Posted on 02/07/2014 10:35:35 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
Exhausted but delighted, Frank Almond can't wait to be reunited with his partner.
That would be the exquisite Lipinski Stradivarius stolen from Almond, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concertmaster, during an armed robbery Jan. 27 after a Frankly Music concert at Wisconsin Lutheran College. Milwaukee police recovered the violin and arrested three suspects in the case. Two of those suspects remain in jail.
"Chief Flynn personally called me last night, actually early this morning, which I very much appreciated," said Almond during a phone interview, his first since the theft occurred. The violinist is out of the state and returning to Milwaukee on Friday.
"That one gesture typifies how (the police) have handled this whole thing," Almond said with gratitude, adding that the chief can have as many free violin lessons as he wants.
After looking at photos of the violin, and hearing from knowledgeable people who saw the instrument at a police news conference Thursday, Almond said the Strad appears to be in good shape. A representative of Chicago-based Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins, Almond's violin consultants, was planning to give the violin a thorough look-over Thursday.
One way or another, Almond said, he will have the violin in his hands Friday, even if he has to let go of it again for maintenance.
Physically, Almond feels OK, "mostly just exhausted."
On the night of the robbery, he was walking to his car after a demanding concert of more than two hours. Before he realized what was happening, a robber attacked with a stun gun.
"I don't recommend anyone get Tazed," he said drily.
(Excerpt) Read more at jsonline.com ...
Videos of Almond playing the Lipinski at the link.
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
Yeah, driving off with it on top of the car would be just my style too ;-) Glad it is back where it belongs, although I’m still suspicious there is a yet-unknown “orchestrator” behind this theft.
I have an 18th century, small, Chippendale mirror that that really happened to. It went from priceless to something I could afford in a minute. It had had the original glass, now replaced. The fancy, scalloped frame was smashed into a hundred pieces. The man who did it, and who I bought it from, had it carefully glued back together; and it is quite handsome. Other than the modern glass, you might not know anything had happened to it, if you didn’t look at the back.
But my mirror doesn’t have to sing like a violin.
Lucky the thugs didn’t burn the evidence since it’d be far too hot to hock.
It was the lowly officers who found it, not the chief. Offer them the lessons.
unintended part of the story is that Congresswoman Gwen Moore D (W) got some face time due to son Supreme Solar relationship with Universal both of the Allah family.
http://fox6now.com/2014/02/07/charges-filed-against-two-suspects-in-stolen-stradivarius-violin/
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3120077/posts?q=1&;page=51
Stradivarius Thief Tied to Congresswoman’s (Gwen Moore D-WI) Son
Also Mayor Tom Barrett. That picture of him having his hair cut on another thread by Universal Knowledge Allah just blows my mind. How is it that these perps are so close to the high and mighty?
Three suspects are now in custody in the theft of a rare $5 million violin. One of those suspects has ties to US Congresswoman Gwen Moore’s (Democrat-Wis.) son Sowande A. Omokunde, known publicly by his alias ‘Supreme Solar Allah.’
Moore’s son, Supreme Allah, was convicted in 2005 of criminal damage to property after he and 3 others slashed the tires of vans rented by the Republican Party of Wisconsin. These vans were meant to transport the elderly and disabled to voting stations.
and ..
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268748/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=EnxaajYm
HOORAY. I was totally wrong when I predicted this stolen violin was kindling and would not be recovered. I’m glad I was.
Stealing one makes the violin useless. It can not be played in public and every dealer in the world knows what they are looking at when one is brought in to be repaired. Repair and upkeep is a constant requirement for old instruments.
The only place a stolen Strad could go is into a private collection and sit.....which is horrible on the violin. Even then, the violin would need check ups every so often to keep the seams from separating and making sure cracks do not form.
THESE WERE THE DUMBEST THIEVES ON EARTH WITH NO CLUE HOW USELESS TO THEM THE STRAD WAS.
So what exactly are your suspicions? Come on, I won't tell anyone..........
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