Sound the horns: violin soloist Elizabeth Pitcairn and her red violin (which would be THE red violin) are coming to the Bay Area. And they're playing (we say "they" because she refers to the violin as "her partner" and "soul mate") pretty much the most iconic/recognized violin concerto ever written: Vivaldi's Four Seasons. The storied violin (a Red Mendelssohn Stradivarius of 1720 and the inspiration for the feature film, The Red Violin) was purchased for a cool $1.66 million by Pitcairn's grandfather at a Christie's Auction back in 1990.  It's fabled that the violin holds transformative musical powers (it was crafted by Antonio Stradivari, the most famous violin maker of all time, disappeared for 200 years, and then made its way into Mendelssohn's hands). Pitcairn is the first known solo artist to ever bring the instrument to the concert halls of the world. And this Sunday and next Tuesday (November 1st and 3rd) she's bringing it to the Marin Symphony. Click here to get tickets to hear one old instrument in action.