PAGANINI AND HIS VIOLIN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1905, 25 May 1888, Page 31

PAGANINI AND HIS VIOLIN.

There was a time when men feared the great player and declared that he had sold himself to the devil, and had become a murderer. Why they accused him thus is not so [clear as that they could not understand how any man could draw such sounds from mere violin. What a career his was ! And what a story is that of his violin ! Paganini, a wandering musician in Italy, gambled and lost his violin. Desperate, he thought of suicide, when a French merchant, M. Livron, lent him a Guarneri. With this precious instrument in his possession, Paganini now made such music as had never been heard before; and at length the good shopkeeper gave him the fiddle, with one stipulation — that he should never part with it. Of course he 6\vore he would not let leave him for ever. But Paganini was a gambler by nature, and once more he went to the tables ; ducat after ducat went; the last was gone, and the violin was the only thing that remained to him ; would he risk it 1 Yes ! No ! He seized it suddenly and fled. The Guarneri had broken the gambling spell. Henceforth he was destined to go from one capital to another, and win triumph after triumph. Shall I draw you his portrait 1 Bead Balzac's description: — Imagine a man tall, thin, all legs and arms, dressed wholly in black, with a cadaverous visage marked out with blue veins, with the curves of his mouth like the letter S, a tremulous movement of the lips, with Jfingers also so long and so bony that their movements almost appalled the spectator. No wonder they thought the devil possessed him. When he played the " Carnival of Venice " or the " Prayer " of Moses, the violin seemed enchanted, as though the evil one were in it. Of course a woman appeared in the story of his life — one Antonia Bianchi ; equally, of course, she nearly ruined him— trying one day to break his precious violin on his head. A retirement followed the lady' performance ; but happily he came out again. Still to be pursued by all sorfcs, of stories and all sorts of idle tales by people who could not believe that any man could play the violin in such fashion until he had committed some deadly crime. The year 1830, however, dawned auspiciously for him. At Vienna, then the home of music, Paganini cravats became all the r age, and Paganini medals were worn. Then at London and Paris shortly afterwards he Was received with enthusiasm, although in both capitals the tales of his having assassinated some female admirer followed him, and were repeated by the donkeys of those days. % A pretty story is told of him about this time. He was a great admirer of Berlioz, and played some of his works with great success. One day he heard that Berlioz was in distress. " Benvenuto Cellini " had not been a success at the opera, and Berlioz was in Want of money. Without hesitation for a moment, he sat down and sent him a cheque for £1000 as a testimony to bis genius. When Paganini died his remains were

placed in a mausoleum at Genoa,' and his violin, which he bequeathed to the city, was put in the Municipality building, aad the other day it was played on by Sivori, his favourite pupil, to the great delight of all who heard it. Reader, you may easily play worse than Paganini, but you are not likely to play as well unless, with all your genius, you practise as he did. He. exercised 14 hours a day, and frequently played 1000 variations on the same theme. — Echo.