Art with strings attached

A traveling collection of violins, violas and cellos from Cremona, Italy — home of world-famous luthiers like Antonio Stradivari and Joseph Guarneri — will be played for string-lovers at the Thomas Metzler Violin Shop on Sunday and Monday.

David Stenske, associate concertmaster for the Los Angeles Opera, will play the instruments for a group of about 80 people at 2 p.m. on Sunday and at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. Violist Herman Markosian and cellist Ginger Murphy also will perform.

The musicians will play the same musical excerpt on each of the instruments so the audience can discern the differences in sound quality, said Thomas Metzler, owner of the violin shop.

“It might sound a little dull to play the same passage over and over again on each instrument, but people find it fascinating because there are very palpable, very distinct differences between the instruments,” he said. “It’s kind of like a wine tasting. You can say wine tastes like wine, but there are subtle differences.”

The 40 violins, eight violas and three cellos from the world-renown violin-making town in northern Italy will be on sale at the store from Jan. 9 to 27. Metzler’s shop is the only Southern California stop for the traveling exhibition, which was in Washington D.C. in December. The collection will move to San Jose in February.

One of the more expensive violins, made by the French-born Loeiz Honore, is priced at about $21,000. But Metzler said they will probably sell it for about $18,000 during the exhibition. Prices of the rest of the violins range from $4,000 to $20,000, he said.

“It’s a lot of money,” he said. “But for a professional violinist, it’s really average to on the low side. A lot of the professionals are used to purchasing the antique instruments, and these antique Italian instruments might be double or triple that price.”

When buying violins, people usually listen for the quality of sound and check the workmanship, Metzler said.

“And then, of course, the beauty of the instrument is really important,” he said. “People say, ‘well it’s only the tone that matters to me,’ but psychologically, people are attracted to beautiful looking instruments.”

Typically it probably takes four or five weeks of solid work to make a violin, he said. But the varnishing process takes longer. And even before the work is started, the wood is aged for 10 to 20 years to get all the moisture out, he said.

Taste is also a factor. Traditionalists prefer immaculate finished products with high-quality workmanship, while others are drawn to violins with decorations and carved inlays, Metzler said. Many violinists like violins that come with worn sides, dents and scratches.

“It’s become more and more popular for these makers to antique their instruments, to make them look older,” Metzler said. “That’s because people are used to seeing famous Italian instruments and they want something like that.”

But in terms of pricing, fame is the deciding factor, Murphy, the cellist, said. She will play the cellos this weekend.

“Really, it’s the legacy,” said Murphy, who plays cello for a number of orchestras, including the Burbank Symphony and the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra. “The [Cremona violin makers] are designing after — like Stradivari, Guarneri, Amati — they’re really the crème de la crème. They use those as models.”

Thomas Metzler Violin Shop is located at 604 South Central Avenue.

For more information and reservations call (818) 246-0278 or send e-mail to shop@metzlerviolins.com.