A rare Stradivari viola to be auctioned this Spring via sealed bid is expected to set a world record for the most expensive musical instrument ever sold – the starting bid is $45 million.
The so-called “MacDonald” viola, named after Godfrey Bosville, the 3rd Baron Macdonald, who purchased it in the 1820s, was made in 1719 by Antonio Stradivari, considered the greatest violin and string instruments maker of all time.
The “MacDonald” viola, exquisitely preserved, is the first to be on the market in 50 years, and is one of only ten complete violas Stradivari made during his lifetime, the only example from his golden period, Sotheby's, which is conducting the sale with London-based Ingles & Hayday, has said.
"Stradivari is the greatest violin maker of all time," Ingles & Hayday director Tim Ingles said. “The amazing thing about violas is that there is such a small number of them in existence - only 10 complete violas today, so there is a huge rarity factor."
The world auction record price for a musical instrument is $15.9 million, and it was set for another Stradivari instrument, the “Lady Blunt” violin, dating to 1721, in an online auction in June 2011.
"The finest of all Stradivari violas is generally agreed to be the 'Macdonald' of 1719," said Ingles. "A Stradivari viola has always been, I suppose, the holy grail for a collector of musical instruments."
The highest bidder will be announced on June 25.
Listen to the amazing sound of the $45M viola (David Aaron Carpenter plays Suite No. 3 in C by Johann Sebastian Bach):
