Hello everyone!
Welcome to another episode of TwoSet Violin!
So we're at an auction house called Tarisio.
And what they do is buy and sell fine instruments.
And they kindly invited us to
give you guys a quick tour around their place.
We think it'd be really cool to show the world of violin instruments
because it's a pretty crazy world.
There are these legendary historical makers.
Some of their violins are known
to have like, the most legendary sounds.
And they're played by legendary players.
They're a little bit like artworks as well.
Yeah, imagine like the Picassos of instruments.
- Yeah, or the Mona Lisas. - Yes.
And we're gonna have Carlos,
who you're gonna meet soon,
explain to everyone what they do.
We'll be answering a lot of questions.
And we hope you guys watching also learn a lot, too.
So we're here now in the gallery.
But first of all, I want to introduce Carlos,
one of the directors here.
Welcome guys!
Everybody was waiting for you guys.
Yeah, actually the whole office was so excited
to have you actually come.
- Thank you! - Eddy: We're also very excited.
Yeah, we're also excited.
Can't wait to show you guys everything in here.
From the gallery, which is here.
We'll have a look now.
So you can see this an open space.
Really minimalistic.
They even have like instruments over here right now.
This is space-
Actually, this gallery is meant for people to come
and feel free that they can play the instruments.
All the instruments for the auction are accessible to clients.
So they can come here and play.
We also built all these panels up here,
so the acoustics actually are realistic.
They sound good.
So people are gonna get good sense of how things sound.
Eddy: So are they the Stradivariuses?
Not quite yet.
I'm gonna show you guys later.
These are others.
The Stradivarius are in the vault.
We're gonna see later.
- I wanna show you the vault. Yes. - Eddy: Ooh... - Ooh, I can't wait!
But also we've had concerts here.
Masterclasses, lectures...
It's a space that we really would try to invite people to come.
- And information for us is very important. - Yes.
Through our website and through our presence,
they can learn about instruments.
- So we have a database that hopefully you- - Yeah.
- I know you guys probably visit once in a while. - Yeah, I've checked the website.
And it's incredible how much information you guys have.
The certificates of all instruments,
- old photos, black and white photos... - Carlos: Yes.
...the history of each maker,
and the lineage?
Exactly. There's a whole history of ownership.
Anything, we have the largest database in the world.
People just come and learn about instruments,
which is our passion,
to share information.
Can I add something? So...
Brett is definitely–
He's quite into knowing about instruments and bows.
And every time there's a new instrument we come across,
he always goes on Google.
And every time we end up on the Tarisio website.
'Cause you guys just have so much information.
- And it's so hard to find information - Yeah.
- about these makers and the histories, so- - Yeah.
- Yeah, so we're really appreciate it actually, on that note. - You're very welcome!
Brett: Alright, so now we're going to the workshop.
So the idea of this was...
that we wanted to make sure that
everybody could share and participate on the workshop.
- So all these sort of like visual- - Brett: Oh, have a look.
Carlos: The idea is that not to hide any secrets.
That's Elizabeth and Rachel discussing instruments.
It's that people can see how instruments are repaired, built.
Brett: Wow, and so you must really have to...
- have professionals looking after these instruments. - Carlos: Absolutely.
Carlos: Part of the responsibility of selling these instruments
is also to be able to care for them.
So we can actually have four different luthiers here.
So it's a full service.
Making, repairing, adjusting.
For the repairing side of things,
- have you ever had like, crazy incidents that– - Oh...
We haven't had incidents,
but clients have brought us after the accident.
Pieces, and we had to put it all together.
Like literally in a shoebox.
It's very traumatic.
And we put them back together
in a way that you couldn't see anything.
And how long does that usually take?
Each part, like the process of restoring is an art.
It takes hours and hours and hours.
So the restoration of something that has been through an accident
could be years.
That's fascinating.
- So that restoration and making is very different things. - Very different.
And on that note, I remember you talked to me about
- you had CT scans, was it? Or- - Yeah.
CT scan is a...
a way that you do like X-rays of a violin,
and nothing gets hidden.
Eddy: Can we see some of those CT scans?
