For the first time in history, twelve of the finest violins ever made by Antonio Stradivari have travelled across the world to be recorded in one album for a ground-breaking new project with violinist Janine Jansen.

The resulting album, 12 Stradivari, captures the individual characteristics of each instrument in a specifically curated repertoire accompanied by Sir Antonio Pappano. Janine and Pappano selected pieces of the classical repertoire to highlight the ongoing dialogue between past and present. Playing Henry Vieuxtemps’ Romances on the very same 1710 Stradivari he owned, or Fritz Kreisler’s Liebesleid on his 1733 Stradivari felt not only appropriate but significant too. Other violins were matched with pieces by composers such as Sarasate and Szymanovsky while others still were based on Janine’s sensibility.

Some of these 12 violins have not been played for many decades and, possibly, have never been commercially recorded. Others belonged to legendary virtuosi, including Fritz Kreisler, Nathan Milstein, Ida Haendel and Oscar Shumsky.

The project was devised by Steven Smith, managing director of "..." . Having worked with Stradivari instruments his entire career, he wanted to bring 12 of the very best violins together to show their brilliance and also their differences. At the same time he sought to record for posterity their sounds in one single, unique record and approached Janine for the extraordinary project. Smith knew where in the world the 12 violins were and who owned them. In spite of numerous logistical challenges, made far worse by the travel restrictions imposed by the pandemic, Steven was able to create a two-week period when all violins could be flown to London for this exceptional undertaking.

1. Manuel de Falla (1876 –1946) [arr. Kreisler]

    Danse espagnole from the opera "La vida breve"

    (1734 Kreisler, Lord Amherst)

2. Josef Suk (1874 – 1935) [arr. Kocián]