The Lipinski Stradivarius is an antique violin constructed in 1715 by the Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona, during Stradivari's "golden period" between 1700 and 1720. There are fewer than 700 extant Stradivarius instruments in the world today; thus, it is considered one of the most valuable instruments in the world.
The earlier history of The Lipinski is unclear; Italian violinist and composer Giuseppe Tartini is the first known owner. Tartini, who in 1713 experienced a dream in which he allowed the devil to play his violin, heard a beautiful sonata which he was unable to compare with anything he had ever heard. Tartini, two years later, tried to reproduce the sound in his Devil's Trill Sonata.
Tartini presented the violin to his pupil, Signor Salvini. After hearing the Polish violinist Karol Lipiński perform, Salvini asked to see his violin, which he then smashed to pieces. Salvini handed the shocked Lipinski the Stradivarius he received from Tartini.
In 1962, the Lipinski Stradivarius was sold to Rosalind Elsner Anschuetz of New York City, for US$19,000. Anschuetz gave the violin to her daughter-in-law, Estonian violinist Evi Liivak, and upon her death in 1996, Liivak's husband, Richard Anschuetz, took possession of the instrument. After Anschuetz moved to the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area, the violin was stored in a local bank vault. Upon Anschuetz' death in February 2008, ownership of the violin passed to an anonymous family member who loaned the The Lipinski to Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Frank Almond.[1]
Joseph Joachim, Liivak, Malonzenoff and Persinger are also known to have possessed the Lipinski Stradivarius.