It was not all plain-sailing for Bridgetower, who fell out with the great composer – but he remains one of the most exceptional players of any age. We all love violin sonatas and concertos, right?

A well-known story surrounding Midori’s career is when she performed under famous conductor, Leonard Bernstein, at age 14 and played so intensely that multiple strings on her violin broke.

and is loaned to only the most gifted players. All three have featured in concerts and recordings, bowed by famous violinists. Their combined value is around 10 million US dollars, a hundred times ...