Joshua Barone is the assistant performing arts editor on the Culture desk and a contributing classical music critic at The Times. THE VIOLIN CONSPIRACY By Brendan Slocumb 342 pp. Anchor. $28.

SLOCUMB: My music teacher, Miss Holmes (ph) when I was in third grade - she said, you can always tell it's Mozart by this little song. (Singing) It's a bird. It's a plane. It's a Mozart.