The Stradivarius Secret

When Leonidas Kavakos returns to Orchestra Hall on October 10-11 to pull double duty as soloist and conductor in Mozart’s Third Violin Concerto, he’ll be performing on a violin that is nine years shy of its 300th birthday, built by one of the most recognizable names in violin making: Antonio Stradivarius. Since 2017, Kavakos has owned and performed on the “Willemotte” Stradivarius violin, named after the 19th-century Belgian instrument collector Charles Willemotte, who owned 20 Strads during his lifetime. But, how did the Stradivarius name become so synonymous with violins, and what’s the secret behind them that makes collectors across the world spend millions of dollars on a Strad at auctions? And more importantly, is that violin in your grandma’s attic really an authentic Strad? Let’s learn more about the man behind the myth.

Who was Stradivarius?

Antonio Stradivarius was an Italian luthier (someone who builds and repairs stringed instruments) who lived from 1644-1737 in the town of Cremona, which was a central hub for violin making in Renaissance-era Italy. Little is known about his early life, and it is widely speculated that he studied his craft with Niccolò Amati, a member of the famous Amati violin-making dynasty. (Andrea Amati, Niccolò’s grandfather, is often credited as the inventor of the violin as it is known today.) From the earliest days of his career, Stradivarius modeled many of his early instruments after Amati’s specifications, and he kept several Amatis in his shop. In fact, this early period of Stradivarius’ career is known as the Amati Period.

But then around 1690, Stradivarius began to deviate from Amati’s specifications. As the demand for more powerful instruments grew thanks in part to the growth of the solo concerto as a popular genre and the need for innovation in a competitive market, Stradivarius’ instruments changed in a few important ways. Amati-style violins were smaller and had a rounder arch in the front and back pieces, which gave them an elegant tone, but one that lacked the power and richness of sound Stradivarius was able to achieve by slightly flattening the arches and enlarging the body. These small tweaks—which Stradivarius continued to experiment with as his fame grew across Europe as one of the best violin makers—gave his instruments the rich and robust tone that still make these instruments famous today.

For many luthiers, instrumentalists and collectors, Stradivarius set the standard in violin making that has been copied for centuries after his passing. In the 19th century especially, it became common to label violins as being built by Stradivarius. This was not meant to be a duplicitous act of forgery, but as a marker to consumers that that luthier was taking inspiration from the best of the best. (It’s a good idea to take the “Strad” violin in your grandma’s attic to a high-quality shop, like Claire Givens near Orchestra Hall, to get an appraisal).

Stradivarius worked well into his 90s, and unlike other luthiers of the time, did not seem interested in assisting his sons Francesco and Omobono take over the family business even though they both worked in their father’s workshop. All told, Stradivarius produced over 1,100 instruments (including violas, cellos and guitars), of which about 650 remain to this day.

What makes a Strad so special?

Over the years, many have tried to discover the “secret” of what makes Stradivarius violins so special. It has been speculated that colder temperatures during Stradivarius’ lifetime affected the density of the wood that he was able to obtain (thereby giving a Strad its power), but according to Stewart Pollens, former conservator of musical instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the density of the wood in the instruments varies greatly: “Sometimes the grain is quite broad, and sometimes it’s very narrow.” Likewise, similar studies of Stradivarius’ varnish have led to promising yet altogether inconclusive results.

However, the secret may lie in plain sight. The Stradivarius instruments that remain in use today represent a chronology of innovation, built by the hand of a master craftsman who dedicated himself to experimentation in order to achieve a type of sound that still rings through concert halls today.

Leonidas Kavakos on his “Willemotte” Strad

Hear what made Kavakos fall in love with his Strad and how he came to own it in this interview with the Czech Philharmonic.