Biography

“Anno 1782, die 28 octobris, Nicolaus Paganino Antonii filii Johannis Baptistae et Theresiase Johannis Bocciardo coniugum, natus heri, et hodie a me Praeposito baptizatus; susciientibus Nicola Caruta quondam Bartolomaei et Columba Mayra Ferramola uxore.”

“Year 1782, day Octomber 28^th, Nicolaus Paganino, son of Anton Johann Baptist and Teresa Johann Bocciardo, married couple, born yesterday and today baptized by me vicar; witnesses Bartolomaeus’ Nicolao Caruta and his wife, Columba Maria Ferramola.”

Nicolò was born in Genoa, during an eventful historical time. As a young boy, he was taught by his father the first steps of mandolin and violin playing, then they traveled together through Italy, looking for teachers and concert opportunities. Nicolo made his first public debut at the age of eleven (1794), with great succes. The more he improved, the more he wanted to get rid of his father’s tyranny and be his own master. His dream became true in 1801, when Paganini traveled with his brother to Lucca and won a violin competition. He was 19, he was talented, he was greatly admired and for the first time free from his family, so he was tempted by an adventurous and risky life at the gambling table, which he regreted later.

He was named first-violinist of Lucca, therefore the conductor of the orchestra, and he had the opportunity to learn about every instrument. This is the time he received as a price for his musical skills the precious Guarneri del Gesu violin (“Il Cannone”), probably from a Frenchman named Livron.

From 1801 to 1804 he was no longer a performer, but, as he confessed later, the lover of a noble lady from Lucca, with whom he lived at her castle. The guitar became at that time very important in his life.

In 1804 he gets back to violin, to performing and then to Genoa, where he composes and gives private lessons. But the musical activities drag him back to Lucca in 1805, this time at the well-organized court of Elisa Baciocchi, one of Napoleon’s sisters, who hires him as orchestra conductor and “virtuoso da camera”, so that Nicolo finds himself very busy – with a new job and a new love; he only revealed this romance between him and Elisa to his son, many years later…

In 1808, after a few concerts in Livorno, he establishes for a while at the court of Paolina Borghese, in Torino, but at the end of the year we can find himself again with Elisa Baciocchi, this time in Florence, where she was moved by his brother as ducess of Toscana. But, despite her kindness, he now feels free to travel and perform in the whole Italy. Free again from 1809, he dedicates himself to his career and then gets back to Genoa (1914). From 1815 to 1817 he’s caught in a difficult trial and sentenced to pay 3000 liras as a compensation to the family Cavanna, after a short relationship with the young Angelina.

In 1816 he meets at Trieste the singer Antonia Bianchi, the future mother of his child. One year later he is in Venice when the news about his father’s death reaches him. It’s said that he doesn’t show much pain for that. He is more concerned about his mother’s health, whom he loves deeply.

In 1820, Paganini goes for the first time to Rome, and he offers himself to conduct at the premiere, unawares, his friend Rossini’s opera, “Mathilde di Shabran”; the evening is a succes. From 1820 to 1924, Paganini has to face a serious ilness and the incompetency or the greed of the doctors… Nearly dying, he finally finds a doctor who saves him, so that in the same year he is able to impress the audience of La Scala di Milano. This is also the year when he falls in love again with Antonia, who gives him a child in 1925 – Achille Ciro Alessandro Paganini. He also plans a tour to Europe.

But he isn’t still completely recovered, so he has to postpone the tour untill 1828, when he leaves Italy for a few years to conquest the whole Europe… He is now free from the wild Antonia and he manages to keep Achille with him by offering the mother an amount of money. After brilliant performings in Vien and Germany, in 1829 he is in Prague, where he meets Schottky, an University teacher who seemed fascinatedby him and who promises to write Paganini’s biography. The violinist is happy to give him interviews, letters and datails about his life in order to put an end to the defamatory rumours around him.