- I can- Yeah, you want to see the... - I'd love to see it!
- Yeah, so we can make it spin and do fun things. - Brett: That's incredible!
- Rachel: Yeah, let's see. - Brett: Whoa!
Rachel: It's going through the insides of the violin.
Eddy: No way...
Eddy: So what does this help you guys do on a daily basis?
Carlos: It helps deciphering the insides,
what the eye cannot see.
Densities, thicknesses...
A lot of the technical aspects of the violin.
To see, you know, the work that has been done,
so we don't miss anything.
Eddy: Yeah.
Brett: So actually, I remember one point...
Carlos, you talked about how makers...
do their best to make the exact copy.
- Yes. - And the CT scan can pick up the most nuanced parts.
- You can't hide anything from the CT scan. - You can't hide any–
- Wow! - You can't hide absolutely anything.
That's the-
It is really like an X-ray of anything...
- Yeah. - that it shows and exposes pretty much anything.
Look at that.
CSI.
Eddy: What are the goggles for?
- Eddy: Those up there. - Brett: Oh yeah.
These are actually just like a little magnifying glasses on-
- Oh okay. - So it's really good.
Actually, Elizabeth's doing like,
touch-up work or something like that.
- Whoa. - Eddy: I see.
Eddy: Touch-up work.
Eddy: Touch-up work!
Eddy: No pressure!
Brett: So this is the vault.
Brett: The code is 1-2-3-4.
*laughter*
Brett: And we're going in.
Brett: So...
- Whoa! - Whoa!
Brett: You know what this feels like?
Brett: When you're in the Harry Potter world
about to pick a wand.
Eddy: I'm so scared I'm gonna like...
- Brett: Yeah, don't trip. - Eddy: knock something.
This is where all the instruments come back at night.
But also where we store multi-million dollar prices here.
- So it's particularly in these glass doors. - Okay. - Brett: Wow.
We carry a lot of history, and a lot of value.
Let's pick a random thing.
For example, this one.
Carlos: From Strad.
- Golden Period Strad. - *gasps*
Brett: Whoa, that's beautiful!
Carlos: To...
Carlos: This is one of my favourites.
- Carlos: This is actually... - Brett: Wow...
a Guarneri violin that belonged to Kreisler.
- Eddy: *gasps* - Brett: Kreisler!
Yeah.
Carlos: The crazy thing about this...
The neck is still original.
It's extremely rare.
So to see that there is one piece.
It's all connected.
To play violin now...
like in the 21st century,
99% of the instruments...
they have replaced necks, the 18th century instruments.
Perlman's or Joshua Bell's...
All those violins have the replaced neck.
Do you know what the reason is?
Why all the necks are replaced?
Because the length has to be different.
Like, the violins have evolved.
The body hasn't changed,
but the tensions have changed.
So to be able to play in bigger concert halls,
the distance is different.
To be able to be more virtuosic.
- And the angles have changed. - Oh wow!
We have to adapt to that.
But certain violins, like this one,
sounds incredibly well.
And it still preserves the original neck.
I knew that the angle changed over time,
- but I didn't realise the length as well. - The length as well. They used to be shorter.
- Wow... - Yeah.
I mean, this actually has adapted.
That's why you see a wedge here.
Eddy: Ahh...Oh!
Carlos: That's the only thing the violin has changed.
The science is to adapt to play...
you know, in a big concert hall.
You gotta have more power.
And so to see something like this,
I cannot emphasise how rare it is to find something like this.
Especially of this quality.
- And it's Kreisler's. - It's very rare.
- Brett: And it's Kreisler's. - And it's Kreisler's.
- Kreisler is like the daddy of violinists. - Brett: Yeah!
This, another Golden Period Strad.
Down in the bottom.
- Brett: Whoa... - Eddy: Whoa...
Brett: Dude, my hands are sweating just looking at it.
Eddy: Imagine you trip,
and the camera just like...
...bumps into that.
- And then you're in debt for the rest of your life. - Brett: Then you fall and everything collapses.
Carlos: What makes this vault also very special...
is that when it was built,
this entire shop actually have two generations of different dealers.
