- Niccolò Paganini
- Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Niccolò
Paganini
(Genoa 1782 - Nice 1840)
 High
above all the schools and their most gifted disciples shines
the brightest star, the very embodiment of virtuosity: Niccolo
Paganini, certainly the greatest talent that ever existed.
He is pre-eminently the violinist-composer who played almost
exclusively his own works. His famous violin, the "Canon",
was a work of Guarnerius "del Gesù" (cf. history).
From
1800, and for 28 years, he performed solely in Italy. His triumph
abroad was all the greater afterwards; it began in Vienna with
delirious enthusiasm and continued throughout the capitals of
Europe. Besides his brilliant technique, it was especially
his radiant personality that fascinated his listeners. Paganini
used several means to bring the violin technique to perfection:
playing a single string, introducing left-hand pizzicati
in the most rapid passages, harmonics on two strings, incredibly
rapid escalation on double strings and vast extensions. The
"24 Caprices" for violin alone op.1, the Sonatas op.2 and 3
for violin and guitar, the "Moto Perpetuo", as well as
his first two concertos, in D major and B minor,
reveal the richness of his inspiration.
Niccolò PAGANINI (1782-1840), Caprice No.1,
violin: Sarah Chang, © EMI Records Ltd., 1992
Niccolò PAGANINI (1782-1840), Cantabile for Violin
and Piano, violin: Saschko Gawriloff, piano: Kira Ratner,
© 1996 TACET
Paganini
used the old scordatura technique (tuning the instrument
differently so as to facilitate the playing of certain compositions):
in the first concerto for violin, the accompaniment of the orchestra
is written in E flat major, while the solo part is in
D major; the violin is tuned half a tone higher, giving
the chord A flat - E flat - B flat - F.
All of Paganini’s compositions are exceptionally difficult
to play.
Example
of a manuscript by Paganini...
Paganini’s
influence on his contemporaries (Schubert, Schumann, Liszt)
is without measure. He overshadowed even the greatest violinists
of his day.
The
most brilliant instrumentalist of all times, Niccolo Paganini
died in Nice, in the South of France, greatly weakened and seriously
ill.
Felix
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
(Hamburg 1809 - Leipzig 1847)
 Mendelssohn
was born in Hamburg in a family of Jewish origin, who settled
in Berlin in 1811. A child prodigy, Mendelssohn performed
in public at the tender age of 9 and played his first compositions
at the age of 11. Two of his masterpieces, an octet for strings
and an overture, were written when he was very young.
Mendelssohn
performed as a pianist and orchestra conductor especially in
Germany and in England. Following the death of his sister, Fanny
Mendelssohn Hensel, his health began to deteriorate seriously,
and he died a few months later in Leipzig.
Mendelssohn
also taught and was a most prolific composer. Amongst
his 5 symphonies, the best known are the "Italian Symphony"
(1833) and the "Scottish Symphony" (1843). He is also the author
of the sublime violin concerto in E minor (1844).
Felix MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847), Violin Concerto
in E minor, Op.64, Allegro molto appassionato, violin:
Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Philharmonia Orchestra
conducted by Efrem Kurtz, © EMI Records Ltd., 1987
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