Elizabeth Pitcairn, soloist from New York and owner of one of the most famous violins in the world “Red Stradivari Mendelssohn Violin”, will perform in Serbia for the first time on Tuesday, 18th October at 8pm in the Great Hall of the Ilija M. Kolarc Foundation.
On the occasion of the concert in Belgrade, Elizabeth Pitcairn said that she is very happy to hear the sounds of her violin in the acoustics of Kolarc.
“My story related to this violin takes me back to the beginning of the nineties and the Christie’s auction house in London when I first saw it and got permission to play it. I went to London with my mother. I immediately connected with the instrument because I knew for its history and the story it carries. There was also a man in the room who secretly participated in the auction, no one knew about him. Bidding ensued and the violin was sold to a mystery buyer for $2 million. It later turned out that my grandfather secretly bid for her,” Pitcairn emphasized.
At the concert in Belgrade, the violinist will be accompanied by Marko Stuparević, a Serbian pianist who lives in New York, and the special guest on the cello will be the American artist Kayla Herman.
The “red violin” got its name from the recognizable red lacquer, and it was made in 1720 by the famous Antonio Stradivari. It is not known what happened to the violin over the years, but it is known that among its owners in the 20th century was the family of the famous German composer Felix Mendelssohn.
The mysterious fate of Stradivari’s violin also served as inspiration for the 1998 film “The Red Violin”, which won an Oscar for music. Later, the documentary “Auction Block” was filmed, in which the current owner of the violin appears.
The concert repertoire at Kolarac consists of compositions by Haydn, Beethoven, Clara Schumann, Gershwin, as well as Amy Beach, one of the most important American composers.
Tickets for the “Red Violin” concert are on sale at the box office of the Ilija M. Kolarc Endowment.