show that touches base with you folks. "strange inheritance." >> a world famed musician dies. >> his love. his heart. his voice. >> it's more than 300 years old and could be worth many millions. this strange inheritance is more than about money, it's about a father's legacy. >> it was clear to us that he did not want it to be hidden away. ♪ jamie: i'm jamie colby, and i'm

on cape cod massachusetts heading to the small town of wesley. i'm here to learn about a strange inheritance that shaped a family's life for half a century. >> my name is elena. in 2011, my sister and i inherited an extraordinary object from our father. >> this was my father's home for many years. he and my mother built it in 1955. >> elena's father was bernard greenhouse who died at the age of 95 in 2011. greenhouse spent most of his career playing with with this group. which capitulated to fame. >> he was very warm and very charming. but very involved with

his work. and he traveled all the time as he became more and more successful. >> as one of the world's premiere cellists. he figured he should be playing one of the world's finest cellos. he began to search for an instrument equal to his talent. >> he went to dealers and instrument shops. wherever he went, he said, have you heard any rumors about great cellos? jamie: in 1957 he found one in the west german city of a/k/a n. your father came home with something he longed for, searched for? >> i was very young. but i knew he found something very important. (?) jamie: very important indeed. it was a stradivarius. crafted in italy around 1707 by the master of them all: antonio stradivarius. it even has its own

title. the countess. sound expensive? it was. >> it was a huge sum of money for us, for our family. and it made a huge difference in our lives to pay it off over many years. jamie: dealers estimate he paid around $100,000. an astronomical sum in the 19 50s when the average house sold for 18,000. for greenhouse, the instrument became a part of him. >> he called it his love. his treasure. his heart. his voice. every superlative. (?) jamie: at the height of his career greenhouse performed nearly 200 times per year. >> i always wanted to hop in the cello case and travel with my father. jamie: when greenhouse wasn't in concert, he taught at the manhattan school of music and

here at home in his cape cod studio. this is where elena played the cello as a child. >> you sometime put your name in his appointment book to try to get time with him in lieu of a lesson erasing the student that wasn't coming. >> i did that to get an hour of his time. not a cello lesson. jamie: did you ever play the stradivarius? >> no. never. jamie: why? >> i never played well enough to play the stradivarius. jamie: by whose opinion? >> i guess by my father's. but i never wanted to. jamie: can i hear him play? >> i would love it. ♪ having the music is wonderful. hard but wonderful. ♪ isn't it beautiful?

haunting. jamie: wow. what's the first thing you do when you have to decide whether to keep or sell the family jewel? >> i think the first question you ask yourself is, do you have any use for it or love for the family jewel? and i think a big part of it also is, can you afford to keep the family jewel? jamie: the financial implications of this strange inheritance worries elena and her husband who are both nearing retirement. >> insurance. storage. and coming up, of course with the taxes that the government wants. jamie: did you hear from them? >> no, they said let them keep the inheritance. we have so many other people. yes, of course. jamie: does that weigh into whether you have to sell

something. whether you have to pay taxes? >> absolutely. jamie: what should they do? they decided it's too expensive to keep the stradivarius. they're keenly aware that a successful auction could yield millions. quite a nice nest egg in retirement. but selling a 300-year-old stradivarius is no easy undertaking. >> it's a cutthroat world in the world of musical instruments. we understood all kinds of things that could go wrong. >> first our "strange inheritance" quiz question. what percentage of an inheritance does the federal government currently tax? 30%, 40% or 50%? the answer,

>> so what percentage of an inheritance does the federal government currently tax? the answer is b. 40%. after the first $5.3 million are deducted. jamie: when master cellist bernard dies at 85. his heirs face a quandary. what to do with his beloved stradivarius worth millions of dollars. >> my father, in his will left the cello to me and to my sister. he left no instructions.

