*A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK*'Utterly enthralling - a beautifully-written voyage of discovery
that takes us deep into the heart of music-making' Deborah MoggachFrom the moment she hears
Lev's violin for the first time Helena Attlee is captivated. She is told that it is an Italian
instrument named after its former Russian owner. Eager to discover all she can about its
ancestry and the stories contained within its delicate wooden body she sets out for Cremona
birthplace of the Italian violin. This is the beginning of a beguiling journey whose end she
could never have anticipated.Making its way from dusty workshops through Alpine forests cool
Venetian churches glittering Florentine courts and far-flung Russian flea markets Lev's
Violin takes us from the heart of Italian culture to its very furthest reaches. Its story of
luthiers and scientists princes and orphans musicians composers travellers and raconteurs
swells to a poignant meditation on the power of objects stories and music to shape individual
lives and to craft entire cultures.
