Showing posts with label Niccolò Paganini. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Niccolò Paganini. Show all posts

27 October 2021

Niccolò Paganini - musician and composer

Extraordinary talent aroused bizarre suspicions

Niccolò Paganini is widely regarded as one of history's greatest violinists
Niccolò Paganini is widely regarded
as one of history's greatest violinists
The musician and composer Niccolò Paganini, widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time, was born on this day in 1782 in Genoa.

Paganini’s ability was so far ahead of his contemporaries that to some observers it defied comprehension. He possessed unusually long fingers, a memory that enabled him to play entire pieces without the need for sheet music, and could play at up to 12 notes per second.

This, combined with his appearance - he was tall and thin, with hollow cheeks, pale skin and a fondness for dressing in black - and a habit of making wild, exaggerated movements as he played, gave rise to outlandish theories that he was possessed by the Devil, or even was the Devil himself.

He also pursued a somewhat dissolute lifestyle, drinking heavily, gambling and taking advantage of his fame to engage in numerous affairs.  

The suspicion of demonic associations stayed with him all his life to the extent that after his death at the age of 58 it was four years before his body was laid to rest because the Catholic Church would not give him a Christian burial, their reticence not helped by his refusal to accept the last rites.

Only years later was it concluded that his long fingers were probably the result of a genetic disorder called Marfan syndrome, while the speed of his playing and jerky movements could have been symptoms of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, another inherited condition, whose sufferers have increased flexibility but a lack of coordination.

Paganini has such an accurate memory that he could play without sheet music
Paganini has such an accurate memory
that he could play without sheet music
Paganini was born the third of six children. His father, Antonio, was a trader, albeit not a prosperous one, and would supplement his income by playing the mandolin. Niccolò soon learned to play the instrument and had moved on to the violin by the age of seven.

It was soon clear he was blessed with prodigious talent and was soon offered scholarships to study with local teachers in Genoa. His ability quickly outpaced what they could offer him, prompting his father to take him to Parma in search of more advanced tuition.

His progress was interrupted in 1796 when northern Italy was invaded by France and Paganini’s family left the city to move inland along the Polcevera river to Bolzaneto, where they owned another property. Paganini occupied himself by learning to play the guitar, again to an extraordinary standard, although it was an instrument he played largely for his own amusement and for close friends, rather than give public performances.

He embarked on his first solo violin tour at the age of 15, appearing at various places around Italy, but being away from home was not good for his mental health and it was thought that this pushed him towards drinking and gambling as an escape. 

After he recovered, he was appointed first violin of the Republic of Lucca, at that time one of the most powerful city states in Italy, but in 1805 Lucca was annexed by Napoleonic France, and the region was ceded to Napoleon's sister, Elisa Baciocchi.  Paganini stayed, becoming a violinist to the Baciocchi court.  It was during this time that he composed perhaps his most famous work, his 24 Caprices for solo violin.

Paganini's violin Il Cannone Guarnerius
Paganini's violin Il
Cannone Guarnerius
Eventually, he decided to return to touring, giving concerts around Genoa and Parma, where he had attracted large audiences previously. He was still not well known outside Italy, even after beginning to make appearances at La Scala in Milan, gaining admirers among their international clientele. 

It was not until after Pope Leo XII had conferred upon him the Order of the Golden Spur, the papal equivalent of a knighthood, in 1827, that his fame spread across Europe. The following year, he was invited to play in Vienna, followed by a prolonged tour that saw him perform in almost all the major cities of Germany, Poland and Bohemia. Later, he performed in Paris and London.

Still, his phenomenal ability attracted suspicion. In Vienna, an audience member claimed he had seen the Devil on stage with Paganini. A story circulated that the sound of a woman’s scream could be heard emanating from his violin while he played, the consequence, it was said, of his murdering a woman and making strings from her intestines, while imprisoning her soul within the body of the instrument. 

Given such stories, it was hardly surprising that he made few friends. Two exceptions were Gioachino Rossini, the Italian composer he first met in Bologna in 1818 and for whom he once conducted an opera performance after the sudden death of the regular conductor, and Hector Berlioz, the French composer whom he compared with Beethoven and supported with large sums of money towards the end of his life.

Among his many romantic associations, the most enduring involved a singer from Como, Antonia Bianchi. After meeting in Milan in 1813 they gave concerts together throughout Italy. They had a son, Achille Ciro Alessandro, born in Palermo in 1825, but they were never married and split up in around 1828. 

