Second Stradivarius for the Festival Strings
The Festival Strings Lucerne now has a second Stradivarius violin at its disposal. Thanks to a collaboration with a Lucerne foundation, the orchestra now has a 340-year-old "Sellière" Stradivarius at its disposal.
The historically interesting instrument was once played by orchestra co-founder Wolfgang Schneiderhan. Now it will be heard again for the first time at two concerts on March 5 at the Vienna Konzerthaus and on March 7 at the KKL Lucerne. Daniel Dodds, artistic director of the Festival Strings Lucerne, will play the two concerts for the first time on the violin, which was built before 1680.
The instrument was offered exclusively to Festival Strings Lucerne some time ago. For more than 100 years, it was part of the instrument collection of the Vorarlberg industrialist family Hämmerle, who have since emigrated to Argentina, and has been kept in a bank safe for the last few decades.
The Festival Strings Lucerne found a partner in the Lucerne-based Monika Widmer Foundation, which made the purchase of the instrument possible. She purchased the Stradivarius and is making it available to the Festival Strings Lucerne.