he was unable to confront the sale of the cello. and he preferred to let us figure it out so that he could have it to the very last day of his life. jamie: i'm in boston to understand how elena and her family deal with their strange inheritance. elena does her homework and sells the strad through chris rooney. he's a cellist, someone who makes and repairs stringed instruments. >> how do you decide what bernard's stradivarius is worth? >> well, i think the first thing you have to evaluate, the quality. it helps to know what the market history has been. in the case of this cello, we did know what other stradivarius cellos had sold for.

and we could compare the quality of this one to those. jamie: back in 2002, a similar cello sold for $5 million. but over the past several years collectors have driven the price of rare instruments way up. each one has its own history. a unique story in whether it fetches a six, seven, or eight figure price at auction. nobody knows this cello's story better than elena's husband. nicholas. a novelist by trade. nicholas wrote an entire book about the instrument. it's the countess. it explains the pain staking restoration back in the 1990s. >> the wear-and-tear of such instruments is high. aside from the physical stress there's change in climate. change in temperature. change in humidity.

at a certain point the cello was almost as weary as he. >> nicholas' book describes a harrowing process. the cello sat in pieces for months while some of its wood was patched. >> bernie got more and more restless and more and more ready to have his heart's darling returned. he said then i will never let it go again. and he never did. >> but he did play the strad for another decade. in the last years of his life, bernard became so attached to the cello that he slept with it. every serious bidder will demand that the countess has no significant flaws. >> in this case, we did a ct scan of the cello. jamie: like a doctor does? >> yes. jamie: is that unusual. >> we don't do it very often, but there were questions if there was a crack. >> chris rooney called

me one day here in the shop and said, john, i have this cello that i need ct scanned right away. >> chris flies to a hospital in minnesota where experts are ready to diagnosis the patient. the worry vast sums could be wiped from this sale if the countess has cracks or wormholes made inside the cello by tiny larva. >> would that equate to thousands of dollars? hundreds of thousands of dollars? >> another quiz question. in 2013, a picasso painting sold. what's the record for a stradivarius? the answer in a moment.

>> so what's the highest price ever paid for a stradivarius instrument? the answer is b. $15.9 million for the lady blood violin sold in london in 2011. jamie: in the fall of 2011, the heirs of bernard greenhouse anxiously await the ct scan on the stradivarius. millions of dollars are at stake. radiologist steven performed a scan just like this one. >> the diseases that affect an old cello is caused by two things. one is cracks. the other abnormality is wormholes. channeled through wood until sometimes there's hardly any original wood left.

jamie: what exactly is happening as it goes through? >> the ct scanner produces x-rays which are high-energy beams in very thin sheets. jamie: this is the actual ct scan of the stradivarius. chris shares with me his bottom line. >> this cello has been in constant use. it's been cared for beautifully. it's always been a player's instrument. but there are cracks. jamie: whatever tiny cracks there might be, they don't affect the cello's unique sound. chris is able to set the official opening bid for bernard's stradivarius cello at $6.2 million. there's just one hitch: the delbankos might not accept the highest build if it's just from a rich investor who wants to

lock it into a vault. >> the cello is only half itself if unheard. it had been his express desire and conviction that it be played. jamie: and you made a decision that the strad was better in the hands of someone who could play it than on the shelf of someone who could pay for it? >> potentially pay more for it. we didn't want it on a shelf. >> they're able to look at all the factors. choose one of the bids. >> chris agrees on the conditions. it's not every day you get to sell a 300-year-old stradivarius. off he goes with the countess on a world-marketing tour. >> all the cellos that i showed it to were completely shocked about the sound. all of them said it was the best cello they had ever played. jamie: i had to wonder, is the

sound of a strad really so divine? they blindfolded musicians having them play violins. most said they preferred the sound of modern instruments. i asked mche mikal to play two cellos for me. not telling me which is which. can you play each one to see if someone who do not know as much as you can tell the difference. you listen. what do you think? jamie: that was spectacular. to me, that sounds as good as it gets. beautiful. >> try this one.

