VIOLINIST WILL PERFORM ON STRADIVARIUS

Heidi Bergman went to the Bearden Violin Shop in St. Louis recently to have her instrument adjusted. To her amazement, she left with a priceless Stradivarius violin she will play in a recital Sunday at Old St. Vincent's Church.

Bergman, an instructor of music at Southeast Missouri State University, was fingering her own violin for owner Gene Bearden when he offered to let her try his Stradivarius. Only once before had she ever touched a Stradivarius, an instrument only the most successful concert performers can afford to own.

But when Bearden heard her play the instrument he suggested she use it in her upcoming recital with pianist James Sifferman.

"I was flabbergasted," Bergman said of the offer by Bearden, whom she called "one of the pre-eminent violin-makers in the region. A lot of prominent violinists stop in to see him."

Bearden said he sometimes makes such offers to fine musicians because he realizes that very few professors or those not in upper echelon orchestras can afford instruments equal to their abilities. The prices of such violins begin at $250,000, and many are worth millions or are owned by collectors and can't be bought at all.

"I feel very strongly that to have something to play on like this is something they should be able to do," he said. "They train their whole life to make beautiful music."

Only about 600 Stradivarius violins still exist. They were made by Antonia Stradivari and his sons Francesco and Omobono in the violin-making center of Cremona, Italy. Francesco and Omobono were working together when they built Bearden's violin in 1737.

Bearden said Cremona instruments, including those made by others such as Nicholas Amadi and Giuseppe Guarneri, possess "a certain ease in playing, a certain smoothness, a certain quality of sound (that) is without equal."

Bergman attests to the Stradivarius' superiority. "There is a huge difference," she said. "It really sings. It has an elegant kind of sound."

She called Sunday's recital "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Bergman attended Julliard and holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Yale University. Sifferman is an associate professor of music at the university and holds degrees from the University of Washington, Julliard and the University of Texas.

The 3 p.m. performance will include works by Beethoven, Brahms and Wiendiawski.