Watch the heart-stopping moment when Pavel Šporcl’s signature blue violin drops from his hands during a concert
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Czech violinist Pavel Šporcl was recently performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Mlada Boleslav Chamber Orchestra and Marko Ivanovic for the orchestra’s 60th anniversary. Between the first and second movements of the concerto however, the tip of the conductor’s baton sent Šporcl’s violin out of his hands.
The violin crashed to the floor in front of the first desk of the violins. Fortunately, as Šporcl managed to deflect part of the fall with his leg, the violin was fine and the performance continued.
Šporcl plays on a violin by Czech maker Jan Špidlen, which Šporcl commissioned blue on account of his blue eyes. The instrument has undergone various processes to improve its sound and stability, including a body with short corners and narrower and thinner ribs, plus an adjustable titanium screw inside the nose of the neck as insurance against malformation caused by environmental changes.
Did these innovations help save the violin from further damage? ’Only sheer luck and my lightning quick reactions prevented situation which could have resulted in a huge tragedy,’ wrote Šporcl on social media. ’All it took was a tenth of a second plus the tip of the conductor’s baton, and all that would be left of my precious blue violin was splinters.’
He continues: ’Fortunately, in this case, nothing major happened that would make it impossible to continue the concert and my career. Except for the heart attack I almost got from it.’
Read: Pavel Šporcl: The man with the blue violin
Watch: Violinist Stefan Jackiw’s bow breaks mid-performance
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