Eventually, however, Yo Yo Ma, the preeminent cellist of his era, referred her to Samuel Zygmuntowicz, a contemporary master violin maker in Brooklyn, NY, who has made sound-alike copies of great antique Stradivarius and Guarnerius violins for such violin superstars as Isaac Stern and Joshua Bell.
The first time the violin was returned shortly after the theft; the second theft, by musician Julian Altman, occurred on the evening of 28 February 1936, backstage at Carnegie Hall, while Huberman performed with his Guarnerius of 1731.
After being forced to donate his Guarnerius to the Library of Congress to settle a tax debt with the United States Internal Revenue Service, Kreisler used the Bergonzi violin as his primary performance instrument for more than ten years near the end of his career.