violin
Nicolas Lupot
built in Paris in 1808
A violin built by Nicolas Lupot in Paris in 1808. The violin bears the maker's original label.
Current player
Erten Deniz İspir
from Nicolas Lupot
History of this instrument
Shortly after the death of his wife, violinist Margreet van de Groenekan, Anton Kersjes (who himself passed away in 2004) decided to donate all the instruments and bows from her estate to the Musical Instrument Fund. The collection consists of four violins, a cello, 10 bows, and a grand piano. The Lupot is the “showpiece” of that collection. The violin has a powerful, unmistakably unique character that not every musician can handle.
Margreet van de Groenekan apparently knew how to “tame” the violin, as did Daniel Rowland (who received the violin on loan in 2000 and played it for six years) and Carla Leurs, who began playing it immediately afterward. Both players knew within five minutes that “it clicked.” Carla affectionately called the violin her “little wolf.” This was a nod to the Italian word “Lupo” (meaning “wolf”), but mainly because the violin has a certain wildness that really appealed to her.
After playing this violin for 14 years, Carla decided to look for an instrument with a different tonal character. When the Musical Instrument Fund succeeded in purchasing a beautiful Guadagnini violin for Carla to play, she (with a heavy heart) traded in the Lupot. For Deniz Espir, this presented an opportunity to switch to an instrument that better matched his ideal sound. He traded in a Cuypers violin and has been playing the Nicolas Lupot since July 2021.
About the builder Nicolas Lupot
The violin maker Nicolas Lupot was the third generation of violin makers in the French Lupot family. However, he was not born in France, but in the German city of Stuttgart. This was due to the fact that his father worked as a violin...
