MARQUETTE -- Participants at the U.P. Chamber Festival Friday had the chance to see a real Stradivarius violin and hear its sweet tune.
A Stradivarius violin from the year 1680 was displayed and played by its owner for the eyes and ears of eager students.
There are believed to be only about 450 stradivarius violins left in the world, and no two are exactly the same, which makes the remaining violins worth millions of dollars apiece. Stradivarius owner, Paul Bartel, said, "A Strad came available, and the woman that owned it was willing to give me time to sell my collection. Otherwise, I would never have been able to afford to do it. So basically, my lifetime's work is tied up in one violin."
Stradivarius was a famous violin maker from the 1600s-1700s. He only made 1,100 instruments in his lifetime, and all are very desirable today because of their ancient value and the belief of stradivarius instruments being the finest in the world.
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