Paganini began learning the violin at the age of seven
Paganini began learning the violin
at the age of seven
Paganini’s health was never good. He was diagnosed with syphilis in 1922 and the treatment for it, which involved mercury and opium, did as much damage as it cured. In 1834 he developed tuberculosis while in Paris, which left him prone to infection and bouts of depression.

Touring soon became impossible and he returned to Genoa initially, giving lessons to a small number of pupils, including Camillo Sivori, who would go on to assume his mantle as Italy’s finest violinist. 

Restless, he went back to Paris in 1836 and unwisely invested much money in a casino, which failed so badly he was forced to auction off many of his prized collection of violins and guitars, including several made by Antonio Stradavari in Cremona, in order to recoup his losses. He left Paris for Marseille in 1838 and from there went to Nice, which is where he died in 1840, apparently from internal bleeding as a result of cancer of the larynx. It was the Bishop of Nice who arranged for a local priest to visit him and perform the last rites, but Paganini refused to accept his life was nearing its end and dismissed the priest.

The local church refused to bury him on consecrated ground and his embalmed body remained in the house where he died for more than a year and in the Nice area for almost four years while his son, Achille, pleaded with the Catholic Church to allow his body to be moved back to Italy. Ultimately, Achille’s entreaties were answered by Pope Gregory XVI and Paganini’s body was finally laid to rest at La Villetta cemetery in Parma.

The Fratello Minore fortress above the Polcevera valley outside Bolzaneto
The Fratello Minore fortress above the
Polcevera valley outside Bolzaneto
Travel tip:

Bolzaneto, where the Paganini family had a house while Niccolò was growing up, was once a hamlet located outside the city of Genoa in the Polcevera valley. Today it is a suburb of Genoa, surrounded by many small industries and business firms. On the mountains behind Bolzaneto, at the left side of Polcevera valley, are two fortresses, which are part of the external fortresses of Genoa: the Fort Diamante and a smaller fortress known as Fratello Minore. Close to the Bolzaneto exit of the A7 motorway that runs from Genoa to Milan is what used to be Bolzaneto’s castle, built in the early 14th century but subsequently destroyed in clashes between the Guelphs and Ghibbelines before being rebuilt and destroyed several times thereafter, finally as a grand residence at the beginning of the 20th century.

Paganini's tomb memorial at the La Villetta cemetery in Parma
Paganini's tomb memorial at the
La Villetta cemetery in Parma
Travel tip:

La Villetta, the monumental cemetery at Parma where Paganini’s body was finally buried and an elaborate memorial erected, takes its name after the farm that Duchess Marie Louise of Austria, the second wife of Napoleon, chose as the site for the city's burial ground during her rule of the city from 1816 to 1847. Designed by the engineer Giuseppe Cocconcelli in neoclassical style, it contains the tombs among others of the poet Angelo Mazza and the composer Ildebrando Pizzetti. Paganini’s tomb, housed under a domed portico supported by eight Doric columns, is on the left side of the entrance, opposite the main chapel dedicated to San Gregorio Magno.

Also on this day:

1952: The birth of Oscar-winning actor Roberto Benigni

1962: The death in a plane crash of industrialist Enrico Mattei

1967: The birth of mountaineer Simone Moro


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12 May 2020

Giovanni Battista Viotti – violinist and composer

Brilliant musician wrote the melody for the Marseillaise


Giovanni Battista Viotti spent much of his  career in Paris and London
Giovanni Battista Viotti spent much of his
career in Paris and London
Violinist Giovanni Battista Viotti, who was to become court musician to Marie-Antoinette and composed 29 violin concertos, was born on this day in 1755 in Fontanetto Po in the region of Piedmont.

Among Viotti’s many compositions for the violin, string quartets and the piano, his violin concerto No. 22 in A Minor became particularly well known. 

He is also credited with having composed the original music of La Marseillaise, the national anthem of France, 11 years before it was officially published by another composer.

Viotti’s musical talent was spotted early and he was taken into the household of Principe Alfonso dal Pozzo della Cisterna in Turin, where he received a musical education.

This prepared him to become a pupil of the virtuoso violinist and composer Gaetano Pugnani, while still a teenager, funded by the prince.

Viotti served at the Savoy court in Turin from 1773 to 1780, before travelling with Pugnani in Germany, Poland and Russia.

