Le violoncelle de Rostropovitch

"Duport's position as Napoleon's favoirte cellist almost resulted in disaster for his Stradivarius when the emperor appeared , booted and spurred, at a private recital in the Tuileries. As the French historian Antoine Vidal later recounted, 'He listened with pleasure and, as soon as the piece was over he approached Duport, complimented him, and, grasping the cello with his usual foecefulness, asked, How the devil do you hold this, Monsieur Duport? while, sitting down, he squeezed the unfortunate instrument betwwen his spurred boots.' Some say the marks of the spurs can still be clearly seen in the sides ofthe cello."

 

Stradivarius: Five Violins, One Cello and a Genius, Toby Faber, Macmillan, 2004.

 

 

C’est l’anecdote que j’ai trouvée via l’article de Wikipedia sur Rostropovitch.

Son violoncelle est un Stradivarius de 1711, appelé le « Duport », en hommage à un grand violoncelliste français du XIXème siècle.

Et comme le rapporte la petite histoire, Napoléon y aurait laissé l’empreinte de ses éperons.

Incroyable comme cet objet hors du commun se charge d’histoire au fil du temps.

J’espère qu’il ne finira pas sous verre dans un musée, ou pire, chez un collectionneur.