Roman Totenberg's Stolen Stradivarius Found and Returned 35 Years Later

A Stradivarius that was pilfered from Roman Totenberg's office at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts some 35 years ago has finally been returned. The Totenberg family has reclaimed the instrument but sadly, Roman is not alive to witness it.

His daughter, Nina Totenberg, described the incident and how it rattled her father, citing that the virtuoso had "lost his musical partner of 38 years" when the historic piece went missing. While her father may not be alive to see the day it was returned, it is a relief that his estate can reclaim the once-lost instrument.

The violin was made in 1734 and is known as the Ames Stradivarius. It was stolen in May 1980 from Mr. Totenberg, who was a teacher and violinist that performed as a soloist with major orchestras along with Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, Leopold Stokowski and Arthur Rubinstein.

Sadly, Mr. Totenberg died in 2012 at the age 101 and forever missed his iconic piece of history--which was valued at $250,000 but could sell of upwards of millions--returning home.

As The New York Times reports, stolen Strads are hard to pawn off as they are so recognizable. In this case, the violin turned up after a California woman met with an appraiser in New York in June with a violin she said she had inherited from her late ex-husband.

Ms. Totenberg said of the incident:

"The appraiser looks at her and says, 'Well, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that this is a real Stradivarius. And the bad news is it was stolen, 35, 36 years ago from Roman Totenberg, and I have to report it right away.' And within two hours, two agents from the F.B.I. art theft team were there."

Ms. Totenberg said that the woman who had the famous piece was the daughter of the culprit who Mr. Totenberg suspected all along and she inherited the violin from her dad.

A most resounding resolution to a three-decade old case that can now be put to bed, thankfully.

Check out another stolen Stradivarius case below. This one features Joshua Bell.