Anguished appeal for stolen London violin
UncategorizedMelanie Wise is asking us to look out for her early 19th century German violin, which was stolen from a van parked near Mare Street in Hackney.
She was working at the time with the band Primal Scream.
Here’s what Melanie writes:
I HAVE HAD MY BELOVED VIOLIN AND ENTIRE MUSICAL SETUP STOLEN @ 3PM TODAY FROM THE BACK OF DARK BLUE MERCEDES SPRINTER VAN PARKED ON RETREAT PLACE IN HACKNEY. THEY DRILLED THE LOCK AND ESCAPED WITHIN 6 MINUTES.
I hate to be unsympathetic but one of the fundamentals of being a musician of any sort, rock, classical, amateur or professional is surely how to look after and maintain your instrument. Leaving it unattended in a vehicle under any circumstances is never a good idea and has possibly invalidated her insurance – mine would certainly not be covered in such circumstances.
My insurance doesn’t cover any of my violins in a parked vehicle. Really foolish!
I hope the violin is returned, but I have to agree – and have said so before, sometimes incurring the wrath of other posters. I have no idea how much the violin might be worth. But would anyone seriously consider leaving a bag of $50,000 in cash or more in the back of a car? Of course they wouldn’t! So why leave a precious instrument, no matter what the circumstances?
Has it occurred to you that she might have been in the process of loading or unloading her gear when this incident happened? Regarding the quoted timeframe of 6′ and the car model (Mercedes Sprinter) this doesn’t seem unlikely. If this were the case I wouldn’t see how she could do better than locking the vehicle in between trips. And without knowing more I think one should just wish her luck to get back her instrument …
I hate to be negative but Ms Wise doesn’t seem to be looking after the fiddle when you look at the photo see all the resin at the end of the fingerboard and in front of the bridge. Very bad for an instrument.
The Evening Standard has a funny article about the theft. The title says the violin wasworth 10k and in the article it says 6k. That’s not much – if she’s able to drive a Merc
Simon, not only are older Mercs cheap anyway, it’s clear that this was a van, and most likely the tour van of the group she was playing with, so probably not hers.
It seems there is an orchestral gang at work in London. Maybe someone tries to set-up a contemporary music ensemble?
Sorry Melanie — from reading the comments so far, it’s apparent that you deserved to have your violin stolen since you weren’t taking care of it in terms of either safety or basic maintenance. Also your loss is hilarious. If you want help, empathy, or even sympathy, you’re looking in the wrong place.
That said, I hope your violin comes back to you soon and in good condition.