This originally was built for a violin shop by Jacques Français,
which is one of the greatest violin dealers.
When he built this vault,
he had to ask for a specific and special permit.
So there are no sprinklers.
There's no water in this room.
So it's fireproof, waterproof as well.
So this vault has seen more Stradivariuses
than probably anywhere else in the world.
- Brett: That's incredible. - Yeah.
I feel like I'm in-
You know like, those cartoons when you're like-
The pirate ships and you land in the golden treasure.
- This feels like that right now. - Brett: Yeah, it's like, "Wow!"
This is actually the suitcase of Isaac Stern
where he carried his tails for the concerts.
- No way! - It's right inside here.
And this was made by Louis Vuitton for him.
After he died,
we were asked to sell the estate of Issac Stern.
And this is something that we kept.
Brett: Carlos, do you know like, every instrument in here?
If we point at it, you'll know it?
I should know most of them, yes.
Which is not easy
because we sell about 3,000 instruments per year.
Whoa!
Between the auction and the private sales,
and our London, Berlin office,
- it's about 3,000 instruments. - Brett: 3,000 a year!
Eddy: How many Strads are here, do you know?
Carlos: Right now, three.
- Eddy: Three Stradivariuses. - Carlos: Yeah.
Almost from every major maker,
we have instruments available.
Pretty much one of each, at least.
Or two of each.
I found it crazy too, like...
how much the value has gone up in these instruments.
Do you know how much they were worth like 20 years ago, roughly?
That's a very good question.
I can tell you one of the numbers
that actually was very impressive to me...
is when we sold the 'Lady Blunt' in 2011.
It sold for 16 million dollars.
Brett: WHOA!!
And that's 2011!
It had sold in 1971 for the equivalent of...
So it's not that-
The difference is not in time, it's not that much.
But the price was 200 thousand,
then we sold for 16 million dollars.
- That actually is a number that- sort of to get around it. - Brett: Wow!
- It is very, very impressive. - Brett: Yeah, that's impressive.
That's- Was that 80 times?
It's better than Bitcoin.
So, here comes the main course.
The 'Da Vinci' Strad we have here that's for auction, right?
- Correct. - Look at this, Eddy.
I'm really scared holding it right now.
But can you guys see how beautiful it is?
This is history right here.
Yeah, you're just looking at the...
It's just amazing how like, spotless it is
for something that's been around for...
how many years?
Since 1714.
- 1714! - Wow...
I'm so scared I'm gonna scratch it.
Eddy: Why is it called the 'Da Vinci?'
It has no relation to da Vinci,
but it was given by a dealer.
There were three instruments
that this dealer baptised.
All Renaissance artists,
'Titian,' the 'Michelangelo,' and 'da Vinci.'
I think what makes this violin quite special...
first, that it's been over 20 years
since something similar to this has come to the auction.
Something from sort of the apex of Stradivarius
like 1714, has been over 20 years.
- So it is a big deal. - Wow.
And we're very, very excited to have this one in particular.
I mean, not only actually is it in incredible shape,
but its history is incredible.
To know that this violin was the soundtrack to The Wizard of Oz.
And other things, I mean...
This was owned by Toscha Seidel,
one of the greatest violinists.
He was a classmate of Heifetz.
He was a competition to Heifetz.
And some people say that he could have been better.
But this was his violin for 40 years.
And you can tell in the recordings-
There are many recordings with this violin with Toscha...
You can see the luscious, vibrant sound of this fiddle.
You know, this is what Stradivarius is best known for.
We always talk about this Golden Age of Stradivari.
And what does that mean?
This is where Stradivarius was at the height of his powers.
He had been experimenting quite a bit with different models.
And he arrived this model.
During the 1710 to 1718
where everything works.
He has access to the best materials,
he has been experimenting,
he's developed a model that sounds and looks incredible.
And he would keep experimenting after that.
But this block of years is where you see
that he's achieved something very unique.
And this one was made in 17...
- 14. - 14. Okay.
- So this is right at the peak of the best of the collection. - Wow...
- That's a really nice bow, too. - Carlos: You guys actually sound so good.
Carlos: I mean, it's actually kind of amazing.
