| Stoll, who began his career as a jazz violinist, became one of the most important conductors and composers in Hollywood while working as a music director for MGM Studios. He is perhaps best known for writing and conducting the orchestral score to the 1939 classic “The Wizard of Oz”, which won an Academy Award for Best Original Score. He was nominated for nine Oscars, winning the Best Score Oscar for “Anchors Aweigh”. Other film credits to his name include “Meet Me In St Louis” and “Viva Las Vegas” and he worked with many leading musicians, from Louis Armstrong to the young André Previn.
Stoll’s violin is an excellent example of the work of Nicolò Amati (1596–1684), who was the most important maker of his family. It is a full-size model made at the height of his career, its corners notably long and elegant. The back is a particularly attractive and unusual quarter-cut maple, with the flames ascending in one direction. It is in excellent condition and is one of the few 17th-century instruments to retain its original neck, reangled at the heel.
The violin is sold with a photocopy certificate from W. E. Hill & Sons, London. |
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