AVL Hero 2016

The online reference center for the Lipiński Stradivarius violin.

strad affair

The Stradivarius Affair

It isn’t every day that a street criminal—a high-school dropout with two felony convictions—is accused of stealing a centuries-old violin worth as much as $6 million. But nothing about the heist of the Lipiński Stradivarius, which galvanized the music world last winter, was normal, or even logical.

Read the complete feature in the November 2014 edition of Vanity Fair by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Buzz Bissinger.

Hear the Lipiński Stad by purchasing your very own copy of A Violin’s Life, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. Both albums are released on the AVIE label and feature violinist Frank Almond and pianist William Wolfram.

Learn more about each album:

Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3
Volume 1
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 2

Even if you didn’t know that violinist Frank Almond had been viciously attacked and his “Lipiński” Stradivarius lost for nine days, this recording would be a magnificent testament to his artistry. With the “Lipiński” tucked safely under his chin, Almond is a commanding and refined interpreter of works by Amanda Maier-Röntgen, Eduard Tubin and Beethoven. In two of the pieces, he teams with an equally authoritative artist, pianist William Wolfram.

Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone, September 2016

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