I also wonder what would have happened if it were an instrument other than violin. I've long been an orchestral musician myself, and I'm one of a great many people who feel unaccompanied solo violin sounds scratchy and annoying (or thin and lacking in context at best), no matter how skillfully it's played. A really great cellist, however, would grab my attention much more effectively. Or imagine a top-notch bassoonist launching into Rite of Spring out of nowhere. I'd stop to listen.