String operation: Stradivarius violin worth millions is recovered 35 years after it was stolen

A Stradivarius violin that disappeared 35 years ago has been found after it was handed in by the ex-wife of a man suspected of stealing it. The instrument was taken from the office of the virtuoso violinist Roman Totenberg in Cambridge, Mass., in 1980. It was reported stolen after its case was discovered at Longy Music School, where Totenberg taught, but police did not believe there was enough evidence to pursue the chief suspect. The violin remained missing until it was discovered by chance in the belongings of Philip Johnson after he died.

I opened the case and looked at the instrument (and) checked it out for over a half hour before I said anything.

Violin appraiser Phillip Injeian

Johnson’s ex-wife broke the lock on the case, and when she pulled out the stringed instrument, she saw that it had a label that said it was made in 1734 by the most famous violin-maker of all time, Antonio Stradivari. When she got in touch with a violin expert, she was shocked to be told that it was indeed one of only 550 Stradivariuses left in the world, but it had been reported stolen. Violin appraiser Phillip Injeian confirmed that it was the Ames Stradivarius, so-called because it had been played by the violinist George Ames in the late 1800s. It’s estimated to be worth millions of dollars at auction; in 2011, a Stradivarius sold for a record $15.9 million.

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