Carl Becker and the Lady Blunt Stradivarius Violin 卡爾・貝克與史特拉底瓦里小提琴《Lady Blunt》

The 1721 Lady Blunt

Now the most highly valued violin on the planet, the iconic instrument was refurbished almost 40 years ago in Carl Becker and Son’s simple Chicago studio.
這把目前地表上價值最高的最具代表性的小提琴，40年前在貝克父子（Carl Becker and Son）芝加哥工作室裡進行了修整。

Today, a non-descript condominium building stands at 1416 W. Belmont Avenue in Chicago. This is in the re-gentrified Lakeview neighborhood of the city’s North Side, an area that not long ago was tired and tattered, a stretch of cash exchange depots and tattoo parlors. At this particular address once stood the second floor studio of Carl Becker and Son, violinmakers and repairers of fine instruments, in a building that evidently was demolished sometime in the 1990s.

一座不起眼的公寓大樓矗立在今天的芝加哥西貝爾蒙特大道 1416 號。這裡是城市北區新重劃的高級湖景社區，不久前這個地區破舊不堪，佔據了許多現金當鋪和紋身店。在這個舊地址，曾經是貝克父子（Carl Becker and Son）的二樓工作室，他們是小提琴製琴家和高級古董樂器修復商，位於一棟1990年代時候被拆除的舊建築中。

What probably few people then and perhaps no person today on that block realize is a very valuable Stradivarius violin was “resident” there for a while as it was being refurbished by the Carls Becker, father (Carl G.) and son (Carl F.).

當時也或許今天，都極少有人會知道，當時一把價值連城的史特拉迪瓦里小提琴曾經停留在那裡一段時間，由當時卡爾·貝克的父子 (父Carl G.、兒子Carl F.)聯手修復。

The Becker operation is obviously a family business. It goes back to the late 1940s and their descendants continue their craft today. The son in the firm’s name was Carl Frederick Becker, who died in 2013 at the age of 93. His children and grandchildren now operate the firm in the city’s Loop (central business district) a few miles south and, notably, within walking distance of Chicago’s Lyric Opera and Symphony Center concert halls.

The Beckers have a long-established world-class reputation. So perhaps it shouldn’t be so remarkable that in the 1970 and 1971 – in the simple second-floor walkup shop on Belmont Avenue where the Beckers crafted and repaired fine stringed instruments – that a particularly well-known and extraordinarily valuable Stradivarius violin was kept there for an important repair.

貝克家族久負盛名。因此在 1970年到1971年間，在貝爾蒙特大道二樓簡樸的提琴店裡，這裡貝克父子製作和修理精美的弦樂器——保存了一把特別著名且價值非凡的史特拉迪瓦里小提琴在這進行重要的修復，這或許也就不那麼引人注目。

This instrument is known as the “Lady Blunt Strad,” so named because it was once owned by Lady Anne Blunt, the daughter of Ada Lovelace (a mathematician and writer who conceived the idea of the computer) and granddaughter of England’s Lord Byron. It was made in 1721 by the master Cremonese luthier, and was last sold at auction in 2011 for $15.9 million USD, the highest price ever claimed by a musical instrument. 這把號稱《Lady Blunt》，之所以這樣命名，是因為它曾經屬於安妮・朗特夫人，她是Ada Lovelace 的女兒（Ada Lovelace是一位作家，也是構思出電腦雛形概念的數學家），也是英國詩人拜倫勳爵（Lord Byron ）的孫女。提琴是由克里蒙納製琴大師於 1721 年製作，它前一次在 2011 年的拍賣會上以 1590 萬美元的價格售出，當時創下樂器有史以來的最高價的交易。

That such an expensive and exquisite instrument, probably the most valuable Stradivarius in the world, spent several months in the Becker studio in Chicago isn’t quite so surprising for anyone who knows the Becker family and their work. The shop under their name had only been open for a couple of years when the Lady Blunt was placed in their hands, but both father (Carl G.) and son (Carl F.) had previously worked with the respected William Lewis & Son, also in Chicago. Their skills were well known and they easily drew customers with repair-worthy violins, violas and cellos.

如此昂貴而精緻的樂器，可能是世界上最有價值的史特拉底瓦里，在芝加哥貝克提琴工作室裡耗了幾個月的修復時間，對於任何了解貝克爾家族及其作品的人來說都不足為奇。 Lady Blunt 交到他們手上時，他們名下的店才開了幾年，但父親（Carl G.）和兒子（Carl F.）之前都曾在芝加哥市德高望重的 William Lewis & Son琴行合作過。他們的手藝精細已廣為人知，在提琴樂器上的高超的維修技術總是能輕而易舉地吸引顧客。

Father Carl G. was well known as a violin maker. Son Carl F. crafted over 500 instruments with his father, spending the rest of his career in the repair business and making a modest amount of instruments on his own.

父親Carl G. 是眾所皆知的製琴師。兒子Carl F. 與他的父親一起製作了500多支提琴，他其餘的生涯時間都投入在維修業務上，並自己也單獨製作完成了不少樂器。

The Lady Blunt Strad was owned by Tarisio Auctions when Becker repaired it. Once it was restored, it sold for $201,000 at auction. The buyer (Robert Lowe) owned it for 30 years, after which it was acquired by the Nippon Music Foundation for $10 million. The Foundation put it up for charitable sale to benefit the victims of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami (in Japan), where it sold for $15.9 million. It is rarely played.

貝克修復《Lady Blunt》時，這把琴歸 Tarisio Auctions 所有。修復後，它在拍賣會上以美元201,000 的價格售出。買家 (Robert Lowe) 擁有它30年之後它被日本音樂基金會以1000萬美元收購。2011年時，該基金會拿出此琴做慈善拍賣，作為造福當年日本東北地震和海嘯的受害者，最終以1590萬美元的價格售出。它很少被演奏。

The Becker shop repaired other Stradivariuses, including the Muntz Strad. Carl F. Becker was also a founding member of both the International Society of Violin and Bowmakers the American Federation of Violin and Bowmakers – pretty heady stuff for a firm that started out on Belmont Avenue in Chicago.

貝克琴店也修理了其他史特拉底瓦里名琴，包括 Muntz Strad。卡爾・貝克還是美國國際小提琴與琴弓製作協會AFVBM的創始成員——對於一家在芝加哥貝爾蒙特大道起家的琴行來說，這是非常令人興奮的事情。

原文出自：Benning Violins

《Lady Blunt》維修工作照（台北貝克父子提琴提供） 

《Lady Blunt》在貝克工作筆記中的厚薄紀錄（數字部分已馬賽克處理）


1970年2月14日的日曆頁，貝克在替Lady Blunt維修調色的刷痕。畫面中Lady Blunt Strad的文字是貝克的筆跡