Recently I have been asked to do an investigation on a person called,Edgar Patenio. We realized that the violins he sells are often 3 times higher than if you bought it direct from the maker or dealer. But since you believe his stories, of course you are willing to pay the price. Some of his instruments are even bought from ebay and sold at almost 3 times the product cost and shipping. It did not take us long to find out that he is a fake. Here are some facts to name a few. He never worked for Pirastro as a product consultant. He tells everybody that he owns a Guarneri del Gesu as a First Violin. All of you out there who were victimized by this guy, WAKE UP!!!
He does not speak a word of German, that is your first clue. Working for Pirastro means being required to have a working knowledge of German and pass a difficult exam. You may be exempted if you are an Engineer or Scientists. Second, we wrote Pirastro Office at Offenbach am Main to reconfirm whether he really was onced connected with them. They never heard of this guy before. If only you all know that some of these so called Antonio Marino violins are not made by Antonio Marino himself, if you make your own research.
He also claimed to have repaired and uptuned instruments as precious as the STRADIVARIUS (an original :O) There was no need for us to write Sothebys to know it was a lie. Imagine an original Stradivari Violin being entrusted to a Filipino who has no qualifications whatsoever in instrument making, repair or even advanced violin playing. If you do not believe me, write or contact Sotheby's yourselves.
I have a long list of proofs that he is a pathological liar who preys on innnocent musicians who are too trusting. He is willing to lie about anything just to get your money. He indeed is an excellent salesman. But does he have to slander Tamayo just to sell his violins? These violins that he sells, one can find for one fourth the price at some Workshops in SHANGHAI, CHINA.
Oh my gosh! Can't imagine there are people like that. How does he look like? I once had the chance to get a violin from a dealer who also said that he is a consultant of a string company in germany. Good thing my teacher discourage me to buy from him.I just hope its not him. He seems like a good guy. He even helped a school buy instruments from abroad. i think they spent 120,000.00 per instrument as compared to 150,000 worth.
It seems we are talking about the same person. Not too many people claim to be consultants of Pirastro. I also heard that he is selling violins for 120,000 or more to a Music College in Manila but I don't know much about this.
You would be amazed on what Sotheby's wrote. The Department Head in Sotheby's Londong clearly stated they do not know him categorically and they are reviewing the claims at their Legal Department. I will forward you the email if you like. I don't know if it's appropriate to publish the letter publicly. If this guy has any decency he should stop fooling more musicians who worked hard for their money.
Always be careful when buying instruments more than 100k in the Philippines, especially those who say that they have been commissioned by a Sotheby's to repair an original Strad or have been given a Guarnerius as a gift by the relative of Queen Sofia, even if you did not ask them. Very few people on earth have this privilege. Remember as the saying goes, "shallow waters make too much noise."
HERE IS AN EMAIL BY MR. PAUL HAYDAY OF SOTHEBY'S LONDON
Mr. Hayday is a SPECIALIST in Musical Instruments from Sotheby's London. I asked permission to post this email for public viewing. Me too was fooled by this person. Good thing my friend from PPO discouraged me from buying from him
Dear Xxxxx,
Many thanks for your email. I can say categorically that I do not know Edgar Patenio and he is certainly not part of Sotheby’s Musical Instrument operation.
I have passed this onto our Legal Dept to for their view on the matter.
FOR ALL THOSE WHO WERE FOOLED BY THIS "EGAY", HERE IS A LETTER FROM PIRASTRO CONFIRMING HE IS NOT A CONSULTANT. SO THINK RATIONALLY BEFORE BELIEVING HIS STORIES. GOOD LUCK!
Dear Ms. Rayar,
Thank you for your e-mail.
We have checked our files, but could not find any information regarding
"Edgardo Patenio".
In any way please also be informed, that we are not co-operating with
"PIRASTRO PRODUCT CONSULTANTS".
Would you please kindly provide us with further details, with your
address, which country you are from, and where Mr. Patentio is having
this statement (web-site, or copy of advertisement, etc.).
We are looking forward to receiving your response.
I have been visiting places for instruments especially violin family. In all countries, that sells strings, they have what is known as Legitimate importer, this are the people who bought directly to manufacturers like Dominant, Pirastro, Larsen, etc.. Most of the time, the people can do this has many money to do so knowing that importing is of high cost, and yet coz they lacks that knowledge about the strings they bought, they JUST want to Earn like anybody else. So whhat they do is hire Posse or people with knowledge in the field. This Posse are associated as consultant. They may not be dirctly known to the Manufacturer/s but only to the importer who hires and pays them. Some are more than two per importer. This maybe the case of the person stated here. Pirastro may not acknowledge him but it is possible that an importer hires him to do so. It seems that a miniature details can make a filipino like you angry. Pity. Pity. Open minds is best.
