Frank Almond, the concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, is set to celebrate the history of the Stradivari violin that he has played on since 2008 – the 1715 'Lipinski'. He aims to raise $30,000 via crowdfunding website Kickstarter to make a recording of violin music associated with the instrument's past owners.
 
The violin's first known owner was Giuseppe Tartini. A student of Tartini passed it on to the Polish virtuoso Karol Lipinski, who played on the violin from around 1818 until 1861. The instrument was later owned by the Röntgen family, which included several violinists and the composer Julius Röntgen.

Almond's planned recording with pianist William Wolfram will include Tartini's 'Devil's Trill' Sonata, a virtuoso solo piece by Karol Lipinski, a violin sonata by Julius Röntgen, and Schumann's Violin Sonata no.2 in D minor, which Almond said was certainly performed by Lipinski with Schumann at the piano. The recording, which is due to take place this August, will be released on Avie Records.

As of 18 June, Almond was just over $13,000 towards his $30,000 goal, with 36 days of his fundraising campaign to go.

Topics