When Jaroslav Svěcený was 5 years old, his grandfather took him to the workshop of violin makers Karel and Vladimír Pilař in Hradec Králové, where he fell in love. The sensations of being around master craftsmen at work were intoxicating.

"The smell of the varnish was like perfume," Svěcený recalls. "For a 5-year-old, it was fantastic."

It was an experience that propelled Svěcený into a career as one of the premier violin players in the Czech Republic, and more. Violins have become a lifelong passion and pursuit — and the subject of a series of CDs by him showcasing some of the finest vintage instruments in Europe. In particular, Svěcený has sought out violins made by Czech craftsmen, the best of which he says measure up to anything done in Italy, Germany and Austria.

"As I was traveling other countries and talking to musicians and violin makers, I found that nobody knows Czech violins," he says. "It's not a question of quality — it's a question of PR. So I decided to do a recording project about Czech violins and their history."

The fifth and latest in what will ultimately be a series of six CDs has just been released. Famous European Violins features six violins, four made by Czechs. Even to the untrained ear, the differences are audible. There's the high, sweet tone of a 1798 model by Johann Michael Willer on a Vivaldi concerto and the rich, liquid sound of a 1963 Pilař model on a concerto by Tartini.

Svěcený's favorites on this disc are a 1907 model made by Giuseppe Fiorini, who worked in Bologna and Munich, and a 1797 model made by Kašpar Strnad in Prague. The Strnad model has a particularly warm, distinctive sound, paired nicely on a Bach concerto with a 1993 Riccardo Bergonzi model played by a friend of Svěcený's, violinist Dana Vlachová.

Strnad was a seminal figure in Czech violin-making, working in Prague in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. According to liner notes compiled by Svěcený, he started his career like many of his contemporaries, imitating German models. "Strnad was probably the first Czech violin-maker to realize that the Italian designs with lower domes offered better tone options," Svěcený writes. "He was later called the 'Czech Stradivari' because his best instruments equaled the qualities of the Italian masters."

Past masters

Other Czech craftsmen whose instruments appear on the discs include

* Jan Oldřich Eberle (1699–1768). Considered one of the leading violin-makers of his time, Eberle constantly experimented with the shapes and curvature of his instruments, modeling some late in his career on the flat-surfaced models favored by Stradivari. His workshop was at Nerudova 12 in Malá Strana, where the insignia of crossed violins is still visible above the door.

*František Špidlen (1867–1916). The first in what has become a preeminent violin-making family; still active in the business in Prague are his son Otakar, grandson Přemysl and great-grandson Jan. František Špidlen went to work in Kiev in 1892, and after winning a position as violin-maker at Moscow's Imperial Conservatory, he became one of the elite craftsmen of central Russia. He returned to Bohemia in 1907 and opened a shop on Křižovnická street in Old Town.

* František Vitáček (1854–death unknown). A noted member of the "Krkonoše/Giant Mountains violin-making school," Vitáček married Špidlen's sister Marie. Their son Jindřich joined Špidlen as an apprentice, accompanying him to Kiev and Moscow, where by the mid-20th century Jindřich had earned the title of "the Russian Stradivari." Details of František Vitáček's life are scarce; he was known for making fine, distinctive instruments of his own design.

* Karel Pilař (1899–1985). The patriarch of the Pilař workshop in Hradec Králové, which now includes his son Vladimír, grandson Tomáš, great-granddaughter Šárka and great-grandson Jan. The elder Pilař studied in Berlin and in the master workshop of Josef Vedral in the Hague. He was also noted for his exceptional work restoring vintage instruments.

Universal appeal

Occasionally Svěcený packs up four or five historic violins and takes them on the road, giving concerts in which he plays each of the instruments and talks about their history and attributes. This can lead to some interesting moments in airports, particularly in the United States. The last time he was in New York, a security official took one look at his baggage and pulled him out of line.

"What do you have there?"

"Violins, I'm playing a concert with them."

"But why four?"

"The concert is about the history of violins. I play models from different centuries."

"But why four?"

"It's really horrible sometimes," Svěcený says of the awkward moments in airports. "But sometimes it's really interesting. In Washington, D.C., the guy said, 'Oh, you're a violinist from Prague!' and wanted to talk to me. I almost missed the flight."

His travels and the popularity of the Famous Violins discs — he's sold 27,000 to date — have convinced Svěcený that many people share his fascination. "The violin is a truly universal instrument," he says. "Jazz, classical, folk music — it's used in every genre, and you find it in every country, regardless of language and customs."

In that sense, a historic violin is more than just a violin: "It's not only about music — it's about countries and cities and politics and culture," Svěcený says. One day he hopes to capture it all in a coffee-table book that will include all six discs, so you can read about the instruments and, if one interests you, immediately hear it.