What did Paganini die from? Love Stories: The Maestro and the Changing Muses

Probably, there was not so much gossip about a single violinist as about Paganini. It was said that he made a deal with the devil, and his violin was covered with devilish spells. It must be said that Paganini's appearance was conducive to such rumors. Black eyes, black curly hair, fine features, high forehead, thin hooked nose, thin lips, strong-willed stubborn chin. And if we add to this the different lengths of the arms and the skewedness, genius and technical virtuosity, it becomes clear why his concerts were incredibly popular. This is what everyone wanted to hear. How did the musician himself react to these rumors? He laughed! But he laughed in public, hating and despising these same people in his soul. A diabolical reincarnation worthy of the pen of the great Goethe. But there is no smoke without fire. Indeed, there are many mysteries and mystics in Paganini's life. Let's start at least with this one - the future musician was born in a poor quarter of Genoa, in the alley of the Black Cat. Italians are superstitious people, and it's not difficult to predict fate - only a loser could be born in a small narrow lane with a devilish name. And indeed, bad luck and grief relentlessly follow the boy. At the age of four, Paganini fell ill with rubella, the family lived in poverty, so there was no money for a good doctor and medicine - the parents had no choice but to patiently wait for a miracle or ... Once the father sat down on the edge of the bed to feed the boy, but he no longer moved. Considering him dead, Antonio Paganini wrapped little Niccolò in a shroud and placed him in a pre-prepared coffin. Saved by chance. Before starting to nail down the lid, the mother noticed that the boy's chest was barely rising - he was breathing. From that time on, death, like a shadow, followed Paganini: constant illnesses, seizures, nervous breakdowns. Or maybe it's some kind of mystical reckoning? After all, the boy from the poor quarter of Genoa, from the alley of the Black Cat, did not disappear like thousands of others, but ended up in History and took the place of the Great Musician? Who gave him this place? God? Fate? Father? Antonio Paganini - an ordinary salesman who dreamed of musical fame for his children? But why specifically about the musical? Trade is a thankless and unseemly business. The very bottom of life. For some reason, many inhabitants believe that merchants live well. It is not true. Only those who steal on an especially large scale live well. So it was at all times. Based on the fact that the venerable head of the family did not steal, but honestly earned in the trading business, the family was in poverty. Paganini was lucky that his father loved music and did not want his sons to live among merchants. Antonio Paganini dreamed of fame and fortune. He believed that music is a good way to get it all. Antonio himself, ambitious and ambitious, achieved little in life, so he placed all his aspirations and hopes on his sons. Most of all on the elder Carlo, because Niccolo was often sick. But apparently fate has already taken up a strange frail boy who, in his short life, managed to visit the coffin. The older brother hated the violin. From the music he turned back! And I had to pee every day! But here, as always, the case helped. Once Teresa Bocciardo saw a prophetic dream. An angel appeared to her and predicted the fate of the great musician to her youngest son. In the morning she told her husband everything. One can only imagine Antonio's joy! Carlo was immediately released from musical duty and little Niccolo took the violin in his hands. This is how the mother's dream determined the life and fate of Niccolò Paganini. Now he was obliged to become a musician, not a sales agent, not a shepherd, not an adventurer, but a musician.

Alas, Antonio Paganini did not have a fine spiritual organization; he hammered the musical science into his son rudely and like a man. Not puzzled by the fact that Niccolò was still a child, he bought him a violin as for an adult. It was inconvenient for the boy to hold it, and because of this, one arm had to be constantly stretched out, and the left shoulder kept higher than the right. From morning till night, locked in a closet, he tried to make some sounds on the violin. Like all gifted people, Paganini did not miss his destiny. For trying to play with the boys on the street, for refusing to play music, he was beaten and deprived of food. Niccolo fights with his father for the smallest piece of freedom. But Antonio is in no way inferior - after all, he had no more sons. Who then will become a musician and pull the family out of poverty? The result of the struggle between father and son turned out to be ambiguous. Paganini fell in love with the violin. Through pain and cruelty, he opened up a new world of sounds, sensuality and perception. Music burst into the life of a poor boy, subjugating all desires, aspirations and hopes. This is the greatest oddity of Paganini. All his life he will be on bad terms with his father. And when he becomes rich and famous, the last thing in the world he will be interested in the fate of Antonio Paganini.

At the age of 8, Niccolò wrote his first violin sonata. At the age of twelve, on Monday, May 26, 1794, he gives his first concert.

Young, hot, temperamental, under the strict control of his father, his concert activity is scheduled for months ahead. Despite the poor health of his son, Antonio takes him around the Italian cities like a monkey, without feeling a drop of sympathy, makes him perform and earn money for the family.

The extraordinary giftedness of the boy is amazing. Before the first tour, the teacher Niccolo Paer sent recommendations to all the major cities of Italy, which reported “the appearance of Paganini as a miracle in the history of musical excellence. In the world of musical miracles, Paganini opens a new page and that the life and history of mankind did not know a talent of such volume and power.

