October 28, 2013.Paganini and Bellini.We should’ve written about Niccolò Paganini last week, as his birthday was October 27th, but we had Liszt, Bizet, and Domenico Scarlatti to celebrate and just ran out of space.Paganini was born in1782 in Genoa.At the age of five he started studying the mandolin with his father, who was in the shipping business but played mandolin on the side.Two years later Niccolò switch to the violin. He went to several local violin teachers, but it became clear that his abilities far outstriped theirs.His father took Niccolò to Parma, to play for the famous violinist, teacher and composer Alessandro Rolla, who in turn referred him to other violin teachers.When the French invaded Italy, Paganini left the occupied Genoa and settled in Lucca, then a republic. Napoleon gave Lucca to his sister Elisa, and eventually made her the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and Paganini for a while became part of her entourage.All along, Paganini was mostly interested in concretizing.In 1797, accompanied by his father, he went on a highly successful tour of Lombardy.He also became quite popular with the public in Parma and his native Genoa.Gaining financial independence, he indulged in gambling and numerous love affairs.At some point he had to pawn his violin to cover debts; a French merchant loaned him a Guarneri violin to play a concert, and upon hearing him was so impressed that he refused to take it back.It became his favorite instrument.
Between 1801 and 1805 Paganini composed 24 Capricci for unaccompanied violin, which, with his violin concertos, remain his most popular compositions.In the following years he often performed his own music, which was beyond the technical abilities of most violinists of the time.That was also the period when he competed for fame with the French violinist Charles Philippe Lafont and the German Louis Spohr.His 1813 concerts in Milan’s La Scala were sensational; still, for the next following years he played mostly in Italy.In 1828 he went on a tour to Vienna and hadtremendous success.The concerts in Paris and London followed and were equally successful.He became a wealthy man and settled in Paris in 1833.There, he commissioned Hector Berlioz a symphony, Harold in Italy, with extended viola solos (he never thought much of them technically and never played the symphony).He also invested in a gambling house, which went bust soon after, ruining Paganini financially: he had to sell his violins and personal belongings.The legends surrounding him grew to a fantastic degree: he was rumored to have been imprisoned for murder and to be in a league with the devil (the only thing really devilish was the difficulty of his compositions).Paganini, who stopped performing in 1834, died in 1840.Some years earlier he was treated for syphilis and tuberculosis but it seems that the cause of his death was internal hemorrhaging.He died suddenly, without receiving last rights; because of this and his rumored association with dark forces (but also because of the innate backwardness of the 19th century Italian church), he was denied a Catholic burial.His remains were transported to Genoa but not interred.Only in 1876 was he laid to rest, not in Genoa but in Parma.
During his life, Paganini owned a number of violins made by the great masters: several Guarneris, a Nicolò Amati and several Stradivari instruments.All of them are highly sought after; the Tokyo String Quartet plays four of his instruments.Paganini’s favorite violin, Il Cannone (The Cannon), was made in 1742 by Giuseppe Antonio Guarneri del Gesù and is now considered an Italian national treasure.The winner of the Paganini violin competition is allowed to play it- a great honor.Here is Itzhak Perlman playing Paganini's Caprice for solo violin no. 1, op.1 No.1 in E Major, L'Arpeggio.It was recorded in 1972.
We’ll write about Vincenzo Bellini, another Italian and a contemporary of Paganini’s, next week.For now, here’s the aria Care compaggne followed by Come per me sereno from La Sonnambula.It’s sung, beautifully, by the Russian soprano Anna Netrebko.
Paganini and Bellini, 2013
October 28, 2013. Paganini and Bellini. We should’ve written about Niccolò Paganini last week, as his birthday was October 27th, but we had Liszt, Bizet, and Domenico Scarlatti to celebrate and just ran out of space. Paganini was born in 1782 in Genoa. At the age of five he started studying the mandolin with his father, who was in the shipping business.jpg "Niccolo Paganini")
but played mandolin on the side. Two years later Niccolò switch to the violin. He went to several local violin teachers, but it became clear that his abilities far outstriped theirs. His father took Niccolò to Parma, to play for the famous violinist, teacher and composer Alessandro Rolla, who in turn referred him to other violin teachers. When the French invaded Italy, Paganini left the occupied Genoa and settled in Lucca, then a republic. Napoleon gave Lucca to his sister Elisa, and eventually made her the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and Paganini for a while became part of her entourage. All along, Paganini was mostly interested in concretizing. In 1797, accompanied by his father, he went on a highly successful tour of Lombardy. He also became quite popular with the public in Parma and his native Genoa. Gaining financial independence, he indulged in gambling and numerous love affairs. At some point he had to pawn his violin to cover debts; a French merchant loaned him a Guarneri violin to play a concert, and upon hearing him was so impressed that he refused to take it back. It became his favorite instrument.
Between 1801 and 1805 Paganini composed 24 Capricci for unaccompanied violin, which, with his violin concertos, remain his most popular compositions. In the following years he often performed his own music, which was beyond the technical abilities of most violinists of the time. That was also the period when he competed for fame with the French violinist Charles Philippe Lafont and the German Louis Spohr. His 1813 concerts in Milan’s La Scala were sensational; still, for the next following years he played mostly in Italy. In 1828 he went on a tour to Vienna and had tremendous success. The concerts in Paris and London followed and were equally successful. He became a wealthy man and settled in Paris in 1833. There, he commissioned Hector Berlioz a symphony, Harold in Italy, with extended viola solos (he never thought much of them technically and never played the symphony). He also invested in a gambling house, which went bust soon after, ruining Paganini financially: he had to sell his violins and personal belongings. The legends surrounding him grew to a fantastic degree: he was rumored to have been imprisoned for murder and to be in a league with the devil (the only thing really devilish was the difficulty of his compositions). Paganini, who stopped performing in 1834, died in 1840. Some years earlier he was treated for syphilis and tuberculosis but it seems that the cause of his death was internal hemorrhaging. He died suddenly, without receiving last rights; because of this and his rumored association with dark forces (but also because of the innate backwardness of the 19th century Italian church), he was denied a Catholic burial. His remains were transported to Genoa but not interred. Only in 1876 was he laid to rest, not in Genoa but in Parma.
During his life, Paganini owned a number of violins made by the great masters: several Guarneris, a Nicolò Amati and several Stradivari instruments. All of them are highly sought after; the Tokyo String Quartet plays four of his instruments. Paganini’s favorite violin, Il Cannone (The Cannon), was made in 1742 by Giuseppe Antonio Guarneri del Gesù and is now considered an Italian national treasure. The winner of the Paganini violin competition is allowed to play it- a great honor. Here is Itzhak Perlman playing Paganini's Caprice for solo violin no. 1, op.1 No.1 in E Major, L'Arpeggio. It was recorded in 1972.
We’ll write about Vincenzo Bellini, another Italian and a contemporary of Paganini’s, next week. For now, here’s the aria Care compaggne followed by Come per me sereno from La Sonnambula. It’s sung, beautifully, by the Russian soprano Anna Netrebko.