The Violin Virtuoso, Niccolo Paganini's violin concerto No.1 in D, Op.6

Niccolo Paganini(1782.2.18-1840.5.27)

The name Paganini has become synonymous with violin virtuoso, typifying the artistry, showmanship and bravura associated with that term. Even elementary children know the story of the great violinist Paganini, who sold his soul to the devil in return for his amazing musical powers. 

Born February 18, 1782 in Genoa, Italy to working- class parents who were amateur musicians, the young Niccolo took to music early, receiving his first musical instruction from his father on the mandolin at the age of five. He quickly surpassed his father's knowledge. 

At age eight he composed a violin sonata, and began performing at church services and at 11, he gave his first public performance, which was enormously successful. At 13, he embarked on his first tour of Italy, giving concerts in Parma, Milan, Florence, Pisa, among other cities, to great wonderment and acclaim. Paganini was able to play any music set before him, and used this ability to great advantage. He acquired his first Guarnerius violin this way, as he rather casually relates: "The owner of a Guarnerius said to me, 'If you can read this violin concerto at sight, I will give you this instrument,' and I won it." He was still only 13 at the time.

As Paganini grew to manhood, stories of his astonishing abilities quickly sprang up. People attributed his amazing powers to supernatural forces-some said heavenly forces, others said demonic. Realizing the value of publicity, good or bad, Paganini did little to dispel these popular myths, although he came to resent them later in life.

Because the existing musical works for solo violin of his time did not make full use of his novel techniques, Paganini's understood that he needed new vehicles for the display of his incredible virtuosity. He therefore composed his own pieces to take on concert tours with him-but he refused to allow his works to be published in his lifetime. He demanded and received exorbitant sums of money for his concert appearances, but also played benefit concerts for the poor. 

The rigors of a hectic travel schedule, a chronic lower jaw infection and a disease of the throat ultimately proved more than his chronically ill body could stand. Although he put up a valiant fight, clinging desperately to life for the sake of his beloved son Achille, Paganini expired in Nice on May 27, 1840. He was dramatic to the very end, crying out on his deathbed, "Great God, I have no more strength!" He left a great fortune to the 14-year-old Achille, including nearly two dozen Stradivarius, Guarnerius and Amati instruments. 

Paganini's ability to enthrall an audience may still be unequaled to this day. The critical acclaim that swirled around him is typified by this dazed Leipzig critic, who said: "......he is without question the foremost and greatest violinist in the world. His playing is truly inexplicable......" Paganini himself could not even explain his uncanny powers: "......there emanates from my playing a certain magic," he wrote in 1818, "which I cannot describe to you." A Viennese critic summed it up perfectly by calling him simply "the greatest instrumentalist the world of music has ever known."

Capable of playing at a rate in excess of twelve notes per second, Paganini had no technical peers. His primary technical innovation included left-hand pizzicatos; ricochet bowing (also known as spiccato) and double-stop harmonics. All of these astonishing techniques are amply displayed in his First Violin Concerto.

Paganini wrote at least six violin concertos, although thanks to his secrecy, dates and even order of composition are not known with certainty. The first appears to have been composed about 1817-1818 (or possibly earlier) and was given its first known performance was in Naples on March 29, 1819. It immediately became a staple of his repertoire.

In Paganini's concerts, he revived the 17th-century trick of scordatura tuning, i.e.,tuning the solo violin a half-step higher than normal for added brilliance; hence the solo violin part in the first concerto was written out in D major, while the orchestration was in E♭.
Today, the first concerto is generally played in D major. Scored for full orchestra with winds in pairs (including trombones-in 1817!), the work opens with an extended martial yet jaunty orchestral introduction, Allegro maestoso, featuring plenty of bass drum  whacks and cymbal crashes.

the First movement

The solo violin enters with the following theme which sets the stage for the movement, with its wide leaps and rapid execution:

Pyrotechnics abound for the soloist, with the violin remaining in its uppermost range for much of the piece, making ample use of Paganini's trademark fourth string harmonics and double-stops in thirds. Listen, too, for the double left hand pizzicatos at the end of the exposition and recapitulation. This sunny Italian tune gives way to the second theme, which is more lyrical and expressive. The development section, after making the rounds of harmonic keys, settles into B major. 

Only the second theme returns in the recapitulation, which is followed by a dazzling cadenza. (unfortunately, Paganini's own cadenzas died with him. nowadays it plays a lot of Emile Sauret and Fritz Kreisler's cadenza.) A brief orchestral coda brings back the introductory music to wrap up the package.

The second movement Adagio lends a lyrical tenderness to the piece. The main theme is one of bittersweet poignancy:

the Second movement

Paganini had been deeply affected by the Italian tragic actor Demarini's portrayal of a prison scene in which he lamented his fate and prayed for relief from life's burdens. The result was this Adagio. 

The Finale, marked Rondo (Allegro spiritoso) returns to a virtuosic display with this vivacious themem featuring spiccato (ricochet) bowing:

the Third movement

Next we get double-stops harmonized in tenths (for perhaps the first time in a concerto), more high harmonics, and even quadruple stops! A documentary exhibition of Paganini's extraordinary abilities, the piece shows that Paganini was more than just a virtuoso showman: he was a serious composer capable of creating music of great beauty as well. 

I think Paganini will be either you really like it or hate it. Some violinists who played and recorded Paganini's works, and others who did not play and recorded for a lifetime. Even so, it is undeniable that he contributed to the development of technique in violin history. I picked the recordings according to my taste.

Sarah Chang

She recorded Paganini when she was 13 years old.

It is a prodigy

Viktoria Mullova

Mullova's Paganini is tasteful and restrained.

Yehudi Menuhin

It is a very old recording,  so even if you remastered it,

the original limit is that the sound balance between 

orchestration and solo violin is not right.

Nevertheless, Menuhin's performance is astonishing. 

Gil Shaham

Gil's performance is as flexible as water.

If you want to hear the singing Paganini,

not the Paganini of showmanship,

take this recording!

The violin virtuoso, Niccolo Paganini's violin concerto No.1 in D, Op.6 has the pleasure of finding songs hidden in a brilliant technique. It’s okay if you can’t find them. It is value listening to the brilliant sound of a violin.

Among the many violins owned by Paganini, the violin he loved most was Guarneri del Jesu "cannon". He donated it to his hometown, Genoa City Hall, and has been kept until now. The winner of the biennial "Paganini International Violin Competition" gives him the chance to play once in his life with violin "cannon".