The Davidoff Morini Stradivarius Theft: Unsolved Since Oct. 18, 1995

Summary: The Davidoff Morini Stradivarius theft involves unforced removal of a concert violin from a locked closet in a world-famous violinist's locked apartment.

front and back view of Davidoff Morini Stradivarius violin: FBI Art Crime Team, Public Domain, via Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation assigns a place on the FBI list of the top 10 art theft crimes to the Davidoff Morini Stradivarius theft Oct. 18, 1995, in Manhattan, New York.

The incident baffles FBI and New York City investigators since no evidence brings closure concerning the date of the burglary or the burglar's identity and motives. The 911 report conserves the Sunday evening discovery of the disappearances of the violin and violin case containing letters, paintings and scores with fingerings and notes. It describes a telephone conversation with two discoverers, the resident's mother and daughter care-giving friends, of the unforced theft from the locked apartment's locked silver closet.

No physical evidence exists at the re-let residence of Erica Morini (Jan. 5, 1904-Oct. 31, 1995), dead within a fortnight of the report of the theft.

"Die jugendliche Violin-Virtuosin Erika Morin," image of violin prodigy Erika Morini in Austrian newspaper Sport und Salon, Sunday, April 8, 1917, page 12: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Davidoff Morini Stradivarius features the names of the violin's maker, Antonio Stradivari (1644-Dec. 18, 1737) of Cremona, Italy, and of its two legitimate, recent owners.

The violin gets a birthdate of 1724 or 1727 and a second most recent owner in Russian cellist Karl Julievich Davydov (March 15, 1838-Feb. 26, 1889). The Musée de la Musique (Music Museum) at Cité de la Musique (Music City) in Paris, France, holds the other Davidoff Stradivarius, from 1708, since 1887. Provenance indicates the concert violin's purchase for $10,000 in 1924 from Paris dealers Silvestre & Maucotel by Oscar Morini, Second District music teacher in Vienna, Austria.

Current estimated values juggle the Davidoff Morini Stradivarius theft from concert violinist and Mannes College of Music teacher Erica Morini at $3 million to $3.5 million.

exterior view of Erica Morini's home address and site of 1995 Davidoff Morini Stradivarius violin theft, 1200 Fifth Avenue, New York; Wednesday, May 8, 2013, 17:51, 44: Brian Cooper, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

No one knows why the concert violinist, retired since 1976 and widowed since 1985, kept her Stradivarius "cramped in among the pickle dishes and gravy boats."

Newspaper articles at the time of the incident at 1200 Fifth Avenue's Apartment 5B also list a silk scarf as missing along with the violin case. Valerie Bradford, 911 caller with her mother Erica, mentions that "The violin was wrapped in a silk scarf that [Arturo] Toscanini's wife [Carla] had given her." The mother and daughter noticed a decoy case while noting equipment needed for their friend to navigate the apartment after release from Mount Sinai Medical Center.

The off-Broadway play, The Morini Strad, of 2012 by Missouri playwright and screenwriter Willy Holtzman offers no insights concerning perpetration of the Davidoff Morini Stradivarius theft.

Violinist Richard Errante holds the honor of last to play the Davidoff Morini Stradivarius violin; Richard Errante (left) with his wife Lois (right) and Kyong Hee Cho (middle) perform as the Errante/Cho Trio: Wilton Library Association Inc. news release of Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015

The Morini Strad presents historic interactions between Erica Morini, widow of diamond merchant Felice Siracusano (Feb. 19, 1901-Oct. 1985), and violin maker and restorer Brian Skarstad.

The play questions the decision by the world-famous interpreter of Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Spohr and Tchaikovsky concertos not to store her violin in a vault. It revolves around Skarstad's refusing the $4 million requested by Morini in 1994 on her violin, under-insured below $800,000, for posthumous redistribution among three Jewish charities. Richard Errante, last to play the under-insured violin, says that "[T]he moment I touched the strings, it was so responsive" and "[I]t sounded like something alive."

Twenty-two-year-old newspaper articles tell of the almost blind, arthritis-wracked, heart disease-afflicted leading interpreter of Romantic period, solo concertos dying unaware of the Davidoff Morini Stradivarius theft.

Jewish Austrian violinist Erika Morini was born Tuesday, Jan. 5, 1904; her 1727 'Davidoff' Stradivarius violin was stolen Wednesday, Oct. 18, 1995: The Violin Channel, via Twitter Jan. 5, 2017

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

front and back view of Davidoff Morini Stradivarius violin: FBI Art Crime Team, Public Domain, via Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) @ https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/violent-crime/art-theft/fbi-top-ten-art-crimes/theft-of-the-davidoff-morini-stradivarius

"Die jugendliche Violin-Virtuosin Erika Morin," image of violin prodigy Erika Morini in Austrian newspaper Sport und Salon, Sunday, April 8, 1917, page 12: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Erika_Morini_(1904–1995)_1917.jpg;
via Österreichische Nationalbibliothek@ https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=sus&datum=19170408&seite=12&zoom=33

exterior view of Erica Morini's home address and site of 1995 Davidoff Morini Stradivarius violin theft, 1200 Fifth Avenue, New York; Wednesday, May 8, 2013, 17:51, 44: Brian Cooper, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/95121642@N04/8725031823/

Violinist Richard Errante holds the honor of last to play the Davidoff Morini Stradivarius violin; Richard Errante (left) with his wife Lois (right) and Kyong Hee Cho (middle) perform as the Errante/Cho Trio: Wilton Library Association Inc. news release of Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015, @ http://www.wiltonlibrary.org/sites/default/files/ctsownerrante-chowebPDF102115.pdf

Jewish Austrian violinist Erika Morini was born Tuesday, Jan. 5, 1904; her 1727 'Davidoff' Stradivarius violin was stolen Wednesday, Oct. 18, 1995: The Violin Channel @violin channel, via Twitter Jan. 5, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/violinchannel/status/817038061993394177

For further information:

"Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1727, the 'Davidoff-Morini.'" Tarisio > The Cozio Archive > Antonio Stradivari.
Available @ http://tarisio.com/cozio-archive/property/?ID=40119

Crystal, Janet. 21 October 2015. "Errante/Cho Trio Opens Wilton Library's Concert Series Nov. 1." Wilton Library Assocation Inc. > Press releases.
Available @ http://www.wiltonlibrary.org/sites/default/files/ctsownerrante-chowebPDF102115.pdf

Dickinson, Amy. 9 May 1999. "The Case of the Stolen Stradivarius." The Washington Post > Archive > Lifestyle.
Available @ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1999/05/09/the-case-of-the-stolen-stradivarius/0170af90-9452-452b-9377-c3314899668f/?utm_term=.b23d091b5ee3

"Erica Morini, 91, Subtle Violinist Who Explored Concerto Range." The New York Times > U.S. Edition > N.Y./Region > November 3, 1995.
Available @ http://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/03/nyregion/erica-morini-91-subtle-violinist-who-explored-concerto-range.html

The Violin Channel @violin channel. 5 Jan. 2017. "Remembering Violinist Erika Morini – and Her Stolen 1727 ‘Davidoff’ Stradivarius." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/violinchannel/status/817038061993394177