Parma, Florence, Pisa, Livorno, Bologna, Milan - life is like a kaleidoscope of cities. Niccolo is musically gifted, he has an extraordinary ear for music. The payoff for talent is poor health. He constantly catches a cold, often gets sick, but what a trifle it all is! - says the father, - when big money is at stake! The secret of the relationship between father and son - Paganini's family secrets. He hated and despised his father - the man who gave him a violin in his hands, helped him start a concert activity, put him on the wing, was betrayed by him at the opportunity. Having accepted the offer to take the place of the first violinist in Lucca, Paganini runs away from home. From the hated house, without looking back, only the heels sparkle.

Now he is free! My own boss. Breaking out from under the strict guardianship of his father, Paganini could indulge in all serious - women, wine, cards. But.

Yes, freedom is intoxicating. Yes, there were first hobbies. But already too much has been brought to the sacrificial altar of music to take and leave everything. It is foolish to rot and disappear among thousands of ordinary destinies. Father's science is firmly driven into the head - glory! Only glory! The secret of family hatred.

With unprecedented success, Paganini performs in Pisa, Milan, Livorno.

And suddenly... first love.

The first passion, in its strength is not inferior to the obsession with music. Need to try. Want to know. For three whole years, Paganini disappears from sight, does not give concerts, does not tour. Only at the end of 1804 did he reappear in Genoa. He is 22 years old. One can only guess how he enjoyed the romantic idyll and how he experienced the collapse of his first love. Did you worry? And what was the reason behind his disappearance? Later, someone started a rumor that all this time Niccolo was in prison for murder because of a woman, and someone claimed that he was smuggling and got caught, for which he also served time in prison. Paganini knew how to hide his personal life. It is hard to imagine a nervous, frail, music-obsessed Paganini as a murderer or a smuggler. But over the years, the trail of ridiculous rumors only grew.

At the age of 23, he goes to Lucca, where he gets the position of an orchestra conductor, and concurrently, the position of Elisa Bacciocca's lover, the wife of Duke Felice Bacciocca and Napoleon's sister. It was the latter circumstance that allowed Eliza not to burden herself with moral questions, and Niccolo to take advantage of the chance. After all, not only women pave the way to success through the bed. Paganini's personal life was not easy. Open to life and love, he attracted women with charm, wit, and sensuality. Ugly and lopsided, he annoyed successful and handsome men. If they knew that there was nothing to envy! Falling in love did not develop into love, but flirting into a sincere, deep, strong relationship. Successful in creativity, he was a failure in the personal. But young Paganini believed that things would still change!

... They said that there was no orchestra in the world more coordinated, more played than the Lucca orchestra of those years. Niccolo acted as a conductor in all opera productions, played in the palace and gave big concerts every fifteen days. Eliza patronized him: he traveled around Italy, wrote music, enjoyed life. It was to this woman that he dedicated the "Love Scene", specially written for two strings. And she threw a bold challenge to his talent and musical genius. And Paganini accepted the challenge. He was a gambling man! The musician writes a work for one string - the military sonata "Napoleon". It was after this concert that rumors spread that he entered into an agreement with the devil, and his violin was covered with magic spells. The shadow of the devil, from now on, will haunt him until his death. He was admired, huge money was paid for his concerts, but they did not believe him. They did not believe that a person, albeit not quite an ordinary one, is capable of playing so masterfully. Paganini's music did not possess high artistry, he took the audience with the technical complexity of the performance. To impress the listeners, he deliberately, before the performance, cut the strings and, when they broke, played out on one. Paganini received crazy applause, his little trick became a legend, and the rumor has survived to this day: "this is from the devil." He longed to be unique, unsurpassed, inimitable. From childhood, Paganini studied music for 15 hours a day, so much time was determined by his father. When the teachers shrugged and said that they were no longer able to teach him anything new, he drew up a special self-education program. Virtuosity, bright performance - the fruit of painstaking and hard work, sleepless nights and sweat. But the public... Ah, this public, frivolous and windy, with a light hand attributed everything to the devil.

In Livorno, an incident happened to Paganini that in many ways changed his life and attitude to the profession. Like his father, he was on the cutting edge of excitement. I sat in the casino for days, and once played to such an extent that I lost the violin. Paganini begged the owner of the casino to return the violin, but nothing came of it. It became a bitter humiliation. Debt good turn deserves another. There was no money to buy her. But again, chance intervenes in his life. The fact that Paganini was left without a violin is learned by a certain Guarneri del Gesu, a music lover, impresario and merchant. He comes to Paganini with a request to take a gift from him - a violin, which he made with his own hands. Paganini refuses - he is ashamed. After all, it's a shame! The violinist was left without a violin! And it would be okay to break it or lose it, because you lost it! And yet Jesu managed to persuade him. Until his death, Paganini will play exactly this violin, presented to him in Livorno. He even comes up with a name for her - "my gun." After that incident, the excitement as a hand removed. Paganini bypassed the casino on the tenth road. Moreover, he became stingy and prudent. He started special blue books in which he entered all the waste.

For nine years Paganini lived with Elisa Bacciocchi, but already in the third year he began to be burdened by relationships. Independent, independent, domineering, decisive Eliza did not suit him, but he could not get rid of her, as with an ordinary woman. After all, Napoleon's sister. In 1808, taking advantage of the permission to go on tour, the maestro makes an attempt to escape. He just doesn't come home. But... Eliza skillfully brought him back to Lucca. The freedom-loving Paganini was suffocating from dependence, which he once perceived as help and support for his talent.

A turning point in the situation was outlined after the defeat of Napoleon in Russia.

