Le Brun Stradivarius

The Le Brun Sradivarius of 1712 is a violin made by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona (1644–1737). It is a product of Stradivari’s golden period known to have been owned and played by the violinist Niccolò Paganini. Because it was not part of Paganini's estate at the time of his death, it is possibly the source of the legend of the very fine violin Paganini purportedly lost to gambling.

Le Brun Stradivari Violin, 1712

Provenance

Vicente Assensio (1730-c1798), luthier to Charles IV of Spain, is the first person known to have been in possession of the violin, and to have worked on it, during his tenure at the Spanish Royal Court in Madrid, circa 1776-1791. This is evidenced by Assensio's inscription, in his own writing, at the bottom of Stradivari's original label, "Presviter Assensio cumpos...(illegible)." It is still unknown how the violin made its way from Stradivari's workshop in Cremona in 1712 to the Spanish Royal Court.

Felice Pasquale Baciocchi (1762-1841), an amateur violinist and subsequent informal violin student of Paganini (Bargellini writes "Although Pasquale took lessons from Paganini for ten years, he remained a wretchedly bad player." p. 409), is believed to have acquired the violin in Madrid in 1800 while serving as France's Secretary to the Ambassador to the Spanish Royal Court. In 1805 Baciocchi moved to Lucca, Italy, where his wife, Elisa Bonaparte, had just been appointed Princess by her brother Napolean. Elisa had recently hired the 22 year old Niccolò Paganini to be the concertmaster of her court orchestra in Lucca, and had begun what was to become a longstanding romantic affair with him. Nonetheless, Elisa reportedly paid the young Paganini very poorly, and during this period Paganini is known to have been in great financial distress, owing in some measure to his notorious penchant for gambling.

Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840) took possession of the violin at some point during his tenure in Lucca, presumably after Baciocchi arrived with it in mid-1805. During this time Paganini was actively composing his Op. 1, the 24 Caprices, but he was not yet famous at all, in fact he was virtually unknown outside of the few northern Italian towns where he had given concerts and recitals. It is not known under what terms Paganini came to possess this Stradivarius violin, whether it was a gift from his employer and lover Elisa, or whether it was offered as compensation for violin lessons from her husband Felice. It is known that Paganini had already been given the Il Cannone Guarnerius by a wealthy businessman three years earlier at about the age of 19. It is also known that Paganini retained that Guarnerius violin for the rest of his life, but sold this Stradivarius to the much more famous and wealthy French statesman Charles-François Lebrun. By that time Lebrun had already achieved worldwide notoriety as the Third Consul of the French Republic, serving alongside First Consul Napolean Bonaparte and Second Consul Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès. In 1804, Lebrun had been appointed by Napolean to serve as Arch-Treasurer of the French Empire in order to reorganize all of the finances of France, and in 1805 was dispatched to Genoa to govern the newly annexed Italian state of Liguria. Although no original receipt has survived, Paganini's sale of the violin to Lebrun would have most easily occurred when Lebrun was stationed in Paganini's home town of Genoa, from late 1805 through 1806, but could have occurred at any time through about 1810, before Lebrun was reassigned to govern newly annexed territories in the Netherlands in 1811.

Charles-François Lebrun (1739-1824), the former head-of-state of the French Republic and the owner for whom this violin is named, is also known to have owned other highly prized violins, including one fine example by Vincenzo Rugeri. Lebrun's activities as a violinist are unknown. However, according to the Caressa & Francais notebook entry for the Le Brun Stradivarius, held at the Smithsonian Institution, Lebrun's address at the time of his ownership was noted as 9 rue de l'Echelle, Paris, in very close proximity to the former French Royal Palace. The original document that formed the basis of this notebook entry has not survived. It is also unknown whether Lebrun sold this Strad before his death, or whether it was sold by his estate or heirs.

Caressa & Francais Notebook entry for the "Lebrun, ex-Paganini" Stradivarius violin of 1712, held at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

The Boutillier Family is documented to have owned the violin immediately after Lebrun, however nothing more is known about this family. Precise dates of acquisition and sale are also unknown.

Chardon et Fils was a Paris violin shop known to have conveyed the violin to its next documented owner, violinist Vincenzo Sighicelli, in 1893.

Vincenzo Sighicelli (1830-1905) was a prominent violinist, violin pedagogue, and composer of violin music in Paris in the late 19th and early 20th century. He was 63 years old when he purchased this violin in 1893, and he is not known to have sold it during his lifetime.

Albert Caressa was a Paris violin dealer known to have appraised the violin and to have conveyed it to its next documented owner, Otto Senn, in 1922. The first known photographs of the violin were taken at this time. These photographs were later used in Goodkind's 1972 Violin Iconography of Antonio Stradivari.

Otto Heinrich Senn (1902-1993) was a successful Swiss architect, responsible for designing the library at the University of Basel, among other noteworthy projects. He purchased the violin from Albert Caressa in Paris in 1922 and did not sell it during his lifetime. For the rest of his life, Senn retained the violin in Basel, Switzerland. Luthier Emmanuel Gradoux-Matt has stated that he had seen the violin for some minor work in his workshop in Lausanne, Switzerland, in the 1990s, which corresponds well with Senn's date of death.

An Unknown Investor purchased the violin at a Sotheby's Auction in London in 2001.

The Current Owner is a professional violinist who purchased the violin from an Unknown Investor in 2008 in the United States. The current owner wishes to remain anonymous, but performs on it professionally with orchestras and in chamber music series in the U.S.

Sound

This violin is known for its exceptionally loud tone, with extreme explosiveness, clarity, projection, and fast response. The sound has been compared favorably by experts to other well-known golden-period Stradivari violins. One violinist in the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields stated it is "clearer, and more open, than the Gibson-Huberman." Another violinist in Orpheus stated "It's the loudest violin ever." A prominent conductor, after playing it himself, stated to the owner "I'm never going to ask you to play loud again."

The current owner believes that the quality of the sound may be most similar to that of the Lord Dunn-Raven Stradivarius, owned and played by Anne-Sophie Mutter.

Tree ring analysis

• Dendrochronology report: John C. Topham, Surrey (2001) "The dendrochronological analysis of the table reveals that the youngest growth rings on each side date from 1703 and 1705. This correlates well with other Stradivari instruments of the period, notably the 1711 Parke, the 1713 Gibson-Huberman and another 1715 violin. John Topham also notes that it is probable that all of the pieces from these four violins come from the same tree."

See also

• Stradivarius

External links

• Le Brun Stradivarius in the Cozio Archive at tarisio.com