CLASSICAL French soloist Ophelie Gaillard was robbed of her cello worth $1.5 million outside her home in a Paris suburb in a violent attack.

The thief also stole her mobile phone and fled on foot.

Ms Gaillard wrote a desperate Facebook post asking for anyone with information about her missing 18th century instrument — which had been loaned to her by the CIC bank — to come forward.

The award-winning musician, 43, described the theft, which was conducted at knifepoint, as “very violent” and said she had not been able to sleep for two days following the attack.

But the incident was to have a melodic ending, and the cello was mysteriously returned, with Ms Gaillard receiving an anonymous tip-off that the cello could be found in her car.

One of the car windows was broken and the musician said she quickly grabbed the instrument, which is “in good condition”, before notifying police.

A source close to the investigation by the unit in charge of armed robberies said, “It’s not an instrument that can be sold to a fence on the corner”.

“I am so relieved to have found it. I’m coming out of a two-day nightmare — it’s a miracle,” Ms Gaillard said.

The valuable cello was made in Italy in 1737 by Luthier Francesco Goffriller, son of Venetian master cello-maker Matteo Goffriller.

The cello case also contained her bow, which Ms Gaillard said was made by acclaimed 19th-century French bowmaker Jean Pierre Marie Persoit “around 1825 in Paris”.

In 2003, Ms Gaillard was named the best new instrumental soloist at the French classical music awards.