At the court of Eliza, it was forbidden to wear a military uniform. Paganini decides to use this ban to his own advantage by appearing in a captain's uniform for a court concert. He defiantly ignores Eliza's order to change. That same night, in order not to be arrested, the maestro flees to Florence. Thus ended the relationship. Another page in Paganini's life was turned over.

He is thirty one years old. He is an accomplished Italian musician. But not more. Concert activity did not make him a rich man, and outside of Italy, no one knew anything about him at all. But again there is a mystical coincidence. On one of the gloomy rainy autumn days of 1813, a German journalist, who was in Milan on business, decided to go to La Scala for a concert by a certain Paganini. And then, under the impression of the virtuoso playing of the Italian violinist, he wrote a review in the Leipzig Musical Gazette. It was this note that revealed the name of Paganini to European courts. Invitations rained down - the maestro begins to prepare for a European tour. But…

It happens like that. That which you aspire to all your life, to which maximum efforts were made, was destroyed by you.

A fatal woman enters the life of Paganini.

Our imagination draws a certain image of a mysterious rich person, incredible beauty and charm.

Angelina Kavanna is a simple ordinary girl, the daughter of a tailor. Paganini fell deeply and hopelessly in love. He lived according to the dictates of his heart without thinking about the consequences. The maestro takes his beloved to Parma, and when he finds out that she is pregnant, he secretly sends her to Genoa, to her friends. There her father finds her. He sues Paganini, accusing the latter of kidnapping his daughter and violence against her. What motivated this person? What did he want to achieve by exposing his daughter's personal life to the public? Kill Paganini? Mess up his name? Get some benefits for yourself? Hard times are coming for the maestro. The European tour was thwarted, the beloved woman was taken away, and love, touching, tender and, as it seemed to him, mutual, was trampled on. The lawsuit dragged on for two years. Two years of shame, gossip, ridicule. Public opinion took the side of Angelina, who at that time had a child. Paganini's first child. He will die, having lived only a few months. This was a great grief for the troubled musician, struck by misfortune in the very heart. Everyone was against him, those who yesterday enthusiastically applauded him now sneered and spat in his face. Paganini endures, tries to treat society condescendingly. What else is left for him? The envy and hatred of the crowd, like black rain, poured over him. The court found Paganini guilty and ordered to pay the victim three thousand lire and cover all the costs of the process. This story left an indelible mark on the fate of the musician. Doubts begin to arise in him about personal success, about his own ability to start a family.

Paganini puts an end to his bitter love. It was as if the difficult black years of childhood had returned. Unloved and alone, broken and devastated, he leaves for Venice. Where…

It is hard to believe that after such a scandal and reproach, the maestro was capable of any feelings. But. Antonio Bianchi, a young aspiring opera singer, touching, gentle ... He undertakes to teach her singing, takes her to concerts and becomes attached. After everything experienced, there is a temporary lull.

In 1821, Paganini reached the limit of his physical abilities. Endless concerts finally undermined frail health. Tuberculosis, fever, intestinal pain, cough, rheumatism, these are the few that tormented the maestro. Someone is spreading a rumor that Paganini is dead. He reads about his death in a newspaper article. He is sad and hard. The second time he is buried alive. Paganini is getting out of the strong embrace of his illness, his weak hands are still not confidently holding the violin, but he is already announcing a concert in Milan. In overcoming Paganini shows character, courage, the will to live, to work. The maestro is aware of his contribution to music, understands what it means as a musician. Such a person cannot be unmarked, unrewarded by fate. In 1825, Antonia gave birth to a son, Achilles. Maestro's second child. For society, he will remain illegitimate, the son of the accursed Paganini, who, as you know, is helped by the devil himself. But for a musician - a dear and beloved person. However, even after the birth of Achilles, he will not marry Antonia, no ..., he will not be able to. After Angelina, after the betrayal, the experience of shame, no ..., not getting married. Never.

The birth of a son ignites Paganini with new projects. He again returns to the idea of a European tour. In March 1828, taking Antonia and his son with him, Paganini went to Vienna.

Hello Austria, Germany, France, Poland, England, Scotland!

At the age of 46, European fame comes to Paganini. He ascends to the top of the musical world. Perhaps it should have happened a little earlier, but ... His story is the story of Cinderella of the 19th century. Unloved and cruelly offended in the family of a lonely boy who independently made his way to world fame.

Paris. March 9, 1830 Grand Opera. Balzac, Delacroix, Mendelssohn, George Sand, Musset, Aubert, Liszt, Berio, Malibran, Hugo, Rossini came to the Paganini concert. That evening, the Titans of the 19th century gathered in the magnificent hall of the Opera in order to enjoy the music and virtuosity of their own kind. The peak of world fame and artistic career of the maestro. He is at the top, after which there can be only immortality or oblivion. What is waiting for him?

Paganini meets and befriends the writer Stendhal, the Polish violinist Lipinski, Heine, Goethe, Schumann. Moreover, it has a fateful influence on some of them. In 1830, R. Schumann was at a crossroads in life - he was attracted by literature, the philosophy of art and music. Hearing Paganini play, Schumann is shocked, on that day he finally decides to become a musician. The maestro had the same great influence on Liszt. Once Goethe was asked if he could characterize Paganini in one word. “A demon,” the poet replied, “for everything demonic manifests itself in positive energy.”