♪ jamie: i have to say that the sound sounded to me richer. deeper -- >> you have a good ear. jamie: really? >> this is a good quality modern cello. couple years ago. this is mikal's cello. what year? >> 1780. jamie: if i were a student of yours, could you teach me to play one note? >> sure. chris, would you let me? >> i suppose. i sense hesitation. >> no. i trust you. am i hurting the value of this cello? >> yes. i'm sorry. i better stop. returning to the tale of the countess of stain

line, it is not long before the bids start coming in. in boston, chris sits down with the delbankos to pick a buyer. >> what was the emotion in the room when you opened the first big for elena to look at. >> you know, there wasn't a dry eye in the room. this cello was so much apart of her life and signifies her relationship to her father. >> saying goodbye to the countess was more painfulpainful than i expected it to be. (?) we sat down in a little seating group in hisut the cello as the seating group and i began to feel more and more upset. and we just closed the case. and i've never seen it again. jamie: in the end the greenhouse heirs accept a bid. it comes not from a

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jamie: eight months after virtuoso cellist greenhouse dies his heirs accept a secret bid on their stradivarius cello. the price: all the auctioneer will say is that it's significantly higher than the $6.2 million opening bid. jamie: what's significantly higher than 6.2 million? >> the reason i'm not disclosing the price is out of respect to the buyer. a fair bid is 15 to 20% higher. is it between 15% and 50%? >> good try. [laughter] >> okay. so i tried. and the delbankos are

keeping it a secret as well. were they able to honor the countess' wish. the buyer as it turns out, is a canadian billionaire. she decides to permanently loan the countess to a 20-year-old virtuoso named stefan petro. >> i've known about bernard greenhouse for years. he's a huge figure in music history to have the chance to even touch his cello was just an honor. ♪ after the auction the delbankos never intended to see the countess again. >> welcome. jamie: but then we offered them the chance to meet stefan for the first time at the carriage house near boston.

♪ as i listen, i can't help, but think that if stefan performs as long as greenhouse did, the countess of stainlein will be heard for many decades to come. >> that was lovely. so good to hear you play. >> what a pleasure to meet both of you. really. >> really. that was very beautiful. >> i was quite nervous actually. >> what a great pleasure. >> pleasure. >> there she is. jamie: so in this tale of music and money the delbankos seem satisfied that they have found a way to split the difference. >> more money might have

made a difference in your life. how do you walk away from that? >> there's never enough, if you think in those terms. an extra million or six would hardly have mattered. >> i think it was a very special strad and i think we're really happy with the outcome. jamie: before we go, i want to share this last thought. years ago, back in the old days, bernard greenhouse and the trio could count on a break for the airlines when they had to fly the cello allowing them to buy a child seat -- after seeing the name cello on the ticket and said mr. greenhouse, how old is your son cello, to which bernard laughed, winked and responded, 250 years old. i'm jamie colby. thank you so much for joining us on "strange inheritance." don't forget, you can't take it with you.

do you have a "strange inheritance" story you'd like to share with us? we'd love to hear it. send me an email or go to our website go to strangeinheritance.com. >> you watch strange inheritance and now let's unpack it. >> i am melissa francis. fans are doing to know more of the story. two sisters inherit the father's prize possession. the 300-year-old stradivariuous cello. we'll start with my favorite scene. >> you sometimes put your name in the appointment book to try to get time in lieu of a lesson. and erasing the student that was coming. >> i didn't do that to get a cello lesson. i did it to get an hour of his

time. >> did you play it? >> never. >> why? >> i never played well enough to play the strad. >> by whose opinion? >> i guess by my father. i never wanted to. >> that got me. it is tough not to feel for her. what did you think about it. lauren green and paul, and robby. let me start with you. there is so much emotion, but i, i actually thought this woman came off as so healthy and think how clever she was to put her name in the book to have time with her dad. that was resourceful. and she doesn't seem to feel bitter. she really was together when she had to childhood memory and sharing it like breathing. that was her reality and what went on in the home. >> there doesn't seem to be animosity. and it was clever to put her

