The festival, the largest of its kind in the region and one of the most important in Europe, will feature cellists such as Mischa Maisky, Yo-Yo Ma, Marie Hallynck and David Geringas, and violinists Alexandru Tomescu, Remus Azoitei, Joshua Bell, Nicolaj Znaider, Renaud Capucon, Viviane Hagner, Isabelle Faust and Julien Rachlin, who have brought their Gibson “ex Huberman” Stradivarius (Bell), “Kreisler” Guarneri del Jesu (Znaider) and Elder Voicu (Tomescu) instruments.
“The instruments that have arrived in Bucharest are part of the most expensive category,” said Cezar Marin, Romania’s only expert on valuable violins, for Business Standard.
“The prices of the instruments that go to auction are usually minimum, somewhere around one million pounds sterling [€1.13 million],” added Hebbert. The great instruments are worth far more. The expert gave two examples: the “Messiah” violin, a 1716 Stradivarius, valued at GBP 10 million (€11.3 mln), and the 1741 Guarnieri del Gesu “Vieuxtemps,” whose value was set at GBP 20 mln (€22.76 mln).
On the auction market, the world record for the sale of a musical instrument belongs to The Hammer Stradivarius 1707, sold in 2006 in 6 minutes, for $3.5 mln.
