Barjansky Stradivarius

The Barjansky Stradivarius of c.1690 is an antique cello fabricated by the Italian Cremonese luthier Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737).

The Barjansky is named after Russian cellist Alexandre Barjansky, who played the instrument during the first half of the 20th century. Barjansky was the dedicatee of Ernest Bloch’s Schelomo which he performed on this instrument. Further, Barjansky premiered the Delius Concerto in 1921 in Frankfurt, on January 30.

The date of its making is unclear. In an interview with The Strad Julian Lloyd Webber said:

The catalogue date is 1684 and the label inside the cello says 1684. But before the sale I did some research on the instrument and found it listed rather erratically in Henley's book on Stradivari's instruments. It is listed there as the "Barjansky" Strad, 1736, the last cello he ever made. Dealers who know the cello think that it is certainly not so early as 1684 which is a good thing. According to the Henley book he didn't really establish his cello model until round about 1707 at which time the cello was only first becoming established as a solo instrument."

The Sotheby's 1983 catalogue describes the Barjansky Stradivarius as being 29 7/8 inches (75.9 cm) along the back, with a golden brown varnish.

Barjansky was the previous owner when the Cremonese cello came up for auction at Sotheby's in 1983. It sold for a record price to British cellist Julian Lloyd Webber whose previous instrument was a Guadagnini of the 1700s. The purchase price was undisclosed.

A comparable "Strad" (the "de Pawle") sold around that time for $650,000 in New York.Itzhak Perlman bought the 1714 Soil Stradivari from Yehudi Menuhin for £600,000 in 1986. Another Stradivarius cello, broken when it fell during a photoshoot in Spain in April 2012, was valued by Sotheby's at $20 million.

...
Wikipedia