Guarneri violin finds Russian virtuoso custodian

A Guarneri del Gesu worth some $10 million has come to Russia and found new life in the hands of Russia’s great violinist Dmitry Kogan. He will take the instrument on a journey, displaying its advantages across the nation.

The instrument manufactured by the great luthier Giuseppe Guarneri back in 1728 was purchased by the Kogan Foundation for support of unique cultural projects. The foundation is engaged in the search for unique instruments and their restoration with the help of top-qualified masters. Further it delivers the instruments to the hands of top professional musicians so that they might elicit soul-southing sounds out of them over and over again.  

Co-founder of the foundation, violinist Dmitry Kogan, is the lucky one who will play the timeless Guarneri violin. The grandson of Leonid Kogan, who was close to Dmitry Shostakovich himself and Elizaveta Gilels, who was the sister of famed Russian pianist Emil Gilels, Dmitry had no doubt about becoming a musician. The deep musical roots in his family led him to a successful musical career as a violinist.

He added that, according to legend, this exact instrument used to belong to the great Italian virtuoso Giovanni Battista Viotti.

“As far as I know, this violin wasn’t played much in the 20th century, which is good, I’d say. Italian expertise conducted two days ago revealed that the violin’s condition is just ideal. A Guarneri del Gesu in such condition is an absolutely unique thing,
” Kogan says.

According to Kogan Foundation co-founder Valery Saveliev, “Experts say a Guarneri del Gesu in a good condition is worth at east $10 million.”

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