@weegie, I found the part of the programme I was talking about
Interesting.
One of my Italian uncles was a concert violinist. He lived in Scotland and was also a fiddler. He had different violins for classical music and fiddling. That clip is interesting and good demonstration of the difference.
Apologies for barging in on your conversation, but SkyArts have been showing a film with Janine Jansen in which she plays 12 of the most famous strads. The film includes interviews with luthiers and violin dealers about how they were made and why each one has such a distinct character, as well as extensive footage of Jansen and Tony Pappano discussing the violins. In the film, she tries out each strad, discusses its history (and who has played it) and picks an appropriate piece to play for a recording with each one. Its really interesting, and worth a watch.