In 1829, in Nuremberg, Paganini met Elena Dobenek, the daughter of the writer Feuerbach, a wonderful woman who fell in love with the maestro at first sight. For his sake, she divorces her husband, follows him everywhere. But. Paganini is afraid of love. He comes up with thousands of excuses that family life will interfere with concerts, that he is not worthy of such a woman, that ... Bold and courageous in creativity, the maestro is weak in personal affairs. He gives up and cowardly breaks off the relationship. He regrets and suffers, but the fear of a new feeling is much stronger. Greetings from Angelina Kavanna! Elena Dobenek will love this ugly and lonely person all her life. After his death, she will go to the monastery.

... It was on the European tour that Paganini began to earn a lot of money and became a rich man. At the age of twelve, when he first appeared on the stage, Paganini felt and understood that he would always feed himself. Well, my father's dream came true. And in 1830, his personal dream, the rootless son of a petty sales agent, came true. In Westphalia, he is granted the title of baron. No, he does not receive this title for merit in music. It's just that he finally had exactly the amount of money that was required to pay for the title. Everything is bought, and even the nobility even more so. But Paganini is indifferent, the main thing is that now Achilles is a baron!

In 1832, cholera begins in France and England. Paganini does not stand aside, performing an act of personal courage, playing free concerts in Paris and London, he challenges a cowardly society. Or maybe to drown out their own personal cowardice? “I, fearless in my desire to serve humanity,” is how he answers his friends, to the question for which he risks his life? Alas, but in the name of love, the maestro was afraid to take risks. Having achieved creative success, becoming a significant figure in music, he remained a deeply unhappy and lonely person. Experiencing a deep need for family happiness and mutual love, he suffered and suffered because in this matter fate bypassed him.

Forty-six years... The middle of life or its curtain? Paganini did not entertain foolish hopes. The European tour finally undermined his poor health. Having entered the zenith of fame, having finally become a rich man, the maestro feels that he has little left. And at this moment fate presents an unexpected surprise. His latest passion was Charlotte Watson. She is eighteen, he is fifty-six. And everything would be fine if ... Another hello from Angelina Kavanna! The bitter love story experienced in youth is exactly repeated in mature years. Mystical rock fulfilled its mission. Charlotte's father accuses the maestro of her kidnapping and abuse. A loud scandal, the public is horrified, but Paganini is even more horrified. In general, everything is as it was before, it comes to court, the maestro pays the payoff, his heart is broken and trampled by people. Then, in his youth, he managed to find the strength in himself to spread his wings and take off, and now ...

In 1838, ill, nervous, tired, barely on his feet, Paganini left Paris for Marseille. For ten years now he has been living outside of Italy, but he is in no hurry to return. Italy gave a lot - homeland, citizenship, music, but took away even more - love, happiness. In a foreign land, he became famous and rich and almost satisfied with life, if not for health and the same love ...

The maestro's legs swell - he can no longer get out of bed. Paganini is so exhausted that he is not even able to hold a bow in his hand. A violin lies next to him, he plucks its strings with his fingers, through which the last drops of life dry up.

Extremely ill, he is transported to Nice. In hope…

In the spring... when the flowers were in full bloom, and the buds were swelling on the trees, when the world was enjoying and filled with life and love.

He was 58 years old.

But Paganini's misadventures did not end there. The fact is that the papal curia forbade the transportation of the ashes of the maestro to Italy. Gossip about his collusion with the devil played a fatal joke. After all, Paganini never sued for slander. The logic of the church was simple, if he did not defend himself, then it really was a dark matter. Even after his death, he did not stop arguing with his fellow countrymen. Restless Paganini.

And only many years later, in 1876, thanks to the efforts of Achilles, and most importantly his money, Paganini's ashes were transported to Italy and buried in Parma. In the city where he lived his happiest time with Angelina Cavannah.

