PEGGY'S VIOLIN A Butterfly in Time

"I am a beautiful violin," narrates Fusco in this quixotic history of Peggy's violin, an original Giovanni Grancino made in Milan in 1702. Purchased, adored, abandoned, and stolen, the feisty little instrument survives, is restored by a master craftsman who carves the butterfly to disguise wormholes, and migrates to New York. "I not only embarked for America but learned to sing with a Jewish heart," reports the violin, which is traveling with a musician who trades passage for entertaining above and below decks. The story is accompanied by splendid music, ranging from Vivaldi to Gilbert and Sullivan to Ravel, supplied by the Chamber Music Society of Mississauga, Canada--of which violin owner Peggy Hills is the founder and artistic director. D.P.D. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 07]