Entrepreneurs: Meet the violin broker to billionaires on a mission to recreate a lost world of music patronage

As the Zoom launches I feel a flutter of excitement. From the boredom of lockdown, the thought that I am entering the extravagant world most recently depicted in Tenet, where Elizabeth Debicki stars in the long-awaited Christopher Nolan film as a stunning art dealer who sells to billionaires, is tantalising.

I am meeting with violin dealer who operates in a sphere most Londoners are not aware exists.

Roman Goronok describes himself as a matchmaker. He is behind a unique boutique investment firm specialising in connecting the 1% with antique string instruments worth millions. 

The most expensive violin he brokered was made by 18th century luthier Guarneri del Gesu and sold for £15 million. The expert estimates it is worth £20 million today.

But after half an hour together, I realise the value of the instruments he brokers is not the most interesting thing about Goronok's venture.

Born in Russia, the businessman is a former professional violinist who found himself unable to play after a motorbike accident in his early 20s. 

This forced him to change his life, but Goronok still describes playing a fine violin as "the deepest form of meditation that I know".

Music is his life's passion, and his mission is not just to broker deals to the highest bidder, but to help form relationships between wealthy individuals and renowned classical musicians.

He wants to find the "Medici of our age" - to find a sponsor who will purchase a great master’s violin and lend it to a renowned musician, allowing the talent to make sing.

The Medici, an Italian banking dynasty, famously sponsored artists and scientists from da Vinci to Galileo, and funded the efforts behind the invention of opera.

In his new book, Portfolio of Instruments, Goronok writes: "These rarified, finite, and remarkable stringed instruments are as valuable as da Vinci or Rembrandt paintings in how they inform us about who we are and where we come from.

"They are works of art in every possible regard, and without them classical music as we know it would not exist."

The entrepreneur says he specialises in "quietly" putting these instruments "in the hands of kindred spirits who understand both the importance of preserving these beautiful, historic objects, and their undeniable high performing investment qualities".

If you need to jump on a plane and leave a country immediately, a violin will fit nearly in your hand luggage, Goronok adds, smiling.

Now 42 and based in Surrey, the entrepreneur usually spends time travelling the world finding, identifying and confirming the provenance of rare instruments before attempting to broker the ideal patronage partnership.

The broker, who is currently working with Stradivarius made in 1715, says it is not too difficult to discern a fake due to carbon dating and other measures.     

The Stradivarius is arguably the most famous antique violin in the world. There were only ever around 900 made by Antonio Stradivari and his workshop in the 17th and early 18th centuries. With more than a third lost over time and with around another third in museums around the globe, that leaves only around 300 left to purchase for private collections.  

I was curious as to why Goronok’s wealthy clients choose to invest in these rare violins over any other asset.