An award-winning violinist at a prestigious London orchestra has told of their devastation after their “priceless” 300-year-old violin was stolen from an Islington pub on Tuesday evening.
David López Ibáñez, a 2nd violinist with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, was dining with a friend at the Marquess Tavern in Canonbury on Tuesday evening when a thief secretly snatched the violin from their side.
The violin, made in 1740 by acclaimed Florentine instrument maker Lorenzo Carcassi, was “generously” loaned to David to help them perform at major concerts with the Philharmonia. Also stolen were three bows, one with a mother of pearl tip.
The 30-year-old told the Standard it felt “like a part of me has been ripped off”, and urged Londoners to help reunite them with the instrument.
They said: “I'm really devastated and there are moments of clear head and there are moments of utter panic after the loss of what feels like my voice.
“Someone has stolen a part of me. It's been eight years that I've played this instrument, it has become my voice.
“It's countless hours that I have spent with it, it's been my shadow, it’s always on my back as I travel with it, it's a companion.”
The musician, who moved from their native Andalusia to London in 2013, said it was “rare” to be loaned such a unique instrument, describing its sentimental value as priceless, and that its sound was irreplaceable.
“When a musician is not at one with their sound, they cannot deliver the same, they are deprived of something unique to them,” they said.
“So I feel lost, I feel like at a real kind of cliff edge.”
The violin has a distinctive heart-shaped hole in the scroll, and along with the stolen scrolls, was contained in a black Riboni Unoeotto case.
Police are investigating the theft, said Ibáñez, who has played chamber concerts in London’s leading concert venues, such as Wigmore Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, and Conway Hall, and won several awards for their music.
The Philharmonia is one of London’s ‘big four’ orchestras, and is led by acclaimed Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali.
It has played soundtrack scores for hundreds of major films, and had a recording selected by Nasa to be sent into space in 1977 as a record of life and culture on Earth.
Police confirmed they are investigating the theft, which was reported on the same day.
Anyone who has information about the whereabouts of the violin can contact David López Ibáñez on davidviolin94@gmail.com.
