Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin Tomorrow 1pm Adm free

What’s in an instrument? What makes a particular violin so special that there’s even a whole movie (1998’s The Red Violin) about it? You can find out on Saturday when Elizabeth Pitcairn brings that very violin to Dublin for a lunchtime recital – sonatas by Beethoven and Saint-Saëns, with showpieces by Kreisler.

Pitcairn is one of those fortunate fiddlers who didn’t have to scrimp and save or go into debt to fund her instrument. Her grandfather bought the violin, also known as the Mendelssohn Stradivarius, for $1.7 million in 1990 and gave it to her as a 16th birthday present.

She is partnered tomorrow by Irish pianist Louise Thomas, who is currently director of keyboard collaborative arts at Chapman University’s College of Performing Arts in California.