Buffalo philanthropists Clement and Karen Arrison own three priceless violins they lend out to virtuosi through the Stradivarius Society. The most mysterious is the "Mary Portman" Guarneri del Gesu.

The violin -- made by the famed Italian luthier Giuseppe Guarneri, born in 1698 -- once belonged to Fritz Kreisler, the glamorous Viennese violinist.

In World War I it was owned by Mary Portman, a wealthy British amateur violinist who built a sumptuous residence in Bavaria knowns as the Kranzbach Castle. (The castle is now a high-end resort, with a Mary Portman Room.)

It is hard to live up to such a history. That may be one reason why for a few years, the "Mary Portman" sat silent.

Its most recent recipient had been Australian violinist Adele Anthony. But the loan period ran out, and the Arrisons reluctantly repossessed it.

Since then, they considered several violinists, but hesitated.

Karen Arrison is not a violinist. "I play just enough piano to get myself into trouble," she laughs.

But Arrison sensed a headstrong quality in the rich-toned violin. "If she is not happy," she muses, "she finds a way to get away."

Uneasy, the Arrisons took the violin out of circulation. For a few years it lay in Chicago, idle.

Through a dramatic sequence of events, though, the "Mary Portman" did find a new match.

It has been entrusted to Toronto-born violinist Susanne Hou. Hou (pronounced "how") will be bringing the "Mary Portman" to Kleinhans Music Hall this weekend when she plays Mozart's Third Violin Concerto in honor of Mozart's birthday, which is today.

There are two performances, 10:30 a.m. today jan 27 and 8 p.m. Saturday.

Mary Portman Square

Hou originally met the "Mary Portman" in Chicago. The young, Toronto-born violinist was given the opportunity to try 20 violins in the possession of the Stradivarius Society.

"I picked this violin blind, out of a lineup," she says. "There were Strads, Guarneris, Amatis and modern violins, all mixed. I didn't look at the labels.

"It was the most exciting, emotionally draining day of my life. I was like a kid in the candy shop: This is beautiful, but not for me, this is fantastic, but not for me --"

There were two violins Hou loved. Both were Guarneris.

One was for sale, valued at $20 million. "I said, 'Do you take checks? I'll give you one that going to bounce,'" Hou joked.

The other was the "Mary Portman."

Hou did not know that Kreisler, a hero of hers, had owned it. "All I heard was, 'This violin is not available.' It broke my heart."

She was told there was no hope.

The next day, though, a representative of the Stradivarius Society called her. "He said, 'Look, send me a package. I'm going to send it to the owners."

Hou did -- and got a surprise. She was in Toronto, recording at the Glenn Gould Studio, when she was invited to audition for the Arrisons in Chautauqua.

"It was a five-hour drive," she says. "The border was crazy."

Karen Arrison takes up the story: "The Stradivarius Society brought three violins in, and so she got to play three, one of which was the 'Mary Portman.' She picked up the 'Mary Portman' and said, 'Ohhh'..." She imitates Hou's ecstatic sigh.

"So I knew immediately there was hope this time. Then she began to play. She played just briefly, a few measures, and she looked at us and said, 'This violin is very special.' I thought: 'I think she just gets it.'"

Hou, offered the violin, was in heaven.

"I came with an empty violin case, I went home with Mary," she says.

Returning to London, England, where she lives, she took the violin for a walk around Mary Portman Square. They bonded.

They have been together now for two years.

"It really is a part of me," Hou says. "It's no longer a separate entity. That is my voice. Essentially, I guard it like I guard my own life. I know that might sound a little obsessive. But violins are very personal. You need to be compatible. When you're really compatible with violin, it really is like falling in love. You have to guard these precious things with your life."

Playing for the princess

It could be that the "Mary Portman" is steering Hou gently toward the glamorous company the violin once enjoyed.

"Most recently I performed with Mary for the Princess Anne, the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth," Hou says. "It was a special function, a private dinner -- mostly royalty, dukes and duchesses.

"I couldn't speak. I nearly wanted to say I had laryngitis, I was scheduled to say some things. Just the formalities were making me nervous. It was such an extraordinary evening."

With the "Mary Portman" in hand, she has a new confidence.

Karen Arrison continues to marvel at the match. "The key is, you have to be the right violinist and get the right tone out of the instrument," she says. "The tone is pure, the earthy, smoky sound that 'Miss Mary' is so noted for.

"And power. She liked to have people who have right-on-the-money intonation. She also likes people who have power when they play."

Which Hou does.

"She's very petite, but she's very powerful," Arrison observes. "I could say the same words about the 'Mary Portman.' She's a tiny, tiny fraction of an inch smaller than most violins. And she's very powerful.

"So I would say, kindred spirits."

You could say that Hou does have fire in her soul.

Her parents, who live in Toronto and are coming to hear her in Buffalo, are both violinists. They are from China, where their passion for Western classical music got them into trouble. Hou's father, Alec Hou, was imprisoned by the Communist Chinese government for daring to play what was forbidden.

"He was put into not even a proper jail cell," Hou says. She explains her father had to sleep on a cement floor. "He couldn't even stand in that room. The room had a table, a chair and a piece of paper. Every day for 33 days they waited for his confession, how he was wronging the Communist party."

Even after her parents were able to flee to Toronto, the shadow of the past remained.

"It affected both my parents. They are not the same people as before," Hou says.

Their ordeal left its mark on her, too.

"I never took for granted for one day that I had the privilege to do what I love."

The spirit of Kreisler

The "Mary Portman" resonates with Hou in a special way because her parents love Fritz Kreisler.

"I grew up listening to Kreisler records with my parents," Hou says. "I have his sound reprinted in my blood. I absolutely loved his playing, thought he was one of the most extraordinary artists who ever lived. When you hear him play it uplifts your soul."

When she picks up the "Mary Portman," Hou feels Kreisler's presence.

"It was actually asleep 150 years before Fritz Kreisler picked it up, and he carved out that sound on it," she says.

"In some way I feel like Kreisler really made, really carved out the tone and the sound in this violin. And that's why it has this beautiful, fine, intense, warm and smiling sound. It's just so extraordinary. He left an imprint of his sound on the violin. When I imitate him when I am playing on any other violin, it doesn't sound the same. When I imitate him on this violin, it's as if it glows and comes to life. He was the first violinist to carve out the sound. I don't think any violin is the same after being played on by a violinist like that."

Hou is humbled by the thought of leaving her own stamp on the violin. It gave her a thrill when she and the "Mary Portman" performed a Chinese piece, the "Butterfly Lovers' Concerto."

"I'm sure it was the first time this violin played this concerto. It was almost like gold mining or something. I had to dig out and carve out a new sound stage for this violin."

It lends a bittersweet note to their relationship that the time will probably come when Hou and the violin they call "Miss Mary" will have to part.

But it does not look as if the violin wants to go anywhere fast.

"I think she just gets bored," Hou says. "You really have to push boundaries. She pushes back.

"Every single performance, I learn something new from this violin, about her. It's an adventure, it really is. From the first moment, there was this spark."

WHAT: Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra: Mozart's Birthday with violinist Susanne Hou

WHEN: 10:30 a.m. today and 8 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Kleinhans Music Hall

TICKETS: $25-$72

INFO: 885-5000, www.bpo.org

 mkunz@buffnews.comnull