At his request, his friend Germi buys him a new house, Villa Gaiona, which was planned to be a peaceful place for the tired and sick violinist. But he is still working on his big european project, travelling to country to country and exhausting himself with frequent concerts (he reaches the record of giving 150 concerts in 10 months!); naturally, the gain is also fabulous!

His company is for a while the terrifying cholera, which follows him in Paris, in London, than in Genoa, (so that one might have thought that he brought it with him). He didn’t seem to be scared and his concerts during that time had an even more ravishing impact on the tormented audience.

From 1834 to his death, Paganini travels between France and his country, giving only a few concerts and taking care of his family and his ruined health. An invitation made to him in 1835 to organize the musical activity in Parma brings him his youth back. He has some nice projects, he gets very much involved and he also finds time and energy to go to fastuous parties, but his plans are destroyed by a man who at first seemed well-intentioned – the count Sanvitale.

In 1837 he finishes his will and gives his final concerts, in Torino. In his last three years of life, he makes a foolish investment in an unlucky bussiness which was planned to be a Casino of arts and gambling in Paris. Betrayed by friends and hunted by the greed ones, he has to deal with complicated trials and unfair sentences. He is now voiceless because of an old ilness and he only finds comfort in his son, whom he overwhelmes with his love. He has a few interesting meetings with Berlioz, with whom he proves himself very generous.

His health gets worse again. In 1839 he leaves Genoa for Nice, where he is still followed by painful sentences from Paris. He is very ill and lonely, but still hopes that his friend Rebizzo will find a solution to the problems they have with the Casino. At May 12^th 1840, he writes his last letter, to a friend Giordano; at May 18^th – his last words… Finally, at 27^th he dies shortly after a sudden haemoptysis, without any religious confession. That’s why the bishop declared him a heretic and refused the Christian burial for many years, till the nephew Attila got the permission to bury his grandfather in the cemetery of Parma, in 1876.

Education

When Nicolo he was 5, his father started to give him some mandolin lessons, and two years later – the first violin lessons. He was planning to make his child a great violinist, as he always dreamed for himself.

After tormenting months of violin playing under his father’s advice, Nicolo went to Giovanni Cervetto (Servetto), a teacher whom he never mentioned later. He made incredible progresses in a short time, being actually fascinated by the violin and its posibilities, and he also used to play on Sunday in the church in Genova. He finally found an excellent teacher Francesco Gnecco, whom he was very fond of; it was a productive time and Nicolo writes his first composition – a sonata.

At the age of 10 (1792-1793) he started to take lessons with Giacomo Costa, whom he liked, but the teacher didn’t manage to convince him to get used to his bow technique; it simply wasn’t Nicolo’s style. Salvatotre Tinti (Florence) and Alessandro Rolla (Parma) after hearing him, thought they don’t have anything new to teach him, but there are voices who claim that Paganini was Rolla’s pupil. One of Paganini’s most beloved teachers was Gasparo Ghiretti (Parma), who gave him counterpoint lessons and encouraged him to compose – Nicolo writes 24 fugues. Still in Parma, he learns about harmony and composition from the well-known Ferdinando Paer, for a short, but intense time. Paer himself had been Ghiretti’s pupil.

In octomber 1796, when the political situation got tensioned in Parma, Nicolò traveled back to Genova, together with his father, where he had unlimited acces to the library of a wealthy man, the marquess Di Negro. He had the chance to complete his musical education (reading about Vivaldi, Scarlati, Tartini, Pietro Locatelli ) and – probably – this is when he learns reading and writing (if not earlier, in Parma).

Paganini is a self-educated man, he studied from an early age in his own way, unable to get over his own personality; his techniques, unusual for his musical ancestors, were the main reason for the whole Europe’s shock.

As a teacher, Nicolo gave lessons starting with an early age (to Delle Piane, Angelo Torre, Giovanetti); at Lucca, this was one of his main duties. But he had one great pupil, the genoese Camillo Sivori, to whom he gave the copy of his violin.

