His body was the symbol of the deathless beauty and power of music. That was the way the world would look at him no matter whether he was tormented by the devil or notNiccolò Paganini was innocent and was unaware that the devil was in possession of his violin as he kept playing stunning music on a string of the violin. He went on to become the iconic violinist of the world that none has ever matched his genius to date.
His life
From his tender age his father taught him many instruments and the way he mastered them was truly astounding with the violin being his first love, with which he conquered the whole world of classical music. He conquered Vienna, Berlin, Paris, London along with the heart and love of Princess Elise, the sister of Napoleon during his eight year stay in Lucca.
At nineteen Paganini left home and as he started his brilliant career and the money was coming in, he started gambling and lost most of it. But he saved a considerable amount running into millions in the ensuing years. Along with his fame, success and virtuosity at the violin, sunfaced eccentricity he was called satanic.
He was a robust archetypal Romantic, very tall, emaciated, with curly black hair reaching his shoulders and dressed in black immobile that made him a showman and dare-devil but the greatest violinist that ever lived.
With his crazy ways he would walk on to a stage and look around for a violin and many were the eager ones to let him have his. At one concert in Livorno he turned up without a violin and loaned a Guarnerius to play by a wealthy violinist.
After listening to Paganini, he refused to take it back. He kept audiences in rapture and awe with his devil-given ‘tricks’ He would enter the stage with two strings on his violin with the E-string representing a woman and the G-string a man and play an amorous scrore between the two. At other times, he would rip off three strings and retain one and continue to play on the G-string.
Amazing, incredible, astonishing but that was Paganini. He had the athleticism and accuracy that no one has surpassed to date. No one dared to take up the challenge. Some of the passages he performed leaps and double stops that had never been played on a violin.
No one can describe the miracle-virtuosity of the world’s greatest violinist who played on a single string without as much as batting an eyelid. Niccolo Paganini stunned the world and carved a niche in the realms of classical music history whose matchless playing has not yet eclipsed by another.
He inspired the devil and the devil inspired him.
He also inspired choreographer Lenoid Lavrsky into a ballet on his life which he divided into seven ensembles.
First Improvisations
Enemies
A Meeting
Lonliness and despair
Love and consolation
The joy of creative work and death
Finale :- Stronger than death.
Lavrovsky was completely obsessed by this quintessential romanic virtuoso surrounded by legends of his commitment to the devil who had responded to him with eery skills on the violin that was diabolical and matched his cadaverous appearance, giving him the scary looks. People were intrigued and other violinists and composers stunned by his playing like a man obsessed by an evil spirit.
With the excesses in his life, Paganini rose to be what he had painted of himself. In 1934, Sergei Rachmaninov composed the celebrated Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini. Later, it was the composer who suggested to choreography, Mikhail Fokine of the possibility of doing a narrative ballet on Paganini using this score.
Thus the day dawned
In 1939 Fokine produced his Paganini Rachmaninov’s music for the de Basil Ballets Russess, boarding it for the first time at Convent Garden in summer, at the outbreak of the war.
Fascinated by these results, in 1960, Lenoid Lvrovisky, the Director of the Bolshoi Ballet used this score for his Ballet on Paganini in Moscow with scenery to effect more interest, by Vadim Ryndin. He cast Yaroslar Sekli as the tormented violinist. This role was immortalised later by Ladimir Vasilev who caused more revivals due to his brilliant performance. Lavrovsky did not accept everything that Fokine did and instead he involved Paganini tormented by his own genius as by his rivals. He gave the impression of the artistic and emotional struggle of a great performer along with conflicts but with eventual triumph of art.
Lavrovsky for many years dreamed about producing a one-act ballet, a part of which would be devoted to the music of Rachmaninov, his favourite composer. He was thinking of the Florentine Nights of Heinrich Heine where the poet pays tribute to the amazing genius of Paganini. Everything was unfolding before the chareographers’s eyes as he visualised him with the violin remaining with the principal character of Paganini.
Rachamaninove’s music had a hold on Paganini because of his rebellious passionate vitality. Lavrovsky portrayed him as the genius at work in the fervour of inspiration, struggling for his art, Paganini in love all his life not only with music but with life itself. That made Lavrovsky decide on the ballet and project Paganini not holding the violin but he as the beautiful instrument that gave birth to music.
His body was the symbol of the deathless beauty and power of music. That was the way the world would look at him no matter whether he was tormented by the devil or not.
It was such impossibility that he mastered with a truly inexplicable touch. People started to associate him with the supernatural, causing devil influence.
Paganini without question became the foremost and greatest violinist in the world.
His music
He was more renowned for his music over his scores that were heavenly and perfect beyond compare with anyone of his past and present contemporaries and the ones that followed him especially works written for the strings.
His health deteriorated so much that all his teeth had to be taken out and his power failed to sustain him. Two operations on his jawbone in 1828 completely knocked off his senses. He also suffered from laryngeal phthisis which robbed his speech. Eventually he could hardly swallow anything.
This made people say that he was in league with the devil because how could such sounds have come. The church denied him a burial and his body was stored in morgue for many years. In 1845 the Grand Duchess of Parma authorised the removal of his remains and interred in the Parma cemetery.
Paganini’s Guarneri del Gesu violin is preserved in the Museo Municipale Genoa.
ESSENTIAL WORKS Twenty-four Caprices, Op.1 (1820), short unaccompanied stud that have the capacity to tackle any different violinistic problem. Musically attractive enough to have inspired Brahms’ variations for the piano.
VIOLIN CONCERTO No.1 in D Op.6 (1817-18) this bouncing bow and double-stop hari in the last movement, the recording which tragic short-lived with the philharmonic orchestra.
VIOLIN CONCERTO No. 2 B Minor, Op. 7 (1826) this last movement is nicknamed ciochenette in which the soloist imitates a little bell. Liszt wrote a very difficult piano version of this piece.
LE STORAGE (Witches dance) Op. 8 (1813) This score is one of the most sought after pieces of Paganini’s recital.
FANTASIA ON G - String Paganini created the precedence by playing this on a single G- string. It is based on a theme from Rossini ‘s Mose in Egitto, beautiful and largely associated with Paganini’s virtuosity and brilliance