Carlos: I mean it, like...
the amount of work that you do outside of playing,
but how you keep yourself in practice is truly impressive.
- Aww, thank you! - Aww, thank you. We appreciate it.
Carlos: No, truly. I really mean that.
- Carlos: It's very, very impressive. - Yeah.
We really try to find as much time as we can.
Carlos: And you walk the walk with the practice.
- Yeah! - Yes, definitely.
- So at least we can enjoy these instruments. - Carlos: Yes!
For some of you guys might be curious to see...
what sounds like a great instrument.
I think the instruments are believed to give different colours
at different inputs, right?
A bow speed, pressure, contact.
I'd say the other main thing would be
just the quality of its overtones,
which gives the sound its character, its personality.
I think a lot of not so good instruments...
A, they struggle with projection,
so they don't ring as much.
Or they typically sound very one-dimensional.
It's like you see an image,
the colour is just one-dimensional,
- like one or two colours. - Yes.
Whereas with the instruments we played,
there's so many different- not just colours,
- but shades of colours that you can hear. - Yeah.
And there's a shimmer.
- Yeah. - There's a warmth to it. It's just-
- Ah, it's so nice. - I feel like I'm just discovering a lot of new things.
- I'm like, "Oh, by doing this, it sounds so different." - Mm.
And on the auction...
How does that work with the auction?
Yeah, 'cause Brett really liked it.
- He played it, so- - So they're gonna buy it.
Yes, yes! I want to be the first!
- He's asking for "a friend." - Brett: Yeah.
- For "a friend." - "A friend."
So, the auction is very simple actually.
You know, it is important, of course, that people see it,
...play it. People can-
We have all the information available.
And it's gonna tour.
I'm actually gonna take the violin to Europe next week.
And then it's gonna make its way to Asia.
But the actual bidding happens online.
Carlos: So...
whether it is ten dollars or lots of millions,
it happens through...online.
It's a very transparent process.
You know, when we sold the 'Lady Blunt'
for 16 million dollars we were talking...
- That was online. - Clicking.
That's incredible.
Is there like a...
minimum though?
- Yes- - Or you can actually start at ten dollars?
Uh, no.
I was like...
"Oh, we have a chance!"
"Ten dollars!"
There is a minimum that's gonna start,
but the sky's the limit for something like this.
I think it's a very unique opportunity.
- It's definitely a collector's thing. It's so unique. - Collectors, but...
- I hope actually it's a collector that maybe loans it to a player... - Yes, I hope so.
- Carlos: ...on stage. - I mean, I'm up for the sign up for loans as well.
- Asking for patrons? - Brett: I mean, the loan.
- Oh yes, please. - Yes, patrons, please, please.
Well, I mean like...
I think you're right.
We played a few Stradivariuses in the last 2, 3 years.
And you can definitely tell...
you know, they're all great instruments,
but there's difference in the sound.
- And this one really does sound amazing. - It's very outstanding.
Yeah, I think these fiddles...
inspire you.
They inspire you, they inspire the audience.
- Brett: Yes. - I really believe in that.
And so it's almost like...
the violin pulls you to explore the type of sounds
this particular violin can make.
- Yes! - 'Cause they're all different.
It's always extremely for us...
Every auction day is one of the most thrilling experiences.
- Yeah. - You can't sleep. I can't... - To see people from all over the world bidding...
I mean, it is- It never gets old.
- What date... - Yeah-
- Wait, what's the exact... - June... It's on June 9th.
- June 9th. So everyone tune- - I'm gonna keep an eye out.
Yeah, I'll probably watch it, too!
- I don't think I'll bid, but I'll keep an eye out. - And your finger slipped...
"Uh-oh!"
Brett: "OH NO..."
"Oops, all my life savings!"
- Probably not even enough. - Not like 10X... like, everything!
But I'm glad that you guys had the opportunity to play it.
It's incredible. Yeah.
Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity...
- to come here. - Thank you. You're welcome.
Thank you for coming.
And once again guys, please like and subscribe.
And check out Tarisio on the auction date.
- Yeah. - And we'll see you guys next time.
Bye-bye!