In New York’s Avery Fisher Hall, on 18 November 1995, the violinist ltzhak Perlman was about to play Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. Having suffered Polio as a child, it was difficult for him to walk. He crossed the stage painfully, arrived at his seat, left his crutches on the ground, and opened the buckles of his leg supports. He gathered up one foot, and extended the other. He put the violin under his chin and signalled to the conductor that he was ready to begin. Then something happened. One of his violin strings broke. A wave of anguish passed through the hall as everyone thought how difficult it would be for him to leave the stage and repair the instrument. He remained for a few moments with his eyes closed, and then indicated to the conductor that he could begin. He played the concerto on three strings. He had recomposed the fingerwork instantly in his head, the leaps, the combinations, everything, and he played the whole piece as if nothing had happened. After the deafening final ovation, he raised his bow for silence and said, “Now you see, sometimes the task of the artist is to find out how much music we can make with what is left to us.”lt is our task in life to do the same!.