Stradivarius

Mira Wang, protege of the late virtuoso violinist Roman Totenberg, this week debuted his Ames Stradivarius, stolen 37 years ago and reclaimed in 2015. "It's like meeting a new stranger," she says.

For decades, virtuoso violinist Roman Totenberg played his prized Stradivarius around the world. Then one day in 1980 it was snatched. Gone. But in June, the FBI called his daughter with news.

Milwaukee Orchestra concertmaster Frank Almond was carrying his rare Stradivarius violin out to the parking lot after a show when he was suddenly attacked. The violin, worth millions, was stolen.

Nearly 300 years after the death of Antonio Stadivarius, the classical music world is paying up more and more millions for his violins. And audiences…

How much of what we think of as the beautiful sound of a Stradivarius is the instrument itself — and how much is the brand?

The instrument, known as "Lipinski" was stolen from the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra's concert master last week.