A DEVILISHLY GOOD MUSICIAN

How does one actually become a “devil’s violinist”? A violin virtuoso, whipping audiences throughout Europe into a fever of excitement by means of one’s well-nigh supernatural talent? Well, to start off with, by practising. Practising with determination. And then practising even harder. This is the course followed by Niccolò Paganini (born in Genoa in 1782) from childhood onwards, for his father, who enjoyed music as an amateur, had recognized his extraordinary talent at an early age. At only twelve years old, Paganini gave his first public performance. Following further intensive study with Rolla, Paër and Ghiretti, he became first violinist in the Cappella Nazionale of the city of Lucca in 1805 – his first and only steady job! But he was capable of – and wanted – more. At the beginning of the 19th century, a musical direction evolved in which greater value was placed on technical performance skills than on musical profundity: the era of the virtuoso had dawned. Paganini had quickly recognized this trend and had allotted himself a leading role in this “fantasy circus”. Initially, he restricted his increasingly successful concert activities to Italy, but from 1828 onwards he also toured Austria and Germany, arriving finally in England and France in 1831.
It could not have taken Paganini long to realize that he was the “prototype” of the modern virtuoso, required to constantly offer his audiences new attractions. To be sure, he did not employ his amazing technical skills just to prove his superiority, but in order to cast a kind of spell on the listener and, yes, the spectator (!). In this respect, it would be fair to claim that Paganini was a precursor of a market-oriented “cultural” industry: after all, he always returned from his extended concert tours with his wallet overflowing.
He combined his virtuoso playing with a carefully staged eccentric appearance: fluffy hair combined with a large, hooked nose in a pale face, his gaunt and bent body clothed in a deliberately casual style in wide robes, so that the lightning-quick movement of his arms created an even more eerie impression. Robert Schumann mentioned a “turning point in virtuosity”. And quite rightly so, as no violinist before Paganini had even attempted to coax from the instrument such precise and intricate fiddling, the likes of which had rapidly led to his nickname of the “devil’s violinist”.
And what of Paganini’s music? This can be described as a mixture of both the artistic and the popular, by means of which the violinist-composer was able to reach out his listeners, especially at an emotional level, with apparent ease. However, the composer did not always have an easy time creating his music: “It is not so easy to write my music as people believe; the public constantly demands from me something extraordinary, something surprising, and wishes to hear pieces of a reasonable length. This requires quite some consideration, of course.” Some of the violin techniques which are consistently accredited to Paganini – such as the double grip-flageolet – actually originate from the Locatelli School, on which Paganini’s own violin techniques were in fact based. The Violin Concertos No.1 in D and No.4 in D minor recorded on this SA-CD are marvellous examples of Paganini’s style of composition. In the Violin Concerto in D dating from 1817/18 – which is, for instance, diametrically opposed to Beethoven’s Violin Concerto – the composer was not attempting to achieve an exclusively virtuoso effect, but also a distinctive lyricism (not without reason were Paganini’s works considered similar to vocal opera scenes!). Naturally, the solo instrument is given a definite prominence, with a somewhat operatic character in the first movement, but the orchestra is by no means as underdeveloped as one might expect in a virtuoso concerto of this quality. The slow movement presents an extended violin melody with a pizzicato accompaniment, after which the Rondo-Finale takes over like a popular melody with its sautillé bow stroke on the upbeat.
Paganini completed the Concerto in D minor in Germany in 1830, where he gave the première performance on April 26 in the city of Frankfurt. The exposition is exclusively reserved for the orchestra, immediately followed by two extensive solo sections. The character of the entire movement is dominated primarily by the dramatic-combative nature of the first theme. There is a constant alternation between major and minor. The three-part middle movement in F-sharp minor (!) demonstrates an extremely dramatic development: following the strife-torn beginning, which includes contributions from the trombones and searching strings, the lyrical, yet always passionately erupting solo instrument rises once again, this time supported by the strings giving an imitation of harps. The character of the Hungarian-tinted Finale is dance-like and gallant, and the alternation between major and minor returns. An unusual feature is the bold harmonic manoeuvring in the soli (D-flat major!).

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