Concerts

· Monday, May 26^th, 1794 – San Filipo Neri, Genoa – first concert at the age of 11

· San Lorenzo Cathedral (Dom of Genoa)

· July 31^st, 1795 – Sant’Agostino Theatre, with the singer Teresa Bertinotti (soprano) and Luigi Marchesi; Nicolò also plays his Variations on La Carmagnola (This concert actually marks his debut on a stage)

· 1796 – Florence

· 1797 – first concerts in other cities, Parma, Milano, Bologna, Pisa, Livorno

· December 5^th, 31^st, 1800 – Modena, for the first time he plays Fandango Spagnolo )

· September 14^th 1801 – Lucca, concert after the contest. He has cello strings on the violin and an unusually long bow.

· November 11^th 1801 – Lucca, a 28 minutes concert.

· 1804 – First concert after a three years pause.

· 1805 – 1808: Intense musical activity at Elisa Bacciochi’s court, Lucca

August 15th 1807 – Sonata Napoleone, on Napoleon’s birthday

· 1808 – Livorno, succesful concert even with a few accidents

· end of 1808 – concerts in Florence, Cesena, Piacenza, Parma, Ferrara, Bologna, Forli

· March 9^th 1809 – he is the voluntary conductor of the orchestra at the premiere of Il matrimonio sgreto

· 26 Octomber 1810 – Rimini, Polacca with variations

· 29 Octomber 1813 – Milano, La Scala, Le Streghe

· final 1813 – other concerts at Scala, Milano

· May, June 1814 – concerts at Milano, theater Re

· September 1814 – 5 concerts at Genoa, Sant’Agostino

· 1816 – 1817 – Milano, Trieste, then Venice

· February 15^th 1818 – Torino, 2 concerts

· June - July 1818 – Bologna, over 2 concerts

· August - Octomber 1818 – Florence (with Teresa Ceconi)

· Rest of the year 1818 – Siena, Napoli, Bologna, Piacenza, Cremona

· March 29^th 1819 – Napoli, Concerto No.1

· March 31^st 1819 – Napoli, Teatro del Fondo

· Tuesday, April 20^th 1819 – Rome, Tordinone Theater

· June 27^th 1819 – Napoli, San Carlo (and other 2 concerts)

· August 18^th 1819 – Napoli, Variations “Non piu mesta”

· January 7^th 1820 – Milano, Cantata “Hymn the the Harmony”

· January, February 1820 – tour in Sicilia

· July 30^th 1821 – Napoli, Variations “Nel cor piu non mi sento”

· November 1820, 1821 – conducting Rossini’s Mathilde di Shabran; concerts in Rome,

at the Theaters Valle and Argentina

· April 23^rd 1824 – Scala di Milano

· 1824 – Pavia

· November 15^th 1824 – Trieste, first concert with Antonia Bianchi

· February 1825 – Rome, with Antonia

· April 1826 – Napoli

· 1826 – Rome

· 1827 – Genoa, Milano, Torino, Bologna

· December 1827 – Florence (3 concerts), Milano (3 concerts)

· January 4^th 1928 – Pavia

EURPOEAN TOURS:

· March 29^th 1828 – 11.30, Vien

· May 11^th 1828 – Vien

· May 16^th 1828 – Vien, charity concert

· June (?)24^th 1828 – Viena, Maestosa Sonata Sentimentale

· July 24^th 1828 – Vien, the last concert of all 13, Concerto No.3, Sonata “The Storm”

· December 1,4,9,13,16,20^th 1828 – Praga

· January 23^rd – concert in Dresda

· March 4^th –May 13^th – 12 concerts in Berlin

· April 1829 – Berlin

· April 6, 9^th 1829 – Berlin, charity concerts

· April 26^th 1829 – Frankfurt am Main, Concerto No.4

· May 1829 – Breslau, Posen

· May 23^rd 1829 – first concert in Varsovia

· June 14^th 1829 – last concert in Varsovia, Sonata Varsovia

· July 24 – 28^th 1829 – 3 concerts in Breslau

· August – September 1829 – Frankfurt am Main

· September – Octomber 1829 – Darmstadt, Mainz, Halle, Leipzig[oct 16^th]

