Jean Pierre Duport was a favorite cellist of Napoleon. At a private recital in the Tuileries, Napoleon listened with pleasure and, as soon as the piece was over he approached Duport, compliment him, and tried to play the cello. While sitting down, he squeezed the unfortunate instrument between his spurred boots and cried "How the devil do you hold this, Monsieur Duport?" Some say the marks of his spurs can still be clearly seen in the sides of the cello." The last owner of the most expensive Stradivarius cello in the world was Msistlav Rostropovich. After he died, the famous cello belongs to his relatives.

Source: Tarisio

Photo by Gueorgui Pinkhassov