Nicolo Paganini was born on October 27, 1789 in Genoa (Italy). The alley in which his parents lived was called the Black Cat.
Nicolo's father, Antonio Paganini, was once a port loader, after which he became a small shopkeeper. His hobby was playing the mandolin, which annoyed his wife and neighbors immensely.
Nicolò's mother's name was Teresa Bocciardo. Nicolo was her second child. He was born very small and was sick a lot as a child. Once in a dream, Teresa saw an angel who told her that her son had a great future, that he would become a famous musician.
From childhood, his father makes Nicolo play the violin for many hours in a row. He even locks the child in a dark barn so that he does not run away from classes. Antonio Paganini, not doubting the veracity of his wife's dream, dreams of making a great violinist out of his younger son, especially since the eldest son does not please his father with success in this field. As a result, constant studies finally undermine the already unimportant health of Nikolo, and periods of tireless violin playing now alternate with illnesses. Many hours of classes bring the child to catalepsy - a state between life and death. Nicolo shows no signs of life, and his parents are going to bury him, but suddenly the boy stirred in the coffin.
As soon as Nikolo grew up, teachers began to invite him. The first is the Genoese violinist and composer Francesco Gnecco.
The fame of an unusually gifted boy spreads throughout the city. Giacomo Costa, the first violinist of the chapel of the Cathedral of San Lorenzo, begins to study with Nikolo once a week.
1794 - the first concert of Nicolo Paganini. The boy falls into the circle of professional musicians, he admires them, and they admire him. An aristocrat, the Marquis Giancarlo di Negro, takes care of the boy and his education.
1797 - eight-year-old Nicolo Paganini composes his first piece of music - a violin sonata. Several other variations followed immediately.
Thanks to the Marquis di Negro, Nicolò continues his education. Now he studies with cellist Gasparo Ghiretti. The new teacher forces his student to compose music without an instrument, guided only by his inner ear. For a short period, Paganini composed 24 fugues for piano four hands, two violin concertos and several pieces. None of these works have survived to our time.
Early 1800s - first tours. First, Nicolo performs in Parma, and the performances are held with great triumph. After Parma, the young man receives an invitation to speak at the court of Duke Ferdinand of Bourbon. Father Nicolo understands that the time has finally come to earn money from his son's talent and takes over the organization of tours throughout Northern Italy. Paganini performs with great success in Florence, Pisa, Bologna, Livorno, Milan. But active touring does not cancel his studies and continuing his studies, and Nicolo, under the guidance of his father, continues to learn to play the violin.
During this period, Nicolo Paganini composes 24 caprices.
Dependence on a harsh father begins to burden the grown son more and more, and he uses the first opportunity to get rid of it. In the city of Lucca, he is offered the position of the first violinist, and he immediately agrees.
In Lucca, Paganini was soon entrusted with the leadership of the city orchestra. At the same time, it is not forbidden to conduct concert activities, and Nikolo performs in neighboring cities.
First love. For three years, Paganini did not tour, he, in his own words, only "plucks the guitar strings with pleasure." The muse of the musician becomes a certain "Signora Dide". Paganini writes music, and during this period 12 sonatas for violin and guitar were born.
1804 - Paganini returns to Genoa, where he again only writes and does not perform.
1805 - 1808 - Nicolo again in Lucca. He serves as chamber pianist and orchestra conductor.
In Lucca, Nicolò falls in love with Elisa, Napoleon's sister and wife of Felice Baciocchi, ruler of the Duchy. Elise is dedicated to "Love Scene", written for the strings "Mi" and "La". In response, the capricious princess demands a composition for one string. Paganini "accepts the challenge" and a few weeks later the sonata "Napoleon" for the string "Sol" appears. In both the first and second cases, the remaining strings from the violin are removed during the performance.
August 25, 1805 - the sonata "Napoleon" was performed with great success by Paganini at a court concert.
The same period - Paganini completes the Grand Violin Concerto in E minor.
1805 - 1808 - Nicolo gets tired of relations with Elisa, the ducal court, the world. He actively tours, trying to return to Lucca less often.
1808 - Elisa becomes the owner of the Duchy of Tuscany with its capital in Florence. She gives ball after ball, and here it is already impossible to do without her beloved musician.
1808 - 1812 - Nicolo Paganini serves in Florence.
1812 - having actually escaped from Florence, Paganini moved to Milan and regularly visits the La Scala theater.
Summer 1813 - Nicolò is watching Süssmeier's ballet The Marriage of Benevento at La Scala. The dance of the witches makes a special impression on the musician. On the same evening, Paganini sets to work, and a few months later, in the same La Scala, he presents his Variations for violin and orchestra on the theme of this dance. Since the composer used in his music previously unused expressive violin means, the success was enchanting.
End of 1814 - Paganini arrives in Genoa with concerts. At home, he meets the daughter of a local tailor, Angelina Kavanna. A strong feeling flares up between them, and Nikolo continues his concert travels, no longer alone. Soon it turns out that Angelina is pregnant. Paganini, fearing a scandal, sends the girl to her relatives living near Genoa.
1815 - the scandal still occurs. Angelina is found by her father and immediately sues the musician for kidnapping and raping his daughter. The daughter gives birth to a child, but he soon dies. The case receives wide publicity, and society turns away from Paganini. The court sentences him to a fine of three thousand lire in favor of Angelina.
The lawsuit disrupts Nicolo Paganini's tour of Europe, for which a new concerto in D major (known to us as the First Concerto) has already been written.
The end of 1816 - Paganini goes to perform in Venice. Here he meets the choir singer Antonia Bianchi. The composer undertakes to teach the girl to sing and as a result takes her away with him.
1818 - Paganini in Rome and Naples.
The end of the 1810s - Paganini collects his 24 caprices for publication.
October 11, 1821 - the last performance in Naples.
The end of 1821 - Nicolo's health deteriorates sharply. He has rheumatism, cough, tuberculosis, fever ... The musician calls his mother and together they move to Pavia, to one of the best doctors of that time, Siro Borda. There are rumors in Italy that the composer has died. Having more or less regained health, Paganini does not play - his hands are weak. The musician teaches the violin to the little son of one of the merchants of Genoa.
April 1824 - again concerts, first in Milan, then in Pavia and Genoa. Paganini is almost healthy, but he will not be able to get rid of a painful cough throughout his life.
The same period - the connection between Paganini and Antonia Bianchi (who by that time had become a famous singer) was renewed. They have a son, Achilles.
1824 - 1828 - at this time, Nicolo Paganini composes the "Military Sonata", "Polish Variations" and three violin concertos.
1828 - 1836 - Paganini's last concert tour. First, he goes to Vienna with Antonia and his son. In Vienna, Nicolò composes the "Variations on the Austrian Anthem" and conceives the "Carnival of Venice".
August 1829 - February 1831 - Germany.
Spring 1830 - in Westphalia, Paganini buys himself the title of baron. Nicolo does this for the sake of his son, as the title will be inherited by him. After this event, Paganini rests from concerts for six months. He completes the Fourth Concerto, almost finishes the Fifth, composes the “Love Gallant Sonata”.
February 1831 - France. As elsewhere, Nicolo Paganini's performances are a resounding success. Increasingly, at his concerts, the musician plays with guitar accompaniment.
December 1836 - Nice, where Paganini gives three concerts. His health is rapidly deteriorating.
October 1839 - Paganini visits Genoa for the last time. He is very weak.
May 27, 1840 - Nicolo Paganini dies in Nice.