· Octomber 17^th , 23^rd 1829 – Magdeburg

· Octomber 20^th 1829 – Halberstadt

· Octomber 25^th 1829 – Dessau

· Octomber 30^th 1829 – Weimar, Court’s Theater

· November 2^nd 1829 – Erfurt

· November 6^th 1829 – Nurnberg

· November 9 – 11^th 1829 – Stuttgart

· November 13^th 1829 – Karlsruhe

· November 16^th 1829 – Brunswick

· December 3,5,7^th 1829 – Stuttgart

· December 12^th 1829 – Kalsruhe, then Mannheim

· December 18^th 1829 – Frankfurt

· Spring of 1830 – German cities

· June 1830 – Hanovra, Hamburg

· August 24^th 1830 – Wiesbaden, then Frankfurt am Main

· November 8^th 1830 – Frankfurt am Main

· December 1830 – Karlsruhe

· February 14, 17^th 1831 – Strasbourg

· March 9^th 1831 – First concert in Paris

· March 1831 – other concerts in Paris

· April 1^st 1831 – Paris, Monastery Sanct Bernard

· April 15^th 1831 – Paris

· April 17^th 1831 – Paris, first concert (charity), then another one

· April 24^th 1831 – last concert in Paris (of 12 concerts)

· June 3^rd 1831 – first concert in London, Italian Theater

· July 4^th 1831 – the 8^th concert in London

· August 20^th 1831 – 16^th concert in London (over 18!)

· July 21^st 1831 – 3^rd concert in Cheltenham

· August 1831 – Norwich (3)

· September 1831 – Irland (Dublin, Cork, Limerick)

September 7 1831 – Dublin, Variations St.Patricks Day

· Octomber 1831 – Edinburgh

· December 8 1831 – Brighton

· December 10^th 1831 – Bristol

(from Aug. 30^th 1831 to Jan. 14^th 1832: 65 concerts in England, Scotland, Irland, 30 cities)

· January 16^th 1832 – Leeds

· January 1832 – Manchester (4)

· January 23, 24, 25^th 1832 – Liverpool

· January 26, 27, 28^th 1832 – Birmingham

· January 30^th 1832 – Chester

· April 20^th 1832 – Paris, Italian Theater

· May, June 1832 – Paris (8)

· July 6^th 1832 – London, Covent Garden

· July 10 – 24^th 1832 – around London (4)

· July 27^th –August 14^th 1832 – London (4), 11 concerts at Covent Garden

· September 27^th 1832 – Paris

· Octomber 1832 – Euven, Le Havre, Rouen

· 6 May, 8 July 1832 – London, charity, Trio Concertant for violin, cello,guitar

(In all, 52 concerts in England, Scotland)

· spring of 1834 -- Amiens, Douai, Valenciennes, Mons

· March 15^th 1834 – Bruxelles ( 3)

· April 1834 – last concert in London, Sonata for viola and orchestra

· May 1834 – Liverpool

(150 concerts in ten months, on British lands)

BACK TO ITALY:

· 1834-1835 : Genoa, Piacenza, Parma

· November 30^th 1834 – Genoa, Carlo Felice

· December 5^th 1834 – Genoa, for the cholera sufferings

· December 10, 12, 20^th 1834, January 2^nd 1835 - Piacenza, Parma, Genoa

· July 28^th 1835 – Genoa, Villa di Negro

· 1835 – 1836 – conductor in Parma

· July 1836 – Torino

· December 1836 – Nisa (3)

· January 1837 – Marsilia (2)

· June 9, 16th 1837 – Torino, charity concerts