 0:39:01.200
<v Speaker 2>sort of comment could be a minefield for guy, but

0:39:01.239 --> 0:39:02.960
<v Speaker 2>I can assure you you made your point really well.

0:39:03.000 --> 0:39:06.240
<v Speaker 2>I'm normally the first to jump on non feminist comments

0:39:06.320 --> 0:39:09.160
<v Speaker 2>or man's plaining. That's what I was afraid of, So

0:39:09.200 --> 0:39:10.759
<v Speaker 2>she said, I'm usually the first to jump on the

0:39:10.760 --> 0:39:14.279
<v Speaker 2>man's plaining. And when you said it, I just said yes, yes, Chuck,

0:39:14.520 --> 0:39:17.160
<v Speaker 2>very loudly in my office. I even startled the dogs.

0:39:17.800 --> 0:39:20.000
<v Speaker 2>Raising children is very important, but men can do it too.

0:39:20.719 --> 0:39:22.680
<v Speaker 2>All humans of any gender should have a choice to

0:39:22.719 --> 0:39:24.520
<v Speaker 2>what they do with their lives that should not be

0:39:24.560 --> 0:39:27.000
<v Speaker 2>predetermined because of their gender. So good on you, Chuck.

0:39:27.400 --> 0:39:29.239
<v Speaker 2>Makes me happy to know that the next generation of

0:39:29.239 --> 0:39:33.040
<v Speaker 2>women are being raised by men like you. And that's

0:39:33.080 --> 0:39:36.680
<v Speaker 2>from Beck's Bloomfield And she is a graphic designer for

0:39:36.760 --> 0:39:40.319
<v Speaker 2>Little Red Robot Design Ooh, Shout Out and just a

0:39:40.520 --> 0:39:41.120
<v Speaker 2>nice lady.

0:39:41.480 --> 0:39:44.400
<v Speaker 1>Nice. Well, thanks a lot Be's Can I call her that?

0:39:44.560 --> 0:39:45.880
<v Speaker 1>Or should I just call her Rebecca?

0:39:46.200 --> 0:39:47.320
<v Speaker 2>No, you're in the club.

0:39:47.480 --> 0:39:51.160
<v Speaker 1>Okay, Well thanks a lot Bes for that email and

0:39:51.239 --> 0:39:56.160
<v Speaker 1>for shouting. We appreciate that kind of thing certainly. If

0:39:56.200 --> 0:39:57.640
<v Speaker 1>you want to get in touch of this, you can

0:39:57.680 --> 0:40:00.879
<v Speaker 1>tweet to us at sysk podcast. You can hang out

0:40:00.920 --> 0:40:03.680
<v Speaker 1>with us at Facebook dot com slash Stuff you Should Know.

0:40:04.080 --> 0:40:06.400
<v Speaker 1>You can also send us an email to stuff podcast

0:40:06.440 --> 0:40:08.839
<v Speaker 1>at HowStuffWorks dot com and as always, joined us sort

0:40:08.840 --> 0:40:13.720
<v Speaker 1>o at home on the web, Stuff youshould Know dot com.

0:40:13.800 --> 0:40:16.120
<v Speaker 1>Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio.

0:40:16.600 --> 0:40:20.960
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0:40:21.080 --> 0:40:22.920
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