THE MUSICIAN WHO REVOLUTIONIZED THE MAKING MUSIC SYSTEM IN ITALY
IF I DO NOT STUDY ONE DAY I REALIZE IT, IF I DO NOT STUDY TWO DAYS THE PUBLIC IS AWARE OF IT NICCOLÃ’ PAGANINI
BORN IN GENOA ON 27 OCTOBER 1782 FROM A MODEST FAMILY. SINCE CHILDHOOD HE LEARNS THE FIRST MUSICAL RUDIMENTS FROM THE FATHER; FIRST TO THE MANDOLIN AND THEN TO THE VIOLIN. THE DESPOTIC PARENT FORCES HIM TO PLAY FOR 10/12 HOURS A DAY, CLOSED IT IN THE CELLAR UNTIL HE HAS FINISHED THE EXERCISES. DIFFICULT CHILDHOOD IT WILL MAKE HIM SO SENSITIVE AND RESTLESS; AS BRILLIANT AS A DAMNED ARTIST. HE IS CONSIDERED A SELF-TAUGHT, HAVING HAD NO GREAT MASTERS; ALREADY AT 9 YEARS GIVES HIS FIRST CONCERT. AT 18 HE HAS SUCH MASTERY IN PLAYING THE VIOLIN THAT HE COULD SKIP THE CONSERVATORY AND GO TO TEACH AT THE COURT OF LUCCA.
HE CAN BE CONSIDERED A JIMY HENDRIX OF THE 1800S
LIKE THERE IS A BEFORE AND AFTER HENDRIX IN THE HISTORY OF THE GUITAR, IN THE SAME WAY THERE WAS A BEFORE AND AFTER PAGANINI IN THE HISTORY OF THE VIOLIN: THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE INSTRUMENT, THE VIRTUOSITY, THE SPECTACULAR PERFORMANCES IN PUBLIC, THE CROWDED CONCERTS, ARE SOME OF THE AFFINITIES BETWEEN THE TWO, WHICH AT DIFFERENT TIMES AND WITH THE SAME EXTRAORDINARY POWER HAVE REVOLUTIONIZED MUSIC
NICCOLÃ’ PAGANINI CAN BE PRESENTED AS AN ANTE LITTERAM ROCKER, IN A SENSE LIKE THE INVENTOR OF ROCK ITSELF. AND WHAT CAN BE THE ACTUALITY TO BE READ IN A ROCK KEY OF A CHARACTER LIKE PAGANINI? THE MANIACAL CARE OF HIS IMAGE AND HOW HE WAS A MODERN MUSIC INFLUENCER.
SHADY CHARACTER, WRAPPED IN THE MYSTERY, CHARISMATIC, NEVER MEASURED, WITH A DARK ASPECT. HIS HAIR WAS LONG AND DISHEVELED, HIS TEETH WERE MISSING, THE IMPOSING AQUILINE NOSE STOOD OUT ON HIS PALE, BONY FACE
EXTREMELY THIN AND DARK, HE EXALTED THESE CHARACTERS BY ALWAYS WEARING BLACK AND WEARING GLASSES WITH BLUE LENSES, BECAUSE HE KNEW THAT PART OF HIS FAME WAS DUE TO THE AURA OF MYSTERY THAT SURROUNDED HIM. THEY CONSIDER HIM THE INVENTOR OF DIVISM.
A MUSICAL STAR OF HIS TIME CAPABLE OF CREATING A TREND: MEN DRESSED THEIR HAIR LIKE HIM, HIS SURNAME WAS SYNONYMOUS WITH VIRTUOSITY, WHAT HE DID OR SAID CROSSED BORDERS EVEN FAR FROM HIM (STARTING FROM THE FAMOUS PHRASE "PAGANINI DOES NOT REPEAT" PRONOUNCED WHEN HE DENIED THE ENCORE TO KING CARLO FELICE OF SAVOY).
EVERYTHING WAS GIVEN TO HIM IN THE NAME OF ABSOLUTE GENIUS AND THE NEVEREQUALED MAGNITUDE OF HIS VIOLIN PERFORMANCES, THE MYTHICAL GUARNERI DEL GESÙ HE CALLED "MY CANNON“ HE GAVE IT TO THE CITY OF GENOA AND IT IS NOW ON DISPLAY IN THE PALAZZO DUCALE, NEXT TO A FRAGMENT OF THE FENDER STRATOCASTER THAT JIMI HENDRIX CUT INTO PIECES ON THE STAGE OF THE MONTEREY POP FESTIVAL.
