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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Rupert Neate Wealth correspondent

Violin used for Wizard of Oz’s Over the Rainbow expected to reach $20m at auction

The cast of the 1939 musical, The Wizard of Oz
The cast of the 1939 musical, The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland. Photograph: World History Archive/Alamy

A Stradivarius violin “of outstanding power and beauty” used to play Over the Rainbow in The Wizard of Oz is expected to break records when it is put up for auction next week.

The 308-year-old violin, previously owned by Toscha Seidel, one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century, was created during Antonio Stradivari’s celebrated “golden period” and is expected to sell for more than $20m (£16m) when it goes under the hammer at specialist auction house Tarisio on 9 June, making it the most valuable violin ever sold at auction.

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