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NICOLO See also:PAGANINI (1784-1840) , See also:Italian virtuoso on the See also:violin, was See also:born at See also:Genoa on the 18th of See also:February 1784 . His See also:father See also:Antonio, a See also:clever See also:amateur, who was in the See also:shipping business, taught him the violin at a very See also:early See also:age, and he had further lessons from the See also:maestro di cappella of the See also:cathedral of See also:San Lorenzo . He first appeared in public at Genoa in 1793, with triumphant success . In 1795 he visited See also:Parma for the purpose of taking lessons from Alessandro Rolla, who, however, said that he had nothing to See also:teach him . On returning See also:home, he studied more diligently than ever, practising single passages for ten See also:hours at a See also:time, and See also:publishing compositions so difficult that he alone could See also:play them . His first professional tour, through the cities of See also:Lombardy, was made with his father in 1797 . For some years he led a chequered career; he gambled at See also:cards, and had to See also:pawn his violin; and between 18or and 1804 he lived in retirement, in See also:Tuscany, with a See also:noble See also:lady who was in love with him . In 1805 however he started on a tour through See also:Europe, astonishing the See also:world with his matchless performances, and especially with his unprecedented playing on the See also:fourth See also:string alone . The princess of See also:Lucca and Piombo, See also:Napoleon's See also:sister, made him her musical director, and he became a prominent figure at the See also:court where his caprices and audacities were a by-word . He abandoned this in 1813, and visited See also:Bologna, See also:Milan, and other cities, gaining further fame by his extraordinary virtuosity . In See also:Venice, in 1815, he began a liaison with Antonia Bianchi, a dancer, which lasted till 1828; and by her he had a son Achillino, born in 1826 . Meanwhile the world rang with his praises .
In 1827 the See also:pope honoured him with the See also:Order of the See also:Golden See also:Spur; and, in the following See also:year, he extended his travels to See also:Germany, beginning with See also:Vienna, where he created a profound sensation
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He first appeared in See also:Paris in 1831; and on the 3rd of See also:June in that year he played in See also:London at the See also:
Paganini's See also:style was impressive and passionate to the last degree
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His cantabile passages moved his See also:audience to tears, while his See also:tours de force were so astonishing that a Viennese amateur publicly declared that he had seen the See also:devil assisting him
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His name stands in See also:history as that of the most extraordinary executant ever known on the violin; and in spite of greater artists or no less remarkable later virtuosi, this reputation will remain with Paganini as the inaugurator of an See also:epoch
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He was the first to show what could be done by brilliance of technique, and his compositions were directed to that end
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He was an undeniable See also:genius, and it may be added that he behaved and looked like one, with his tall, emaciated figure and long See also:black See also:hair
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There are numerous lives of Paganini ; see the See also:article and bibliography in See also: |
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