Stradivarius violin stolen from legal journalist's father is recovered
A stolen Stradivarius violin has been recovered 35 years after it was stolen from the father of NPR legal affairs reporter Nina Totenberg.
The rare 281-year-old violin disappeared after a concert by Totenberg’s father, Roman Totenberg, who taught music and played with leading orchestras, report the Washington Post, the New York Times and an NPR story by Nina Totenberg. Roman Totenberg died three years ago at the age of 101.
The violin will be returned to Totenberg and her two sisters, Judge Amy Totenberg of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and Jill Totenberg, who is the CEO of the marketing firm The Totenberg Group.
The instrument was discovered when the wife of musician Phillip Johnson opened a locked case four years after the musician’s death and found the violin. In June she brought it to an appraiser, who reported the discovery to the FBI.
Roman Totenberg had suspected Phillip Johnson in the theft, partly because he was in the vicinity when the instrument was stolen. Police said they didn’t have enough evidence to pursue Johnson.
The Totenbergs have paid back $101,000 that they received in insurance proceeds so they can reclaim the violin.
Roman Totenberg bought the violin for about $15,000 in 1943. Some Stradivarius violins have more recently fetched prices of millions of dollars.
Updated at 10:29 a.m. to identify Nina Totenberg’s sisters.