THE HYSTERIA THAT IS GRIPPING THE AUDIENCE AT ITS CONCERTS ANTICIPATES WHAT WILL HAPPEN FOR ELVIS AND THE BEATLES. BUT ABOVE ALL IT IS HIS MUSIC AND HIS UNIQUE WAY OF SCRAMBLING THE INSTRUMENT DRAW FROM IT WONDERFUL AND UNUSUAL SOUNDS THAT MAGNIFY ITS STATURE. HE COMPOSES BEAUTIFUL AND TOUCHING WORKS; AMONG ALL THE ‘CAPRICES’, WHICH SHOW ITS QUALITIES OF EXTRAORDINARY PERFORMER. HIS PAGANINI PLAYS SO GOOD AND SO VIOLIN SEEMS TO CRY, TO SCREAM; NO VIOLENTLY TO LET FINGERS BLEED AND TO BREAK THE STRINGS OF THE VIOLIN.
OUR NINETEENTHCENTURY HENDRIX REACHED SUCH INCREDIBLE LEVELS OF VIRTUOSITY THAT HE EARNED HIMSELF THE NICKNAME OF THE DEVIL'S VIOLINIST, A NICKNAME HE USED TO INCREASE HIS FAME AND A LITTLE FEARED WHEN HE CONFESSED TO HIS FRIENDS: “I REGRET THE
TO AN ACUTE MEASLES ATTACK, THE LITTLE NICCOLÃ’ IS CONSIDERED DEAD. WRAPPED IN A CLOTH IS TAKEN TO THE CEMETERY; BUT THE SHEET MOVES, THE CHILD IS NOT DEAD AND RISES. APPARENT DEATH FOR THE DOCTORS OF THE TIME; CATALEPSED BY MEASLES VIRAL ENCEPHALITIS, ACCORDING TO
FOR ALL, PAGANINI IS THE DEVIL'S SON. THE APPEARANCE DOES NOT HELP; HE WALKS ALL WRONG, HE IS LAME, WITH A SHOULDER HIGHER THAN THE OTHER, OF CADAVEROUS COMPLEXION AND A FRIGHTENING THINNESS.
WITHOUT TALKING ABOUT THE LIFE THAT THE MUSICIAN LEADS: TRANSGRESSIVE, IRREVERENT AND DISRESPECTFUL OF SOCIAL RULES. «IT IS AS IF PAGANINI HAD REINCARNATED IN JIMI HENDRIX, BOTH HAVE USED THEIR OWN INSTRUMENT IN A REVOLUTIONARY WAY ».
PAGANINI DOES NOT REPEAT BIZARRE ALSO WITH ITS MUSICIANS. HE HANDED THE MUSIC SHEETS TO THE ORCHESTRAS ONLY AT THE LAST, AND THEN TOOK THEM BACK IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE CONCERT. THIS WAS BECAUSE HE FEARED THAT THEY COULD BE COPIED. SO HE COULD BE THE ONLY ONE TO MAKE MONEY.
MOREOVER, THE ORCHESTRAS, HAVING BEEN ABLE TO GIVE ONLY A BRIEF LOOK AT THE SCORES, THEY WERE FORCED TO READ AT FIRST SIGHT AND COULD GIVE AN INTERPRETATION PURELY SCHOLASTIC. IN THIS WAY PAGANINI, BY CONTRAST, SEEMED EVEN MORE VIRTUOUS.
THERE WERE RUMORS THAT PAGANINI TRIED LITTLE OR NOTHING BEFORE THE CONCERTS. ONCE IN THE THEATER HE USED TO GIVE THE INCIPIT, BRIEFLY THE FINALE AND SOON AWAY. TO WHOM HE ASKED FOR THE REASON OF THIS BEHAVIOR HE REPLIED THAT HE HAD ALREADY PRACTICED ENOUGH IN THE PAST. HOW TO BLAME HIM ...
THE FAMOUS "PAGANINI DOES NOT REPEAT" IS VERY FAMOUS. BORN FROM A CONCERT HELD BY THE GENIUS AT THE CARIGNANO THEATER IN TURIN IN 1818. KING CARLO FELICE ASKED THE VIOLINIST TO PLAY A PIECE FROM HIS REPERTOIRE AGAIN. TO WHICH PAGANINI HE ANSWERS AS WE ALL KNOW. BUT THE REAL REASON FOR THIS WAS NOT ARROGANCE OR THAT; SIMPLY THE PERFORMER BASED HIS PERFORMANCES ON A PLOT OF RELATIVELY SIMPLE AGREEMENTS; THE REST WAS A WONDERFUL AND UNREPEATABLE IMPROVISATION. FOR THAT PAGANINI COULD NOT REPEAT; EVERY CONCERT,