Niccolò Paganini

Nicolò Paganini was born in a poor family in Genoa in 1782 and was five years old when he took up the mandolin. Two years later, he transferred his allegiance to the violin and in 1795 left for Parma, where the violin virtuoso Alessandro Rolla protested that there was nothing more that he could teach the boy. Instead, he sent him to have composition lessons with Ferdinando Paer. On his return to Genoa in 1796, he discovered a copy. of Locatelli's L'arte del violino of 1733, a volume that contained 24 caprices for solo violin and that was to have a determining impact upon his future development. After an unproductive period spent in Lucca from 1801 to 1809, Paganini set out on his career as. a freelance virtuoso, touring Italy and enjoying immense acclaim. For his brilliant début at La Scala in 1813, he wrote Le streghe, which, together with his 24 Caprices, was to serve as his calling-card at many of his later concerts. Musicians, composer, critics and impresarios all flocked to his concerts and were duly dazzled by his mesmerizing showmanship. In 1828, he turned his attention north of the Alps and set out to conquer the capitals of Europe. His death in Nice in 1840 marked the end of the greatest violin virtuoso in history.