N.J. Symphony Orchestra to sell rare instruments

NEWARK, N.J. - The financially struggling New Jersey Symphony Orchestra is selling its prized collection of "Golden Age" string instruments, four years after acquiring it for $17 million from a benefactor who wound up in prison.

The orchestra had hoped the 30 violins, violas and cellos by such Italian makers as Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu would place it among the world's top orchestras.

But orchestra officials said the debt from the purchase had not been relieved by ticket sales or donations.

With demand for such instruments high, the orchestra expects to make a profit that would provide financial security, president and chief executive officer Andre Gremillet said in yesterday's Newark Star-Ledger.

"It was not an easy decision to make, but it is clear to me and the board that we have to . . . be responsible," said Gremillet, who joined the orchestra in January.

The orchestra paid $17 million for the instruments. At the time, philanthropist Herbert Axelrod said the instruments were worth $49 million. Experts questioned that valuation, and in December 2004 an internal orchestra panel found that for tax purposes, the instruments should be valued at the purchase price, not at $49 million.

The panel said the orchestra erred in taking Axelrod's word for the value and not seeking an independent appraisal.

Since then, Axelrod has served a 16-month federal sentence after pleading guilty in an unrelated tax-fraud case.