Music commentator Miles Hoffman, a nationally renowned violist, and NPR's Steve Inskeep visit the Library of Congress' small, priceless collection of Stradivarius instruments. Hoffman plays some of ...

It is claimed that they have an unreproducible acoustic quality allowing them to produce a sound that no other violin maker has been able to achieve. But despite their multimillion-dollar price tag, ...

In Cremona, the Italian city that gave birth to some of the finest violins ever made, residents are being told to be as quiet as possible, because of an ambitious project to preserve the sounds of ...

How much of what we think of as the beautiful sound of a Stradivarius is the instrument itself — and how much is the brand? Is A Stradivarius Just A Violin? The Stradivarius violin gets its name from ...

Another day, another study undercutting the myth surrounding the 18th-century Italian violin maker Antonio Stradivari. Since the early 20th century, musicians and instrument experts have been trying ...

Researchers using a medical scanner have worked out why a Stradivarius violin sounds so good — it is because of the remarkably even density of the wood. For the past 300 years, musicians and ...

Violin makers of the future may be able to match the sound quality of a Stradivarius thanks to a pair of fungi that get their nutrition from the wood used to make the instruments. The Swiss ...

This week, a violin made by famed Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari could become the most expensive musical instrument ever sold at auction. Sotheby's is estimating that a Stradivarius made in 1714 ...

Only 7% of LAist readers currently donate to fund our journalism. Help raise that number, so our nonprofit newsroom stays strong in the face of federal cuts. Donate now. Music commentator Miles ...

Violinist Adrian Pintea, from The Julliard School, plays a 1729 Stradivari known as the "Solomon, Ex-Lambert" in 2007 at Christie's in New York. Another day, another study undercutting the myth ...