After giving it some thought, Oistrakh bought the Boston Stradivarius. It was almost totally without the original varnish, but at least he had to pay comparatively little for it, I think only nine thousand dollars. (This was already in the days when good Italian instruments cost fifty thousand dollars and more!) […] I heard Oistrakh perform on that violin and it sounded marvellous. My friend Fernando Sacconi, a New York violin dealer, told me that apparently this Strad was crafted especially well: without its original varnish it still sounded terrific. To me, the most important factor was that it was now Oistrakh’s personal violin. It’s like a peasant who gets his own land. Private ownership is efficient not only in agriculture but in violin playing too. << less