The film tells the story of a 1731 Stradivarius once owned by Israeli Philharmonic founder Bronislaw Huberman. Stolen in 1936 it was was rediscovered in 1985; American virtuoso Joshua Bell purchased it and plays it during his concerts. A little Jewish boy [Bronislaw Huberman] from Czestochowa, Poland, played the violin with such virtuosity that a nobleman gifted him a Stradivarius, which he plays later in front of composer Johannes Brahms. Huberman becomes one of the great classical musicians of his day but his violin gets stolen while he played Carnegie Hall. He flees Europe before World War II, founds the Israeli National Orchestra and rescues hundreds of Jewish musicians from certain death in Nazi Europe being hailed as a hero before he dies. His violin was only recovered in 1985, to be bought by American Joshua Bell who now uses it in his concerts. Sigmund Rolat, a Czestochowa Jewish boy that was among a few that survived the Holocaust, invites Joshua Bell to Huberman’s town, to play his long lost violin in a special, emotional concert, which takes place in a concert hall built on the ruins of the town’s synagogue.
Hide player controls
Hide resume playing