Booker Igor 11/17/2012 at 16:00

The most legendary violinist in the history of European music is Niccolò Paganini. There are no musical recordings of this composer and performer, but the more acutely the listener realizes that there will never be another such Paganini. Throughout the short life of the maestro, he was accompanied by love scandals. Was there a love for a woman in Paganini's life that would surpass his love for music?

Niccolò Paganini was born on October 27, 1782 in Genoa. However, Niccolo himself preferred to subtract two years for himself, claiming that he was born in 1784. And he signed in different ways: Niccolò, or Nicolò, and sometimes Nicola. Paganini performed his first concert as a thirteen-year-old teenager. Gradually, the handsome boy who conquered the Genoese public on July 31, 1795, turned into an awkward youth with nervous gestures. It turned out the "ugly duckling" on the contrary. Over the years, his face had taken on a deathly pallor, sunken cheeks criss-crossed with premature deep wrinkles. Feverishly glittering eyes were deeply sunken, and thin skin painfully responded to any change in the weather: Niccolo sweated in summer, and perspired in winter. His bony figure with long arms and legs dangled in his clothes like a wooden puppet.

“Constant exercise on the instrument could not but cause some curvature of the torso: the chest, rather narrow and round, according to Dr. Bennati, fell in the upper part, and the left side, because the musician kept the violin here all the time, became wider than the right; percussion heard better on the right side− the result of a pleural pneumonia suffered in Parma,− writes biographer Paganini Italian Maria Tibaldi-Chiesa(Maria Tibaldi-Chiesa). − The left shoulder rose much higher than the right, and when the violinist lowered his arms, one turned out to be much longer than the other.

With such an appearance, the most incredible rumors circulated about the ardent Italian during his lifetime. They invented a story that the musician was imprisoned for the murder of his wife or mistress. It was rumored that only one string, the fourth, allegedly remained on his violin, and he learned to play it alone. And as a string, he uses the veins of a murdered woman! Since Paganini limped on his left leg, it was rumored that he had been sitting on a chain for a long time. In fact, the still inexperienced young musician was a typical Genoese who recklessly gave himself up to his passion: whether it was playing cards or flirting with pretty girls. Fortunately, he managed to recover from the card game in time. What can not be said about the love affairs of Paganini.

Very little is known about Paganini's first passion. Niccolo did not even tell his friend her name and the place of their meetings. In the prime of his youth, Paganini retired to the Tuscan estate of a certain noble lady who played the guitar and conveyed her love for this instrument to Niccolò. In three years, Paganini wrote 12 sonatas for guitar and violin, which make up his second and third opuses. As if waking up from the spell of his Circe, Niccolo at the end of 1804 fled to Genoa to pick up the violin again. Love for the mysterious Tuscan girlfriend, and through her, for the guitar helped the musician. A different arrangement of strings than on the violin made Paganini's fingers surprisingly flexible. Having become a virtuoso, the musician ceased to be interested in the guitar and only occasionally wrote music for it. But such affection as for this noble lady, who was probably older than him, Paganini never experienced for any woman. Ahead of him was an adventurous life as a wandering musician and loneliness...

Women also appeared in it. Many years later, Paganini would tell his son Achille that he had an affair with Napoleon's older sister, Elisa Bonaparte, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, who at that time was Empress of Lucca and Piombino. Eliza awarded the violinist the title of "court virtuoso" and appointed the captain of the personal guard. Putting on a magnificent uniform, Paganini received, in accordance with palace etiquette, the right to appear at ceremonial receptions. Communication with an ugly, but intelligent woman, moreover, the sister of the French emperor himself, amuses Nikkola's vanity. The violinist aroused the jealousy of Eliza, who was five years older than Paganini, by chasing skirts.

Once Paganini made a bet. He undertook to conduct an entire opera with the help of a violin, on which there will be only two strings - the third and fourth. He won the bet, the audience went on a rampage, and Eliza invited the musician who "did the impossible on two strings" to play on one string. On August 15, the birthday of the Emperor of France, he performed a sonata for the fourth string called Napoleon. Again, a resounding success. But success with "his" ladies had already bored Paganini.

Once, passing by a house, he noticed a pretty face in the window. A certain barber volunteered to help the maestro arrange a love date. After the concert, the impatient lover on the wings of love rushed to the appointed place. At the open window, looking at the moon, stood a girl. Seeing Paganini, she began to scream. Then the musician jumped onto a low windowsill and jumped down. Later, Niccolo found out that that girl had lost her mind because of unrequited love, and at night she looked at the moon all the time, hoping that her unfaithful lover would fly from there. The matchmaker hoped to deceive the mentally ill, but she did not take the genius of music for her boyfriend.

