Music, of all the art forms, carries a sense of history that transcends its mere performance. That is one reason an artist’s teachers and training are always listed in the program along with the background of the pieces to be performed.

For violinist Elizabeth Pitcairn, that history is conveyed not only in her own long list of accomplishments, but in her instrument, which was built in 1720 by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari, universally recognized as the maker of the best violins in history. Violin experts consider it to be "a perfect model of Stradivarius," Pitcairn said.

"Of all the work of Stradivari at this time of his life, when he was 76, he used on this violin the perfect dimensions … the perfect varnish and the best wood," said Pitcairn, who will perform on the instrument Friday on Maui. "It was just the perfect storm for an instrument. And on top of that, it’s in phenomenal condition."

Known as the "Red Mendelssohn," the instrument inspired the 1998 film "The Red Violin," a fictionalized history of the violin from its creation and passage from owner to owner to modern times. In the film, the violin, named for its almost rubylike finish, is taken from Italy to Vienna, Oxford, Shanghai and Montreal, becoming the center of dramatic tension in each locale.

Real history, however, is not so complete. For its first 200 years, little is known, but a 1920s photograph shows it in the hands of Lilli von Mendelssohn, a descendant of the famous composer Felix Mendelssohn. She was killed in 1928 in a car accident — her soul "still haunts" the violin, Pitcairn said — and the instrument, unlike many Stradivarius instruments that became associated with famous performers, fell into obscurity again.

Pitcairn obtained the red violin in 1990 at an auction. She was only 16 and already playing a fine instrument, but her mother, an accomplished cellist, had heard of it.

"It just had this mystical reputation," Pitcairn said, describing a hush-hush effort to research the violin.

"I was flown over (to London) for 24 hours to try the violin a few days in advance of the auction. The fellow who was going to be bidding for us was there at the same time. We had to pretend we didn’t know him. He was there early scoping out sealed bids. … The major dealers were there, and he waited in the back until very late in the game, and so they all turned around and said, ‘Who is this? How is this possible?’ He came out of nowhere."

Her family’s winning bid was $1.7 million, then a record for an instrument. Pitcairn, now 39 and a highly praised artist, said that from the start she fell in love with its "beautiful and powerful sound," and that it has been essential in the development of her career.

"There’s an ease of execution," she said. "So the great instrument speaks the notes that you could struggle and struggle on other instruments to get out."

"That poor violin," she said with a laugh.

For her concert on Maui, she will perform tunes from the Steven Spielberg film "Schindler’s List," a work by violin virtuoso Paganini called "Perpetual Motion" ("It’s 3,120 notes in four minutes," she said) and a work by Brahms.

"There will be lots of stories and interaction with the audience," she said.