Localite plays 300-year-old, $1.7 million Stradivarius

Posted 3/16/18

Pitcairn’s 1780 Stradivarius violin, which she obtained in 1990, inspired the 1998 film, “The Red Violin,” that won the Academy Award for best musical score in 1999.[/caption] by Len Lear One …

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Localite plays 300-year-old, $1.7 million Stradivarius

Posted

Pitcairn’s 1780 Stradivarius violin, which she obtained in 1990, inspired the 1998 film, “The Red Violin,” that won the Academy Award for best musical score in 1999.[/caption]

by Len Lear

One of America’s most beloved violin soloists, Philadelphia area native Elizabeth Pitcairn, who has toured the world with her legendary $1.7 million “Red Mendelssohn,” a 300-year-old Stradivarius, will be performing this Sunday, March 18, 3 p.m. She will be joined by pianist Louise Thomas in the Great Hall at Glencairn Museum, 1001 Cathedral Rd., Bryn Athyn.

Pitcairn, 44, whose performances are known to touch audiences on a deeply emotional level, is the great-niece of Glencairn’s visionary architect, Raymond Pitcairn. She made her New York debut at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in 2000, has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra and has made debuts at Walt Disney Concert Hall and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

Pitcairn was born into a musical family in Bucks County. Her mother, cello player Mary Eleanor (Brace) Pitcairn, received a master's degree from Juilliard, and her father, Laren Pitcairn, trained to be an opera singer. Her younger brother, David, played cello, although he makes his living as an aerospace engineer. Her great-grandfather, John Pitcairn (1841 – 1916), founded the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company. When asked last week if she was predisposed genetically to become an outstanding musician, Pitcairn said, “Definitely! I inherited perfect pitch from my father, who got it from his Dutch mother, who played the piano and sang. And my mother is a professional cellist and great musician.”

The 10th Anniversary edition DVD of the 1998 film, “The Red Violin,” features Ms. Pitcairn and her Red Mendelssohn Stradivarius in a special feature called “The Auction Block.” Although the movie itself is largely fictional, the instrument is the very real and mysterious violin built by Antonio Stradivari around 1720. “The Red Violin” won the Academy Award for best musical score in 1999.

Renowned for its distinctive sound and playability, the legendary violin went missing for 200 years before resurfacing in Berlin in the 1930s. After a succession of owners, it came to Elizabeth as a 16th birthday gift from her grandfather, Theodore Pitcairn. He purchased the Red Mendelssohn at a Christie’s auction in 1990 for a reported $1.7 million.

Pitcairn began playing the violin at age three and performed her first concerto at 14 with the Newark Delaware Symphony. She later studied violin in Los Angeles with Robert Lipsett at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music. She is currently a member of the distinguished faculty at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles.

When asked last week, “Is it my imagination, or are there really more extraordinarily talented young female violinists than ever before? Or does it just seem that way because of YouTube?” Elizabeth replied, “There are many more, it seems to me as well. Women have always been soloists, even in the 1800-1900s, even when they weren’t allowed in orchestras.”

When asked where she keeps the “Red Mendelssohn” violin when she is not playing it, Pitcairn replied, “I cannot disclose that.”

Does she also perform with other violins than the Stradivarius? “Yes, with my copy of the Red Violin Stradivarius made by Christophe Landon.”

Pitcairn has a long list of other violinists she admires greatly, including Janine Jansen, Arthur Grumiaux, Sarah Chang, Anne Sophie Mutter, David Oistrakh, Leonid Kogan, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Joshua Bell, Max Rostal and Shmuel Ashkenasi.

Interestingly, when asked what was the hardest thing she has ever done, the answer had nothing to do with music. “It was very difficult black diamond ski slopes!”

When not performing on world stages, Pitcairn thoroughly enjoys “going to great restaurants, seeing friends and family, spending time in the Bahamas on my private island, being at my summer music camp, Luzerne Music Center, in upstate New York and interacting with the children there, traveling around the U.S., Europe and Asia meeting and recruiting children who are the future of music, playing special events in amazing locations which raise money for children's camp scholarships, riding horses and skiing.”

If Pitcairn could meet and have an extended conversation with anyone on earth, living or dead, who would it be and why? “Mozart; we share the same birth and death day, December 5. I feel a strong connection with his music.”

For more information about the March 18 concert: 267-502-2990 or www.GlencairnMuseum.org. For more information about Pitcairn, visit www.elizabethpitcairn.com.