Violin virtuoso Pinchas Zukerman played the world's most expensive musical instrument, the first time it was heard in concert for more than 70 years, for a private audience in Moscow over the weekend.

A privileged crowd of 160 was on hand Saturday night to hear Zukerman perform a program of Mozart, Bruch and Bach on the Guarneri del Gesu violin with the orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre.

Pinchas Zukerman, shown playing his own Guarneri del Gesu, played to an audience of 160 in Moscow on a Guarneri that was purchased for $3.9 million US.Pinchas Zukerman, shown playing his own Guarneri del Gesu, played to an audience of 160 in Moscow on a Guarneri that was purchased for $3.9 million US.
(NAC)

The event was created by Russian lawyer and businessman Maxim Viktorov, who bought the violin at a Sotheby's auction in February for $3.9 million US.

"I tried out the instrument a little in London before I bought it," the 35-year-old multimillionaire told the Guardian newspaper.

"Since then, I haven't been able to touch it … I want the maestro, who lives by his art, to be the first to play it so that the violin feels it is receiving the respect it deserves."

The Israeli-born Zukerman, one of the world's top violinists, is also the National Arts Centre Orchestra conductor in Ottawa. He regularly plays a Guarneri violin made in 1742.

The Guarneris were a family of violin makers in Cremona, Italy, in the 17th and 18th centuries, considered one of the top makers of violins in the world. Only 150 of the violins have survived.

Viktorov says the Guarneri del Gesu instruments have more depth of sound than other violins.

The violin he bought was made in 1741 and belonged to Henri Vieuxtemps, a Belgian composer and violin prodigy who played for Tsar Alexander II.

Viktorov said he wanted to create an event that would elevate the cultural status of Russia to what it once was: "We need to build up the energy so that artists who are regarded as the best in the world are seen here regularly."

Reports say the concert was received tepidly by the audience.

Zukerman's performance did not garner a standing ovation, but he did get one prolonged round of applause after a performance of Max Bruch's Violin Concerto in G Minor.