name in the the book. i want time with you, dad. >> and she had so many years to work through that. >> that is the therapist. >> a child having to compete with the inan mate other are object is horrible. >> by whose standards are you not good enough. >> i didn't want anyway. >> that was i never good enough to play for it. >> it was a jealousy. i think perhaps the cello was the other woman. >> it sounds like it was an extension of his voice and everything that he was all about. and for some reason his daughter didn't have a need to be a part of that. >> she didn't have a need or did she feel excluded. >> maybe both. >> you have this cello as a kid and taking it out to get ice

cream and she is jealous and erasing other people's name to spend an hour with her dad. >> it was a different time. he was a disengaged guy. but it was a different time and fathers were not involved in that way. and it was expected that fourth're fathers go to work and not around as often. she talked about him traveling and she wanted to jump in the key ands go with him where he was going. wow. >> and does that point to a father that was loving. >> he had to be loving to play the way he played and a sense of emotion and she wanted to go with him she understood. and must have had a love relationship. >> and she had respect and indicated a longing that she wanted to be close to him and desired by him. >> she wanted to be the cello. >> absolutely. >> i want to it be that cello.

worth millions. >> and watch our first bonus clip about bernie greenhouse almost losing his strad. >> it was a terrible night. he had played in the festival in yugoslavia and we came back to the hotel and he was helping a singer out of the car and the car then was empty and the taxi driver took off. and the strad was in the trunk. >> what did he say? >> it took a second to realize what happened. and then of course, everyone flew in a panic and the concierge tracked down the taxi driver and took him a while to do. it the taxi driver was asleep. and he said no i am not getting out of bed and i will bring it back be in the morning and my father paced the lobby the entire night and at 5:00 in the morning the soviet's invaded

checslovakian and we were told to leave and we didn't have the strad. and we were not going anywhere. and at that time they prevailed on the taxi driver to bring it back. everyone was waiting in the bus and the bus took off from the airport. >> if that was not a movie i would not believe it. >> i hope they gave him a good tip. didn't that happen to it another leaving his instrument in the taxi. >> and how, when you are an artist you can be absentminded! and it doesn't mean you remember every single detail. >> i think it is sort of a person and you think it will follow you out of the dor. >> and you can tell who they were talking two hours ago and why aren't you coming out. >> we have more to unpack and including the experts that tell

us if the fancy cello is worth the money or just stringing you a long. and we'll put our peanut gallery to the test. don't go away. >> all of the cellist i showed it to was completely shocked about the sound. and it was the best cello they hadddddd eh, you don't want that one. yea, actually i do. it's mucinex fast-max night time and it's got a nasal decongestant. is that really a thing? it sounds made up. mucinex fast max night time for multi-symptom relief. breathe easy. sleep easy. let's end this.

>> a novelist by trade.

debanco wrote a book about the instrument. it describes the painstaking restoration his father-in-law commissioned for the countness. >> the wear and tear is high aside from all of the physical stress. there is change in climate and temperature and humidity. and at the certain point the cello was almost as weary as he. >> welcome fwook strange inheritance. you saw the story of two daughters and their father's most prize possession. a 300-year-old. >> he bought it for hundred grand but solid -- sold it for millions. >> here is the maker of strings

and co-authored the true sound of the stradivari cellos. >> under blind conditions when players don't know. they pick the violins they like best and sometimes they are old strads and sometimes they like the new. and so the best violins made today are comprabl to the best violins. >> i about that. one of the things you have to understand. a three-year-old stradivariuous violin was playing music throw hundred years old. >> what do you think of that? >> one of the things that people are not aware of except musicians, the overwhelming majority of the strads are modified. they look the same

superficially. they have been worked on. bridges and check and finger board and heavily repaired. and i don't think stradivari would recognize the sound of the instrument. >> why are they worth so much money if they are repaired and changed so much. why is it worth it? >> it is worth it they are the best sounding instruments. >> this is like a mind trick to me. because it said stradivari it is so great. is it a mind trick. >> no no >> it is brain washing. >> stradivari. >> and i wonder too it. it is the story behind the art and i wonder if it is similar like who own today and played it. >> one of my favorite moments from the show is when they gave the cello the cat scan. i have a question for you.

