The Shipwrecked Cello
The 'Mara' Stradivarius was destroyed when it was thrown from a burning boat into the River Plate. Its reconstruction is one of the most unlikely stories in instrument history.
Writer and musician Kate Kennedy takes a personal look at five lost cellos, and what they can tell us of those who played and loved them and how our identities are shaped by the physical, social and psychological impacts of performance.
Destroyed and resurrected, how does an instrument's identity change? The 'Mara' Stradivarius is one of the greatest cellos in the world, but in the 1960s it was completely destroyed when the Trieste Trio nearly drowned jumping with it from a burning boat in thick fog into the River Plate. In travelling to Trieste, Kate Kennedy discovers how the Trio’s mental escape into a world of music during the second world war, shutting out the massacres around them, helped them to survive the accident that killed 55 others. She reflects on the cello’s unlikely rescue and lengthy reconstruction and how in the aftermath of its turbulent history its sound is considered by many to be better than ever.
Producer: Adrian Washbourne
Technical production by Mike Sherwood
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
A TellTale Industries production for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
On radio
Broadcasts
- Thu 19 Oct 2023 22:45Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
- Thu 16 Jan 2025 21:45Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
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