Antiques Violin Show

From: Paolo Pietropaolo
Length: 08:36

Meet Jason Price - musical treasure hunter. He travels around North America appraising antique violins, cellos & bows. People line up for his sessions, carrying their old family heirlooms or dusty articles from their attic, hoping that he can help them strike musical gold. Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: Antiques Violin Show
From: Paolo Pietropaolo

Tarisio_small Freelance producer Paolo Pietropaolo takes a look inside the world of antique string instruments and how their worth is determined by keen-eyed experts - experts like Jason who have learned to recognize the minutest details and match them with the instruments' point of manufacture.

In this piece, you'll hear glorious Baroque-period string music, meet two prospective sellers and their reactions to Jason's appraisals, and be amazed by Jason's ability to reconstruct the histories of instruments and bows at a glance.

More from Paolo Pietropaolo

Signal to Noise (13:31)
From: Paolo Pietropaolo

This is the story of my tinnitus, which affects my ability to enjoy silence. Through the telling of the story, I've tried to create a kind of music that questions where ...

The Origins of Rhythm (05:53)
From: Paolo Pietropaolo

Without Shiva's dance of destruction and Parvati's dance of seduction, we might be living in a world without drums. A meditation on the origins of rhythm, through the voice ...

Caption: Robert Schumann, Credit: Public Domain

Music and Mental Illness (11:17)
From: Paolo Pietropaolo

The Romantic composer Robert Schumann struggled with mental illness for his entire life. This piece, part radio essay and part musical journey, examines the relationship ...

Temporary Hearing Loss (07:07)
From: Paolo Pietropaolo

Is our society suffering from a sort of collective temporary hearing loss? Acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton of Port Angeles, WA, thinks so. He also believes that learning ...

Caption: The Salish Sea, Credit: Stefan Freelan

The Sound and the Sea (20:40)
From: Paolo Pietropaolo

In Nov 2009, the United States Board of Geographic Names voted to endorse the name Salish Sea as an official geographic name for the inland waters of the Pacific Northwest. ...

Caption: Host Raakhi Sinha in Bhangra dancing action.

The Subcontinental, Episode 2: Bhangra (52:16)
From: Paolo Pietropaolo

All aboard The Subcontinental, your South Asian music train! Second stop: Punjab, and the irresistible beats of Bhangra.

Caption: Raakhi Sinha, host of The Subcontinental, breaks out the Bolly moves with her crew

The Subcontinental, Episode 1: Bollywood (53:48)
From: Paolo Pietropaolo

All aboard The Subcontinental, your South Asian music train! First stop: Mumbai and the music of Bollywood.

Caption: The Salish Sea, Credit: Paolo Pietropaolo

Ode to the Salish Sea (08:42)
From: Paolo Pietropaolo

In the state of Washington and in British Columbia, Canada, some people are using a new, collective name for the waters now known as the Strait of Georgia, Juan de Fuca ...

Piece Description

Freelance producer Paolo Pietropaolo takes a look inside the world of antique string instruments and how their worth is determined by keen-eyed experts - experts like Jason who have learned to recognize the minutest details and match them with the instruments' point of manufacture.

In this piece, you'll hear glorious Baroque-period string music, meet two prospective sellers and their reactions to Jason's appraisals, and be amazed by Jason's ability to reconstruct the histories of instruments and bows at a glance.

Broadcast History

First broadcast across Canada on "In Concert" on CBC Radio 2 on Sunday, January 3, 2010.

Intro and Outro

INTRO:

In the 19th century, in Northern Italy, a new profession was born: the violin dealer. The pioneer was a man named Luigi Tarisio – he swapped shiny new German instruments for old discarded instruments that turned out to be Strads, Amatis and Guarneris.

Though it's hard to believe now, people didn’t want them, and Tarisio assembled probably the finest collection of Italian string instruments that ever there was.

Today, there’s another Tarisio named in his honour. It’s an auction house in New York City that specializes in selling string instruments and bows on consignment. They travel around North America appraising people’s instruments; recently they went to Vancouver, Canada and set up shop in the Marriott hotel for a day. Freelance producer Paolo Pietropaolo was there to check it out.

OUTRO:

Tarisio's instrument experts travel around North America giving free instrument and bow evaluations in major cities. They take instruments and bows on consignment for their auctions in London and New York City.

For more info you can look them up online at tarisio.com.

So, if you've got an old string instrument or bow in their closet, keep an eye out for one of their visits - you might just be able to sell it, or at least, get to know a little bit more about exactly what it is that you've got.

Thanks to freelance producer Paolo Pietropaolo for that look at the market for antique string instruments.

Musical Works

Title	Artist	Album	Label	Year	Length
Violin Concerto in G minor, Op 12, no. 1: I. Allegro	Sarah Chang & Orpheus Chamber Orchestra	Vivaldi: the Four Seasons.	EMI Classics	2007	00:45
Cello Suite #3 in C, BWV 1009: Allemande	Ralph Kirshbaum	Bach: Cello Suites.	Virgin Classics	1994	00:45
Sonata in F major, Op. 5 no. 4: II. Allegro	Sonnerie & Nigel North	Corelli: Violin Sonatas, Op. 5.	Virgin Veritas	1990	02:10
Concerto in F minor, Op. 8 no. 4 ("Winter"): I. Allegro non molto	Sarah Chang & Orpheus Chamber Orchestra	Vivaldi: the Four Seasons.	EMI Classics	2007	02:35