He went to France alone, where he made his debut as a violinist in 1782 in Paris.  He was an instant sensation and became court musician to Marie-Antoinette at Versailles.

Viotti established himself in France as a teacher and an opera impresario. He founded a new opera house, the Theatre de Monsieur, under the patronage of Louis-Stanislas-Xavier, comte de Provence, the King’s brother, whose title at court was ‘Monsieur’. Viotti put on the operas written by his friend, Luigi Cherubini, who he had introduced into French society.

Luigi Cherubini was a friend of Viotti, who introduced him to French society
Luigi Cherubini was a friend of Viotti, who
introduced him to French society
In 1792, after royal connections had become a dangerous liability because of the French revolution, Viotti went to London, where he put on Italian operas and played his own compositions for the violin in concerts.

He became a big success as a solo violinist, manager of Italian opera and an orchestra leader and director.  He was invited to perform in the houses of London’s elite, including the Prince of Wales.

When Britain went to war with France, Viotti came under suspicion of having Jacobin sympathies and was ordered to leave the country. He moved to Germany for three years, but returned to London to resume his wine business in 1801 and continued to perform and to compose music.

When his wine business failed, he went back to Paris, where he was director of the Italian opera from 1819 to 1822.  He then returned to London, where he died in 1824 at the age of 68.

Viotti is considered to be the founding father of the 19th century French violin school. Some of the people he taught had an influence on future virtuoso violinists, including Niccolò Paganini.

Viotti had owned a violin made by Antonio Stradivari and had commissioned at least one replica, which was bought by the Royal Academy of Music in 2005. The instrument is meant to be heard as well as seen and is played sparingly at occasional events.

His violin concertos are said to have been an influence on Ludwig van Beethoven.

Recent research has suggested that one of his compositions has a very strong resemblance to the music for the French hymn, La Marseillaise, which was published 11 years later.

Viotti is remembered every year at the Viotti International Music Competition and the Viotti Festival held near his birthplace in the province of Vercelli.

The Oratory of San Sebastian, built in the 11th century, is a feature of the small town of Fontanetto Po
The Oratory of San Sebastian, built in the 11th century,
is a feature of the small town of Fontanetto Po
Travel tip:

Fontanetto Po, where Giovanni Battista Viotti was born, is in the province of Vercelli in the region of Piedmont, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of Turin and about 20 kilometres (12 miles) southwest of Vercelli. One of the main sights is the Oratory of Saint Sebastian, which was built in the 11th century and refurbished in the 15th century and still has some mid 15th century frescoes inside.

Piazza Cavour in the Piedmont town of Vercelli, where Viotti is a celebrated figure
Piazza Cavour in the Piedmont town of Vercelli, where
Viotti is a celebrated figure
Travel tip:

Vercelli is a city in Piedmont situated between Milan and Turin. It is one of the oldest towns in northern Italy, founded in around 600 BC. Vercelli had the world’s first university funded by public money, which was established in 1228 and was the seventh university in Italy, but it closed in 1372. The city has an amphitheatre from the Roman period and seven towers. The main local dish is called panissa and is made from risotto rice and beans, with pork and red wine.

Also on this day:







22 December 2018

Giovanni Bottesini - double bass virtuoso

Musician was also a composer and conductor


Giovanni Bottesini took up the double bass so he could attend Milan Conservatory
Giovanni Bottesini took up the double
bass so he could attend Milan Conservatory
The composer, conductor and double bassist Giovanni Bottesini was born on this day in 1821 in Crema, now a city in Lombardy although then part of the Austrian Empire.

He became such a brilliant and innovative performer on his chosen instrument that he became known as “the Paganini of the double bass” - a reference to the great violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, whose career was ending just as his was beginning.

Bottesini was one of the first bassists to adopt the French-style bow grip, previously used solely by violinists, violists and cellists.

He was also a respected conductor, often called upon to direct performances at the leading theatres in Europe and elsewhere, and a prolific composer, particularly in the last couple of decades of his life.

A close friend of Giuseppe Verdi, he wrote a dozen operas himself, music for chamber and full orchestras, and a considerable catalogue of pieces for double bass, for accompaniment by piano or full orchestra, or duets.

When conducting opera, Bottesini would often bring his double bass on stage to play fantasies based on the evening's opera, of his own composition, during the intermission. His fantasies on Gaetano Donizettis Lucia di Lammermoor and Vincenzo Bellinis I puritani and Beatrice di Tenda are outstanding pieces still played today by accomplished bassists.