>> what information can you get from the cat scan and someone body in buying the cello that you can't get otherwise? >> we can get a lot of information about the a natome of the cello and what makes it unique and what is different from this cello from other cello. and condition of the cello. it is a very old cello, it will have had repairs and woo can see all of those repairs. >> can you produce your own stradivari by getting your information. >> yes. >> you can build a stradivari. >> we can build something close. >> have you? >> yes. >> really? >> could you pass it off atz the real thing in >> that's more difficult. >> i saw you nodding your head when they talked about the fact, couldn't you get the same wood and had the cat scan.

why cannot you replicate it? can you? >> yes, so the you know, there is a myth that stradivariuous are not as good as they are. that is a fact. these are the world's greatest sounding instruments. the real myth a lot of people think that it can't be replicated and unique. >> thank you so much for indulging our questions, and we really appreciate. it >> and coming up i will hand out blind folds for a supreme test after the break. and our quiz question. these stradivari cellos are pricey. and pianos can hit a high note in auction. which one of these famous pianos solid for the most money. the piano from the movie kasa

blancan or john lennon used to write imagine. or c elvis presley's piano. we'll have that coming up after the break.

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more. >> welcome back to strange inheritance unpacked. we'll get to the quiz. which of these famous pianos solid the most. was it a, the piano from film kasa blncan or b john lennon used to write song imagine or c elvis presley. >> i will go with b. >> i was going to it say b. john lennon and everything that

the beatles do sell through the roof. >> yeah. elvis presley is the king and he died on the toilet. >> you are all wrong. the answer was a. the piano featured in the film where ingrid bergman said play it sam, the time goes by. >> it is solid throe and half will. >> i don't think it is a full 88 feet. >> and countness cello solid for more than 6 million. can audiences hear the difference between that and the discount version. our test here with jeffrey. he doesn't have a strad with

him. his cello is 2 million and more than 300 years old and he has a brand new $5,000 cello and he will play bofth them. >> can you tell us about each instrument? >> my cello is made in ve nice. and it doesn't have the original label. but around 1700. >> disregard what your hair locks like and put the blind folds on and get started. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ i think lauren thinks she knows already. >> ♪ ♪ ♪ >> okay. that was two. can i say something now? >> yes. >> go ahead. i think we can take our blindfolds off. >> well, it doesn't really matter. >> we don't know either way. those are clones. >> i will say, i think he likes cello two better. >> interesting. >> wow. >> only because i think he played it little bit different

and maybe because the cello is a little -- i think he likes it better. whether or not it's the most expensive one i don't know. i would say that the second one is probably it but i think he played it better. >> okay. what do you think? >> i thought the second one just -- i don't really know anything about music because the range seemed more intense in both the high notes and the low notes. it seemed richer to me. >> yeah. you pick two as well? >> i pick two. i know it's going to look like i copied him, but -- >> you got too attached on the emotional side. i pick both. through and through. >> you can't do that. >> he's a great musician so plays both beautifully. >> that's cheating. >> no i believe in his talent and not the instrument. >> i actually thought it was two as well. i thought that was the more expensive one. we'll see. >> you're all right. cello number two was my cello. the mateo cello. cello number one is a really brand new cello. that was made in germany. and i have on loan from a dealer

in philadelphia. david mitchie. >> okay. >> i think i'm the second person to ever play this cello, like it's really brand new. >> i know nothing about music and the second one definitely you can tell the difference. sounded more beautiful. jeffrey, will you play for us as i read the tooezease out to break? i need background music. let us have it. we're going to be right back. please, give it to me. with the final outtake from the show. a moving story about one of the last times bernie played it or so he thought. play us out to break. ♪ woman: for soft beautiful feet i have a professional secret: amopé and its premium foot care line. the new amopé pedi perfect foot file gives you soft beautiful feet effortlessly. its microlumina rotating head buffs away hard skin even on those hard-to-reach spots. it's amazing. you can see it and feel it.

