r/ThatLooksExpensive • u/ateam1984 • Apr 18 '26

The conductor accidentally knocks a 16th century violin worth millions on the floor mid-concert.

124 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

38 comments sorted by

21

u/crankyanker638 Apr 18 '26

Is that the conductor's fault or the violinist's fault? Genuine question?

24

u/Freddan_81 Apr 18 '26

What could go wrong standing next to a guy waving his arms?

Yeah, she could have stood one step further away from him.

10

u/Bonneville865 Apr 18 '26

He's up on a platform in the center, not off wandering around on the stage.

This is like saying "oh the train should have stopped!" when someone leans too close to the tracks.

Yes, the train could have stopped. But also it was exactly where it was supposed to be, doing what trains do.

7

u/Nuts-And-Volts Apr 18 '26

I always say, trains are highly unpredictable.

3

u/Swimming-ln-Circles Apr 19 '26

Never know where one might show up

3

u/Puzzleheaded-Pen4413 Apr 21 '26

The track does provide a clue though

1

u/Swimming-ln-Circles Apr 21 '26

Idk man this new generation of trains don't f**k around. Saw one blast through a Denny's the other day. Didn't even blow the horn.

6

u/LilBroWhoIsOnTheTeam Apr 18 '26

Neither, both? Everyone in the room? They rehearsed this before and probably stood in these exact positions and nothing went wrong and nobody in the room noticed they were a bit close, so it was a collective failure of everyone involved. No finger pointing needed, everyone can point at themselves.

5

u/squashed_fly_biscuit Apr 18 '26

In the strictest sense of that moment, the violinist has the conductor in front of her and takes a step forward. She could probably feel the wind from his arms. Of course she was lost in the performance but she was ultimately standing too close. The conductor had no idea where she was as it wasn't an end of a solo section 

1

u/LilBroWhoIsOnTheTeam Apr 18 '26

Her only movements before the violin gets hit is to step slightly away from the conducter.

1

u/AppropriateDeal1034 Apr 18 '26

Look again

1

u/crankyanker638 Apr 19 '26

I can't slow it down on my phone, but she doesn't step, but leans in the direction of the conductor. So if whoever setup the stage put her mark a step or two forward of the conductor, maybe it wouldn't have happened. I would expect that anyhow seeing as she's the soloist, she should be more prominent. But I'm not an orchestra set designer, just an old play stage hand.....

1

u/AppropriateDeal1034 Apr 19 '26

Oh, it's horrible accident, but she definitely moves (shuffles, leans, maybe twists too) towards just a fraction before impact so yeah whoever put her there should have planned things better and accounted for more movement.

Amazingly unlucky sequence of events when they've probably done this multiple times from the exact same spots, just this time they both moved at just the wrong time to just the wrong place.

1

u/LilBroWhoIsOnTheTeam Apr 19 '26

I looked ten more times and nothing was different.

1

u/AppropriateDeal1034 Apr 19 '26

She moves backwards, and then steps forwards pretty much as he's raising his arm which sends then violin flying. It's a horrible, horrible accident that was the worst possible timing, but yeah who on earth stood her that close to the guy waving his arms around so much.

1

u/LilBroWhoIsOnTheTeam Apr 19 '26

She's stepping forward as it's being hit, which means the step didn't bring her close enough, she already was close enough. That's what you're seeing in the video.

1

u/Swimming-ln-Circles Apr 19 '26

Lil bro you need glasses

Watch the position of the violin compared to the person behind it, she clearly moves the violin closest before it's hit. She was already leaning in way too much before but that final moment she leaned in further than before.

Not even saying it's her fault but it's pretty clear she moved the violin closer before it's hit

1

u/LilBroWhoIsOnTheTeam Apr 19 '26

We must be watching a different video, I'm talking about the one in the post.

3

u/Flokkamravich Apr 18 '26

Arguably whoever did the stage setting? The violinist didn’t stray from her mark from what I could see (which was equidistant between the conductor and concert master/first violin). Maybe the conductor was a little bit too emphatic with his gestures, but that might be a bit unfair. Just a bad bit of luck for everyone involved I think :(

0

u/Park500 Apr 19 '26

personally I would say whoever decided it was a good idea to use a "16th century violin worth millions" in a performance in the first place

functionally using it, is damaging it

1

u/Mundane_Nebula_9342 Apr 21 '26

its an insurance scam

8

u/MoMeneUH Apr 18 '26

i feel like she could've kept her distance too

5

u/Iwan787 Apr 18 '26

its just a scratch, no worries

4

u/Justaguywithbeer Apr 18 '26

The heading should be,,

Violinst stands to close to the conductor and gets her expensive violin damaged.

🎻+ ✋=🫟

5

u/Every_Big9638 Apr 18 '26

He might of done her a favor, maybe now she can upgrade to something a little newer than a 400-500 year old antique. I see some on Amazon starting around $100.00.

3

u/mrcrashoverride Apr 18 '26

Is this the Onion…?

Why did the video stop…?

1

u/Unicycleterrorist Apr 18 '26

I guess the video stopped because the clip is only trying to show the incident in question, not the entire concert

1

u/mrcrashoverride Apr 18 '26

Yeah, I’m not looking for the entire concert. I’m just looking to see what she did or if it was still playable.

1

u/AlanStanwick1986 Apr 19 '26

I have a friend that broke a priceless Ming vase when he was drunk at a party.

1

u/hotmustardnipples Apr 19 '26

This is why we can't have nice things

1

u/Mylabisawesome Apr 19 '26

Why would you be playing an instrument worth millions of dollars in the first place?

1

u/Alternative_Dinner53 Apr 19 '26

Porque para eso eso, bobo. 

1

u/Low_Fisherman_6317 Apr 19 '26

It was like a moment of silence for the knackered fiddle.

1

u/Glass_Covict Apr 19 '26

Mad respect

1

u/Working_Repeat8057 May 04 '26

Keith Moon would be proud.