Ophélie Gaillard launches an appeal to find her precious cello, valued at 1.3 million euros, stolen from her home

The cellist had already been the victim of theft for the same instrument in 2018. Her cello had miraculously reappeared shortly after the attack.

Cellist Ophélie Gaillard had her cello and bows stolen from her home in Haute-Savoie on the night of Tuesday September 24 to Wednesday September 25. “It’s horror. It’s a disaster”the musician told franceinfo Culture, contacted by telephone.

“The thieves came at night between three and five in the morning while we were sleeping (…) The children are safe and sound, that’s the main thing,” she adds. “It has nothing to do with commercial value, for me it’s like someone robbed me of a limb“, continues Ophélie Gaillard, very moved.

His cello is “a Francesco Goffriller from 1737, loan from the CIC bank for almost 20 years, valued at 1.3 million euros”specifies a press release from the Aparté label of the Little Tribeca production house. The thieves also stole his two personal bows from Nicolas Maire and Jean-Marie Persoit.

“In addition to being odious, it is madness to steal this type of instrument. It is unsaleable. These rare instruments are identified and traced as works of art, and therefore easily identifiable”explains the cellist, who specifies that at this stage of the investigation, entrusted to the gendarmerie, it has not yet been possible to determine whether the theft was intentional. “I was also robbed of computer equipment and money”she specifies. His iPad was found, but no trace yet of the instrument.

The musician launched a call on the networks for help to find her instrument. “Help! Help!!!!!!” she has on her Instagram and Facebook accounts. “Please view the photos below and pass on the information as quickly and widely as possible”she implores.

“All my colleagues are aware of the seriousness of this theft. The musicians, the luthiers, everyone in the community has relayed well” welcomes the cellist, who also fears that “thieves are trying to get rid of them.”

This is not the cellist’s first misadventure. In 2018, his precious cello had already been stolen from him in the street in Pantin in the Paris region, at knifepoint.

Ophélie Gaillard had already launched an appeal on Facebook and this misadventure ended with a happy ending, since she had received an anonymous phone call telling her that her instrument was in a vehicle in front of her home. “It was miraculous,” remembers Ophélie Gaillard.