‘Vesuvio’ Stradivari violin goes on display in Seoul

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The c.1727 ‘Vesuvio’ Stradivari is currently on display at the Deoksugung Palace in Seoul, South Korea. Running from 31 October to 21 November, the exhibit is part of the ‘Italy-Korea Cultural Exchange Year’, which marks 140 years of diplomatic relations and cultural ties between the two countries.

Since 2003 the ‘Vesuvio’ has been part of the permanent collection of the Museo del Violino (MdV) in Cremona, Italy. It forms part of an exhibition of Cremonese violin making and includes a history of the instrument, the work of Antonio Stradivari, and several examples of artefacts from the master’s workshop. ‘Cremona’s violin making tradition is not just history and tradition, but an ecosystem in which violin makers and musicians, universities and research centres, workshops and museums coexist,’ said Cremona mayor Andrea Virgilio. ‘The “Vesuvio” is a firm lever in this chain: a patrimony of skills that translates into exchanges, research projects and new relationships.’

‘It has never happened before that an instrument by Antonio Stradivari belonging to a public Italian collection has been exhibited in Korea,’ added MdV director Virginia Villa. ‘The “Vesuvio” violin will be an extraordinary ambassador for Cremona, the museum and, I believe, Italy as well.’

The evocative nickname of the ‘Vesuvio’ stems from the fiery red colour of its varnish. The name was coined, according to tradition, by violinist Jan Hambourg (1882–1947), one of its first well-known performers. It ws used by Antonio Brosa to give the world premiere of Benjamin Britten’s Violin Concerto at Carnegie Hall in 1940, and was for many years owned by Remo Lauricella, first violinist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, who donated it to the city of Cremona in 2003.