Bottesini with the Testore bass that served him well through his career
Bottesini with the Testore bass that
served him well through his career
It was almost by accident that the double bass became Bottesini’s speciality.  Taught the basics of music by his father, Pietro, a clarinetist who played at Crema’s Teatro Sociale and the cathedral chapel, he began training for the violin from the age of five, working with a priest, Carlo Cogliati.

During his childhood, Giovanni is thought  to have played the kettle-drums in the orchestra of the Teatro Sociale as well as in theatre orchestras in Bergamo and Brescia. He also sang as boy soprano in the cathedral choir in Parma.

His father was keen for him to study at the Milan Conservatory, but the family were not wealthy and the only possibility of a place was to be granted a scholarship. As it happens, the only two positions available were for double bass and bassoon. Choosing the former, he had to learn to play the double bass to a respectable standard within days, yet did so and after an audition was granted a place.

In fact, he became so good so rapidly that only four years after starting his studies - much faster than with most students - Bottesini won a prize of 300 francs for solo playing. It was enough for him to buy an instrument made by the 18th century luthier Carlo Antonio Testore, and to launch his career.

He travelled abroad, spending time in the United States and in Cuba - then still part of Spain’s empire in South America - where he was the principal double-bass in the Italian opera at Havana, of which he later became director. His first opera, Cristoforo Colombo, was produced there in 1847.

Giuseppe Verdi recommended Bottesini as director of Parma Conservatory
Giuseppe Verdi recommended Bottesini
as director of Parma Conservatory
In 1849 he travelled for the first time to England, where he would become a frequent visitor.

As a conductor, Bottesini worked at the Théâtre des Italiens in Paris from 1855 to 1857. Between 1861 and 1862 he conducted in Palermo, and in 1863 went to Barcelona. In 1871 he conducted a season of Italian opera at the Lyceum theatre in London and he was chosen by Verdi to conduct the first performance of Aida, which took place in Cairo on December 27, 1871.

Bottesini's bass, which was noted for the purity of the sound he was able to produce with it, was built by Testore in 1716. The instrument was owned previously by several unknown bass players before Bottesini paid 900 lire for it in 1838. It is now owned by a private collector in Japan.

In 1888, Bottesini was appointed director of Parma Conservatory on Verdi's recommendation. The following year, he died in Parma at the age of 67.

The Duomo at Crema, a short distance from the street in which Bottesini grew up
The Duomo at Crema, a short distance from
the street in which Bottesini grew up
Travel tip:

Crema, a small city that sits on the banks of the Serio river about 50km (31 miles) east of Milan, has an attractive historic centre built around the Piazza del Duomo.  Apart from the cathedral itself, built in Lombard Gothic style in the 14th century with a tall bell tower completed in 1604, the Palazzo Pretorio and the Palazzo Comunale can also be found off the square. The Teatro Sociale, the only surviving part of which stands in Piazza Guglielmo Marconi, a short distance from the Duomo, was destroyed in a fire in 1937. Bottesini grew up in a house in Via Carrera, within a short walk of both the theatre and the cathedral. The city’s other attractions include the circular 16th century Basilica of Santa Maria della Croce.



The Conservatorio Arrigo Boito in Parma, where Bottesini was director
The Conservatorio Arrigo Boito in
Parma, where Bottesini was director
Travel tip:

Parma, where Bottesini spent his last months, is an historic city in the Emilia-Romagna region, famous for its Prosciutto di Parma ham and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, the true ‘parmesan’. In 1545 the city was given as a duchy to the illegitimate son of Pope Paul III, whose descendants ruled Parma till 1731. The composer, Verdi, was born near Parma at Bussetto and the city has a prestigious opera house, the Teatro Regio. The Conservatory, named in honour of Arrigo Boito, who wrote the libretti for many of Verdi’s operas, is on Strada Conservatorio.

Search TripAdvisor for hotels in Parma

More reading:

The Venetian who became the best double bass player in Europe

The jealous streak of composer Giovanni Paisello

The short but brilliant career of Vincenzo Bellini

Also on this day:

1858: The birth of the brilliant composer Giacomo Puccini

1908: The birth of sculptor Giacomo Manzù

1963: The birth of footballer Giuseppe Bergomi


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