The Totenberg sisters — Amy , Nina and Jill — see their father's stolen Stradivarius for the first time in 35 years at the U.S. attorney's office in New York City on Thursday.
But Nina said her father’s robbery case remained cold for decades. When people asked the Boston University professor if he thought his violin would ever be found, he said : “After I have kicked the bucket." “We wanted to make sure it was going to be played in great concert halls around the world where my father played it until it was stolen,” Totenberg said, “Our thought was we needed to get that fiddle played because these violins don't prosper when they're just kept away.”
In the end, a well-heeled, anonymous buyer offered to purchase the Ames-Totenberg Stradivarius , but only if a consortium was created that would loan exquisite and expensive instruments to young, rising musicians. Since receiving the violin, Meltzer said everywhere he goes musicians and past students talk about the influence Roman Totenberg had on their lives.