Violinist Arabella Steinbacher Photo: © Co Merz
Her parents named her after the Richard Strauss heroine, her father worked for the opera in Munich, her mother was a soprano.
But Arabella Steinbacher sings with an instrument, not her voice.
The Arabella of the Strauss opera is pursued by suitors and struggles to find the right one, but her namesake knew what she wanted before she was old enough to go to school - a violin.
The German soloist is in New Zealand to perform Mozart's 5th violin concerto with the Auckland Philharmonia, tonight and tomorrow.
Steinbacher joined RNZ Concert's Bryan Crump ahead of her performances.
They spoke about her early musical experiences, and her friendship with the great Israeli violinist Ivry Gitlis.
It was a memorable first meeting; "he offered me a vodka".
Gitlis was a creative artist in life as well as on stage. His main message to Steinbacher was to "think less".
Steinbacher's Thursday performance with the Auckland Philhramonia is already sold out, but if you're near any sort of device that can pick up RNZ Concert, you can hear the whole concert broadcast live from 7.30pm.
