The better an instrument is, the more character it has – and the Fleming has a great deal of personality. It sounds extremely good in the higher registers, which can be a difficult area on the cello. It has a very sweet sound. My Stradivari is dated l690, so it’s quite a bit earlier than the Fleming. Before I got my cello I think it had been lying in a Belgian bank vault for years. I don’t like to think about it.

It seems very odd that someone would want to buy a beautiful instrument and just put it away. It’s encouraging that there are corporations these days, such as Nippon, who have bought instruments and lent them to musicians. There’s one Strad I know of in Oporto which is owned by the cellist Madame Suggia.

It’s in the museum, and if a cellist is playing a concert in the city of Oporto they can ask to play the Stradivari. But it needs time to warm up. You can’t just take it and produce a beautiful sound in moments.

The prices of rare instruments are increasing. I always thought that property was a good investment, but that depends on the local economy. These days Stradivari are definitely safer than houses.

If I were allowed lots of cellos in life, I’d buy the Fleming, but I’ve had my Stradivari for 25 years and I don’t think bigamy is legal!

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