Star soloist loses violin on German train
NewsThe Berliner Zeitung reports that a 17th century violin ‘worth more than 100,000 euros’ was stolen on a Berlin-to-Stuttgart ICE train together with two bows.
The incident happened on Friday. ‘When the 59-year-old got off at Stuttgart Central Station, she forgot her violin case and its contents on the train. The woman only noticed the loss when the ICE was already on its way back to Berlin. The police assume that an unknown perpetrator stole the violin case during this trip.’
No further details are known. Some commentators have noted that the woman’s age is that of Anne-Sophie Mutter. There has been no confirmation of this speculation.
I hope she has insurance
She probably does, but insurance isn’t going to get the violin back, which is the only thing that matters, not just for her, but for all of us.
And not any old insurance either it me that would actually pay up.
Why would insurance pay if you forget something on the street? I really don’t understand how people travelling with expensive instruments forget them all the time.
ASM plays an 18th century violin.
I highly doubt Anne Sophie Mutter would simply forget her violin on the train. But in any case, I do hope the violin will be found.
Does Anne-Sofie Mutter honestly own any violin with as little value as 100K? Doubtful…. Not sure where the information was obtained that the person is a “star violinist”. Is that based on any facts?
A quick glance at Ms Mutter’s Instagram would show she is in Spain at present.
A violinist who loses her violin on a train is like a mother who loses her child on a train: she should lose custody of the violin, the authorities should seize the violin and put it up for adoption or foster care until the violinist demonstrates she is a responsible mother again.
At least the mother has a precious one that can walk away by itself. In this case there is no excuse.
As I recall, Yo-Yo Ma once left his cello in the back of a NYC cab.
and Gidon Kremer left his Strad on a US train
and my colleague left her violin at the M1 motorway services
Wow, that is a large instrument to overlook.
Not the same. The cello was out of sight in the trunk of the cab. It was not on the passenger seat. The driver knew within minutes who had left it. So he returned to the hotel as Yo-Yo Ma was calling the police to check the cab company’s number. Musician and cello were quickly reunited – and I assume the cab driver received an unusually large tip! I doubt he had the remotest idea how valuable that cargo was. But if he had tried to sell it, he would have very quickly been discovered.
ASM was the first one I thought of.
Scatter brain.
Don’t you think ASM’s Strads would be worth a tiny bit more than that Norman?
Violin tracking dots needed.
I don’t know how many times we have read in this forum about instruments going missing or forgotten on trains. I know it’s easy to be forgetful – but when you are travelling with your livelihood which is almost priceless to you, there surely has to be a way to ensure you keep an eye on the instrument or better still somehow affix it to your body.
Why should insurance pay if you are careless
lol, the article just says it belongs to a professional musician but the headline here says it belongs to a “star soloist“. Pretty sad that the “#1 classical music news website” thinks its audience are all dunces.
Last October after flying to Frankfurt from NYC, I left my luggage inadvertently on the train to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof which then left to Hamburg. To get my luggage back and get anyone at DeutscheBahn to assist was a nightmare. One of the most inefficient and unhelpful organizations. The only answer they gave was “You must wait”. After a month and returning to NYC I was notified that the luggage was found. I hope the person who left the violin will have a better response and recover the violin with less anguish. I don’t feel so bad now though as my luggage was only filled with clothes which was much less than $100,000.
ASM’s violin is worth a reported 4 million euros. Don’t believe this would be her.
100,000 Euros is not particularly expensive for a string instrument.
It was reported the violin was a Guarneri and precious bows to go with it. The bows alone were over 100 000 €. And you don’t get a Guarneri for under 1,5 m. A Guarneri violin broke auction records after selling at £7.71 million in March 2023.
I will give them $15,000 at my pawn shop!
Dummkopf, how about a Chinese $10 GPS tracker easily purchased through temu.com?