James Osborne
Special to The Morning Star
Internationally celebrated violinist Yi-Jai Susanne Hou tells this story about how one person reacted when informed she’d been granted the use of a $6 million Stradivarius violin.
Susanne told an Okanagan Symphony Orchestra audience in Vernon last week she was in the middle of recording her latest CD when the loan agreement expired on an earlier premium violin she’d been using. Not long after, a call came from the Carnegie Foundation about a replacement. She went to New York and unexpectedly faced having to choose from an extremely wide range of rare violins.
Susanne said she went from one to another, but it was “Miss Mary” that “spoke” to her. And that was the Stradivarius she brought home. A few days later, it went with her into the studio to finish recording her CD. During the recording session, the audio technician commented on the sweet mellow tone of the rare instrument.
She described to him her delight with having the use of such a remarkable violin. Susanne explained the instrument was made around 1735, was once owned by the renowned composer and violinist Fritz Kreisler about 100 years ago, and was valued at more than $6 million.
To which the technician responded: “That sounds like an awful lot of money to pay for a second-hand Chrysler.”
About the artist: in 1999, Canadian Susanne Hou was the first violinist ever to be awarded three gold medals by unanimous decisions in the same year at international violin competitions: Concours International Long-Thibaud (France), Lipizer International Violin Competition (Italy), and Sarasate International Violin Competition (Spain).
James Osborne is a freelance writer living in Vernon, B.C.