After three years at Elisa's court, Paganini asked her permission to go on vacation. His wanderings began in the cities of Italy.

In 1808, in Turin, Niccolo met the emperor's beloved sister, the charming 28-year-old Pauline Bonaparte. Like her sister, she was also older than him, but only by two years. Polina received the affectionate nickname Red Rose from the people of Turin, in contrast to the White Rose - Eliza. Another luxurious flower appeared in Paganini's bouquet. From early youth, the beauty was rather windy and Napoleon hurried to marry her off. After the death of her husband, General Leclerc, Polina married Prince Camillo Borghese, an attractive man who did not meet the requirements of a temperamental Corsican and, moreover, stupid. The husband irritated Polina so much that he caused bouts of neurasthenia. Lovers of sensual pleasures, Polina and Niccolo, had a pleasant time in Turin and in the castle of Stupinigi. Their passionate natures quickly ignited and cooled just as quickly. When the musician had a severe indigestion, Polina found a replacement for him.

Rumors about the "long years of prison" in which Paganini allegedly sat are pure fiction, but based on real events. In September 1814, the violinist gave concerts in Genoa, where 20-year-old Angelina Cavanna threw herself into his arms. It was not love, but a lustful relationship, and it is worth saying a few words about it in order to debunk one of the myths associated with the name of Niccolò Paganini. Despite the name Angelina, which means "angel" in Italian, Mrs. Cavannah turned out to be a whore, who was kicked out of the house by her own father for debauchery. Having become the violinist's mistress, Angelina soon became pregnant. Maestro Tibaldi-Chiesa's biographer points out that this does not yet prove Paganini's paternity, since the girl "continued to meet with other men." Niccolo took her with him to Parma, and in the spring Angelina's father returned with her to Genoa, and on May 6, 1815, Paganini was arrested on charges of kidnapping and violence against his daughter. In conclusion, the musician stayed until May 15. Five days later, Paganini in turn sued the tailor Cavannes to force him to pay compensation. The baby died in June 1815. The process ended on November 14, 1816, with a decision not in favor of the violinist, who was ordered to pay three thousand lire to Angelina Cavanna. A few months before the court order, Angelina married a man named ... Paganini. It's true, he was not a musician and a relative of a violinist. The namesake was named Giovanni Batista.

On that day, the whole city went crazy: the inhabitants of Turin almost fought for tickets to a joint concert of Paganini and Bianchi. Meanwhile, the artists themselves knew each other only by hearsay. They performed on the same stage for the first time. Moreover, the violinist did not like rehearsals and met with the soloist only at the premiere. But what a meeting it was! Paganini was speechless with delight - it was good that he was playing and not singing. Antonia Bianchi had unearthly beauty and a divine voice. A real Italian, passionate, colorful, with the figure of a violin, which the maestro adored. Throughout the performance, he could not take his eyes off her, and in his thoughts the image of this woman and the music merged into one. After the concert, Paganini proposed to the singer.

He invited Antonia to Milan to work together. She replied with a sly smile. In front of her stood an ugly man, thin and awkward, only wonderful agate eyes betrayed a genius in him. The fire that awed the audience transformed the freak into a deity. The singer in the blink of an eye came up with a funny game in order to make sure the intentions of the newly-minted boyfriend. She agreed to the offer.

Inspired by good luck, the violinist went on tour. He waited a long time for news from his beloved, cursed the slowness of the mail, burned with passion and impatience, until he finally realized that he had been deceived. It is easy for famous artists to meet in big cities: the maestro was looking for Antonia in Turin, Florence, Bologna. He found traces of Bianca, but not herself. Changing addresses like gloves, the insidious woman left messages and passed notes with false promises. Paganini had to buy his own carriage, from now on his life passed on the road: “If she runs away from herself, this will continue all her life. And if from me?..” But the famous violinist worried in vain. When Paganini reached Palermo, the game was over.

Little hero and favorite muse

After the wedding, the artists toured a lot. Antonia wanted her party to be listed as the leader on the posters, and Nicolò was listed as the accompanist. He laughed and convinced his wife that there is no place for jealousy in creativity. Perhaps in the future these disputes would lead to a break, but a new circumstance appeared. Bianchi was forced to leave the stage.

A woman in her position needed peace, so the couple moved closer to the sea. Antonia's aunt, with whom they settled, became very attached to her son-in-law. The grouchy old woman liked his wealth and independence, his sharp tongue, and especially the impatience with which he was expecting a child. The birth of his son led the famous violinist to indescribable delight. Fortunately, the child was not born to the pope. With blue eyes and golden curls, the boy looked like a biblical cherub, while Paganini already at this age was called the devil. The happy father spent all the time with the baby, named after the ancient Greek hero Achilles. In the evenings they walked along the beach, and local children ran to show colored fish, fancy algae, starfish. And then Paganini took the violin, went out to the sandy spit and, surrounded by hundreds of fishermen, gave a concert. Day by day, the maestro liked Palermo more and more.

Under the hot Sicilian sun, the old passion flared up between him and his beloved muse. The birth of a son transformed both of them: they seemed younger, felt happy and could not even imagine that it would ever end.

