Aussie orchestra is given a Strad
mainGuido Belgiorno-Nettis and his wife Michelle heard that the 1726 Belgiorno Stradivarius was up for sale. With the proceeds of his late mother’s estate, Guido snapped up the instrument and presented it to the Australian Chamber Orchestra, of which he is chairman.
The violin will be played by the ACO’s concertmaster Satu Vänskä.
More here.
Photo: Nic Walker
Wow – great story all around.
The Australian Chamber Orchestra is absolutely refreshing and of a very high standard. Such a pity, then, that they play mostly classic ‘standards’. Consequently I never go to their concerts.
An erstwhile boss of mine at ABC Television production in the 1970s was a friend of the late Franco Belgiorno-Nettis (father-in-law of the benefactor here), who started a major Australian company. I remember meeting him years ago at a dinner party hosted by my boss. It’s one of the most hilarious nights I’ve ever had, not necessarily because of Belgiorno-Nettis, but the entire colterie of rich and successful Italian businessmen and their wives – funny, gregarious and with unbelievable anedotes about their early business careers. So I read this story about the donation of the Strad with additional interest.
Perhaps you should check their offerings. I would hardly call what they play as ‘standard classical’. They are regularly pushing envelope with their performances.