Stradivarius auctioned

This is the third most expensive instrument in the world

The "Joachim-Ma" did not fetch a new record price, but it is now the third most expensive instrument in the world.(Bild: APA/AP)

In the end, it was not enough to set a new record. But at around 10.9 million euros, a rare Stradivarius violin several hundred years old fetched a very proud sum at an auction in New York on Friday.

According to the auction house Sotheby's, the violin by the famous Italian instrument maker Antonio Stradivari, known for its extraordinary sound, is the third most expensive musical instrument ever sold at auction. The record price of 15.9 million US dollars (around 15.4 million euros) was achieved by the "Lady Blunt" violin in 2011. 

The "Joachim-Ma" did not achieve a new record price, but it is now the third most expensive instrument in the world.(Bild: APA/AP)

The sound of the violin now being auctioned, which was named "Joachim-Ma" after its former owner, is particularly "rich, complex and full of depth", Sotheby's explained. It is therefore one of the instruments that Stradivari made 300 years ago during his so-called golden period.

The violin long belonged to the famous Chinese violinist and pedagogue Si-Hon Ma, who donated the precious instrument to his alma mater, the New England Conservatory in Boston, before his death in 2009, on the condition that it would one day be sold to fund scholarships. In the 19th century, the violin had belonged to the famous Hungarian virtuoso Joseph Joachim, who worked with composers such as Johannes Brahms.