I have been visiting places for instruments especially violin family. In all countries, that sells strings, they have what is known as Legitimate importer, this are the people who bought directly to manufacturers like Dominant, Pirastro, Larsen, etc.. Most of the time, the people can do this has many money to do so knowing that importing is of high cost, and yet coz they lacks that knowledge about the strings they bought, they JUST want to Earn like anybody else. So whhat they do is hire Posse or people with knowledge in the field. This Posse are associated as consultant. They may not be dirctly known to the Manufacturer/s but only to the importer who hires and pays them. Some are more than two per importer. This maybe the case of the person stated here. Pirastro may not acknowledge him but it is possible that an importer hires him to do so. It seems that a miniature details can make a filipino like you angry. Pity. Pity. Open minds is best.
First at least two of the people who wrote here are not Filipinos and that includes me. And for all we know you might just be one of the friends of this Edgar Patenio, or who knows you could be him, since he has multiple accounts on 8notes. Well, that is Pirastro's and Sotheby's words against yours. Stop making excuses and stop beating around the bush to make his claims sound legitimate! Edgar Patenio already confessed he is not a Pirastro Consultant. Our Filipino friend has the concrete evidence of this confession.
By the way, fooling people is not a "LITTE DETAIL" as you put it. Telling everybody that he repairs violins commissioned by Sotheby's is not a "little detail". This man fooled so many people including a few of my friends, and even Sta. Isabel College of Music. This thing with Pirastro is just the tip of the iceberg. Sotheby's legal department is determined to file a case against this Patenio if we gather more evidence that he is again using their name for his scam. Sotheby's mean business by the way. So if you are his friend, you better warn him.
It seems that this blog is heating up. I think that forums like this are meant to help people, not destroy them, at the same time, yourself. It's hurting me that musicians or people who are interested in music are attacking one of their own. The way I see it, you have issues with this person. Why don't you try ironing things out with him? Have you met him? Have you seen the instruments/strings that he is selling and even those he owns? Did you purchase anything from him? Did he try selling you anything? Credibility is a sensitive issue. In forums like this, there are always two sides, yours and the person you're writing about. I can see that he is not responding to your blogs, therefore there is only one side of the story that is seen. What makes you more credible than him? As an outsider, I try to look at both sides, not just one.
Let me share some of the things I know as being a musician. You mentioned a name that is quite popular among string players - Tamayo (Mr. Amador Tamayo). I searched his name in google and found out that one of the best violinists in our country uses the violin he made, the soloist/master type. And without a doubt it is a good violin (based on feedback by other people). I also found out that he was assigned to make the stringed instruments of the defunct San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra. He was able to finish most of the instruments (too bad they weren't given to the musicians, now no one's using them). I am quite certain that he alone cannot finish all of those instruments in a span of 3 yrs at least? I know that a master violin takes at least 1 yr to make. He has his people to help him make the instruments, and it is still under his name. I think it is the same as with Mr. Marino Antonio. He cannot mass produce his violins alone, and probably has a lot of people helping him. Also, with technology taking a fast pace, machines can be used to help in making instruments (e.g. a machine can cut wood according to a certain pattern). Therefore, one cannot say Mr. Tamayo and Mr. Marino are not the makers of their instruments, because even if there are other people helping them, they are the ones supervising them the whole time. I am sure that they themselves cannot allow imperfection in their own instruments, they are protecting their image and must stand up to the standards of the musicians around them.
I have noticed something on this blog, having an eye for details. As I understand, it is FRANZ_STRUM who wrote the first entry, and there are 4 other users who responded. Except for JAZZ_JAZZ, are you by any chance a friend of the other 3 respondents? ARCHIMEDES and ANGELA_MONIQUE sounds like you (emotions suggested in written form), FRANZ_STRUM, and how can they get a hold of the email sent to you by Pirastro and Sotheby's? About posting publicly their reply to you, I do not think it is proper to do so, especially when you said they are trying to take things into their own hands. I hope you'll stop saying negative things about other people. JAZZ_JAZZ is just sharing his/her knowledge on this particular matter, and believe it or not, he/she makes sense if you really try to think about it and do your own research, as I have done mine in some of the issues being discussed here.
I hope everyone who viewed and is reading this blog is and will be responsible enough to know what to do. There are always two sides of the story. What is our responsibility? KNOW BOTH SIDES. As for me, I'll be doing more research on this subject matter. Peace to all the musicians and aspiring musicians in the world! :-)
searching...
