A 1719 viola crafted by Antonio Stradivari has broken the world record for the most expensive stringed instrument ever sold.

Nicknamed the ‘MacDonald’ viola, the instrument was sold at auction by Tarisio to the Berlin-based non-profit organisation Stretton Society in late 2025. While the sale price has not been made public, the specialist string instrument auction house announced the record in a now-deleted Facebook post published last week.

The 1719 ‘MacDonald’ Stradivari viola. Photo © Tarisio

The instrument is one of 10 surviving violas (as opposed to around 650 violins and 63 cellos) crafted by the master Italian luthier, and one of two produced during his ‘Golden Period’ (around 1700–1725). It’s considered the finest and most well-preserved viola Stradivari made.

In 2014, it was put on the market by Sotheby’s and Ingles & Hayday for $45m USD, though it failed to sell.

The Stretton Society, a philanthropic network that aims to grant “exceptional artists access to exquisite instruments”, has loaned the instrument to Amihai Grosz, Principal Violist of the Berlin Philharmonic.

The ‘MacDonald’ derives its nickname from its previous owner, Godfrey Bosville (the third Baron MacDonald), and has also been owned by luthiers Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, John Betts and W.E. Hill & Sons

It was previously purchased for $81,000 by the Amadeus Quartet’s Peter Schidolf in 1964, who used it until his death in 1987. It has remained dormant since.

The record for the most expensive string instrument was broken last year by the sale of the ‘Baron Knoop’ Stradivari to an anonymous buyer for $23m USD ($31.9m AUD).

It was previously held by the 1741 ‘Viextemps’ violin, crafted by Giuseppe Guarneri (del Gesù) which sold in 2013, and before that, by Tarisio’s 2011 sale of the 1721 ‘Lady Blunt’ Stradivarius for a record $15.9 million USD.

The 1690 ‘Tuscan-Medici’ contralto viola crafted by Stradivarius was recently valued at $30m USD after its acquisition by the US Library of Congress last week.