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i've known about bernard greenhouse for years. he's a huge figure in music history. to have the chance to etchven touch his cello was just an honor. ♪ >> that was lovely. so good to hear you play. >> what a pleasure to meet both of you. >> and you. >> really. >> really. that was very beautiful. >> we're back to "unpacked." here's one more thing you didn't see on the show, a story about bernard greenhouse's 95th birthday. >> all of a sudden he said, i think i'd like to play, so the

stratevarius was downstairs in the safe because we didn't want 70 people walking around it. we realized it would take a very long time to go down and get it out and here was a cello sitting on the table, by the piano, that was his practice cello. and so we just handed him the cello. thinking that he would think, he would know and he played. he played very beautifully. in his bathrobe. it was very touching and everybody was weeping. and then he pushed the cello away and he said this instrument has been my soul and my life's companion. look at how beautiful it is. and he was legally blind at that point. >> oh my. >> and we all felt -- not all of us because it was only me and nick and my sister who knew, but he wasn't holding the strav and hasn't played the strav and we

felt terrible. we didn't want to say at that point, oh, that's not the strav and we thought nobody else would care or know but it really meant something to see that he hadn't recognized his own beloved stratavarius at that moment. >> see, it's just an instrument. >> it wasn't the instrument. >> interesting. >> wow. i mean please analyze that one for us. >> well, it sounds like he was talking about his emotional attachment to the cello. it just wasn't what he was holding for some reason. so he was talking about something that was very true for him, but it wasn't attached or connected to the actual physical object. which is interesting. given that it sold for so much. right? >> wow. that's very interesting. >> is that unhealthy? >> the difference is because as a pianist, you play whatever instrument is there. you never get attached to a specific instrument. so i don't have the same emotional attachment to this particular piano or particular instrument. i really don't.

but i -- hoping that he might have been talking about the instrument in general terms in the cello in general terms. >> i don't think so. >> i would hope. i would hope. >> all right. it's time to pack it in. we've got some final thoughts. so if it were you and you were put up to this task, would you take less money to put the instrument in the hands of someone who's going to play it and honor his wishes? or would you get the most money that you could? i mean in the end, though he didn't know it wasn't his cello anymore. what do you think? what would you do? >> i would want the instrument to be played because that's what they're supposed to be played. that's what's supposed to happen with an instrument. what's the difference? we're talking about $6 million or $7 million. i could take the $6 million and -- >> that's where you and i differ. >> so much money. >> i would hope that i would handle it the way these daughters did because they did the right thing. having said that if a big enough number was sent my way i don't know. >> if i was those kids, i'd give the cello away to somebody

who -- to a musician who deserved it, who was talented so he wouldn't have to put the burden ofical cello for a lot of money on his family. give it to that person. >> the only problem with that we learned in the episode is they had to pay the taxes. on the inheritance. at the end of the day it comes back to the money. they had to pay the tax on the millions of dollars so they had no choice. wow. what a story. i'm exhausted. what an episode. that was fantastic. thank you. that's all we have time for. we're going to see you next time with more "strange inheritance: unpacked." wow. ♪

on december 24 2002, shortly after 5:15 p.m. i received a phone call and heard the devastating words that forever changed my life, lacy's missing. i knew in my heart that something terrible happen to my daughter and grandson. my world collapsed around me. >> of the more than 16000 homicides in 2002 none captivates the nation like the outrageous murder of sharon