The Master Violin for the Ring Foundation offers Hungarian master instruments for investment by bringing together top musicians. The aim is to expand the existing number of instruments, thereby supporting young artists. Founder Ádám Fischer was joined by conductors János Kovács and Tamás Vásáry, violinists Vilmos Oláh and János Rolla, and world-famous tenor José Cura.
The epidemic situation has delayed any public announcement, although the Master Violin for the Ring Foundation has already taken meaningful steps to support emerging artists. Ádám Fischer, Kossuth Prize-winning conductor and artistic director of the Budapest Wagner Days, received the Prima Primissima Award in 2018, and in 2019 he donated his fee to the foundation he established.
The mission of the Master Violin for the Ring Foundation is to propagate and support Hungarian violin art and luthiering considered to be unique at national and international level, while mentoring young musical talents. The Foundation provides the use of master violins made by Hungarian luthiers to emerging artists, who have a life-changing opportunity to acquire a quality instrument that can be a tool for winning commissions of the highest quality.
„Master instruments are extremely important in developing the sound of a soloist or a musical ensemble. A good instrument not only sounds better, but it also reflects on the musicians’ personality,” says Ádám Fischer. „A master instrument provides the musician with richer artistic and technical solutions, thus developing imagination and artistic sophistication. The instrument helps the musician to discover abilities in him- or herself that he or she had no idea about before.”
The Master Violin for the Ring Foundation is inviting investors to become partners from 2022. Investing in a master instrument is a symbol of everything that Hungarian classical music stands for: cultural significance, centuries-old tradition, and international recognition.
The artists and the highest quality instruments to be patronised are selected by a professional panel. In addition to Ádám Fischer, the Foundation’s curator Vilmos Oláh, Emmy, Liszt, Lajtha and Dohnányi Prize-winning violinist, Tamás Vásáry, Kossuth Prize-winning pianist and conductor, János Kovács, Kossuth and Liszt Ferenc Prize-winning conductor, José Cura, world-famous opera singer, composer and conductor, János Rolla, Kossuth Prize-winning violinist and Merited Artist, Riccardo Frizza, conductor, Ferenc Szecsődi, Liszt Prize-winning violinist, Merited and outstanding artist, and Tachiki Shigeru, viola player and president of JASTA, will participate in the process.
The most outstanding Hungarian luthier was Samuel Nemessányi. The documentary The Violin Alone, which has won six Emmy Awards, is a collaboration between violinist Vilmos Oláh and contemporary classical composer Eric Funk, featuring a Nemessányi master violin. The masters selected by the Foundation, whose instruments are offered for investment, all follow the tradition of Nemessányi and his famous successors, Pál Pilát, János Spiegel, Pál Sáránszky, and the violins offered for investment come from the most excellent workshops.
„The foundation owns, among other things, the ex-Fricsay master violin, which was played by the world-famous Hungarian conductor Ferenc Fricsay. „”The value of violins made in Hungary, compared to the prices they cost, increases significantly due to their use on international concert stages,” said Vilmos Oláh, the Foundation’s curator. „The value of instruments played by world-class artists multiplies.” In the 1990s, a Nemessányi master instrument cost 3-5 million forints, while today it is listed at around 50 million forints. A contemporary Hungarian master violin sold for around HUF 150,000 at the time, will be worth around HUF 4-6 million in 2022.
The value of investment in musical instruments has increased at least twentyfold in recent decades, on the international scene as well. A Stradivarius worth $1 million in 1984 will be worth around $25 million in 2022.
Tamás Vásáry highlighted the mission of the Foundation: „Zoltán Kodály is still the most outstanding musician and humanitarian example in my life. When he bought me a piano at the beginning of my career, he opened up a world of opportunities that were essential to achieving my highest goals. The recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon, the result of the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels, the series of concerts in Berlin, Vienna, London and New York would have been unthinkable without the Kodály instrument. I am very happy about the initiative of the Master Violin for the Ring Foundation, which helps outstanding young artists to achieve their highest artistic goals and to fulfil their careers in a similar way. So this is why I joined my fellow artists.”
The Master Violin for the Ring Foundation plans to organise national and cross-border instrument tours, and from the 2023/2024 season onwards, tours around the world, as well as to expand its investor base, introduce the young artists to be supported and introduce Hungarian instruments to the sponsoring circles.
The Foundation can also support the young artists in other ways than investment, with civilians’ contribution being used to cover accommodation costs, international travel, instrument demonstrations and concert tours.
More details and a personal message from the supporting artists can be found on the Foundation’s website.