Lost heaven

Paganini did not notice when the changes began. Antonia began to feel sad, to complain about her shaky voice, to be jealous of her husband for Achillino. Once the signora dreamed of traveling to the north, concerts in Europe, continuing her career, now she realized the futility of these hopes. The sun of Palermo still warmed Paganini, and it seemed to turn her into ashes. Achilles was in his fourth year, when the idle life finally got tired of the plump Antonia. She made scandals, insisted on moving, threatened with divorce. Paganini went to meet her: more than anything, he was afraid of losing his son. Soon the family, including the aunt and the aunt's dog, moved to Naples.

The maestro was always at enmity with the Catholics: he refused to compose psalms, and in addition, he amassed a decent fortune, which he did not want to share with the papal court. It is impossible to convey how this offended the Church at a time when her power was undeniable. While Paganini was enjoying life in Palermo, clouds were gathering around his name, most of the doors were closed for his family.

The well-bred Catholic Bianchi more than once reproached her husband:

The musicians are sure that you have entered into a relationship with evil spirits, because only the devil's help gives such power over the instrument. By the way, signor Nikolo, tell me what strings are on your violin?

Signora, in any case, they sound better than your lost voice, - answered the irritated maestro ...

Using all possible connections, the singer arranged for her husband a performance in Rome. To her complete satisfaction, Paganini was awarded the Order of the Golden Spur and a dozen letters of recommendation. The violinist dropped the package with the award and stepped on it - Antonia hit her husband in a rage. The great maestro suddenly realized that he was alone in his pride.

You are my knight of the Golden Spur, he told his son. - His Holiness bestowed this high award on three persons: Mozart, Gluck and myself. Oh, my treasure, how much more worthy you are than your father!

The final break occurred between the spouses during a European tour. Portraits of Paganini behind bars hung on the streets of Vienna: he sat with a sad face on the straw, playing in front of the crucifix and begging for forgiveness. The posters read: “Hurry! Sentenced to death and escaped from prison, the great Italian violinist Nicolo von Paganini gives a concert. The Pope forgave him numerous crimes and murders.” It was the fault of Antonia, who contacted a dishonest impresario.

The maestro demanded that his wife never again interfere in the organization of his concerts. Bianchi lost her temper. So many humiliations, hard labor, and black ingratitude in return!

Everyone tells me that you are an atheist! You refused to dip the violin in holy water!

It was not created by the master to soak for the sake of the priests. I'm really connected with the devil, and that devil is you, signora!

In response, Antonia grabbed the priceless violin and threw it to the floor with such force that the strings broke. Little Achilles woke up and, screaming in fright, fell off the bed. Paganini's broken instrument would have forgiven his wife, but the boy's shoulder dislocation, never!

Immortal genius and his widow

Soon the newspapers trumpeted that the great violinist, possessed by demons, drove his wife out of the house and took away his son. Readers did not have time to recover from this news, but another one already appeared: the maestro had died, his widow was looking for Achillino. Bianchi rushed to Paris to pick up her child, and at the same time enter into an inheritance. At this time, Nikolo, alive and well, was heading to the mountains to take a break from the hustle and bustle. After some time, the press "killed" him again, and Bianchi again looked for the grave, money and son. The resurrected Paganini was much more interesting to the public than the deceased. Newspapers with denials were published twice and even tripled, so many at first did not believe in the real death of the musical genius.

“On May 27, 1840, the famous violinist Paganini died in Nice, bequeathing his great name and fortune to his only son of 14 years old. The embalmed body was sent to the city of Genoa, the birthplace of the violinist. Let's hope that this message, like all the previous ones, will be happily refuted, ”wrote the Musical Newspaper. Bianchi immediately left for Nice.

In front of the hotel, where the violinist rested in the bose, the crowd raged. Several priests fueled popular anger. They claimed that the deceased knew evil spirits, refused to baptize his son and thus doomed him to eternal torment, killed his own wife to use her veins as strings, and now the violin sings in the voice of Bianchi.

He died without repentance, like a dog, yelled the angry crowd. - Where is he? Show us this monster! His corpse is defiling our city!

They were ready to smash the last shelter of the musician to pieces. Achillino was frightened to such an extent that he banged his head against the wall with foam on his lips.

Signora Antonia vainly begged the priest to perform the last ritual over the deceased. The hatred of the churchmen was so great that they refused to bury him. At the critical moment, when the glass shattered by stones rang, Antonia went out into the street:

Quiet! You see that your excitement is in vain: I am alive, my late husband did not make violin strings from his wife's intestines. It was only due to an oversight of the doctors that he could not take communion and reunite with the church. I ask you to disperse and not disturb the ashes of the deceased.

And the crowd listened to her. Bianchi protected her husband's body from desecration by fulfilling her last duty. She knew that the great violinist loved her even during the years of separation, although he never said "I'm sorry."

In letters to friends, he complained: “The chest cough that torments me is very upsetting, but I hold on more than I can and eat well what the “great cook” prepares for me ... I fall apart and I am infinitely sorry that I cannot see our good friend Giordano again..." It was to Giordano that Paganini's last letter of May 12 was addressed: "My dear friend, it is also possible not to answer a friend's heartfelt letters. Blame it on stubborn and endless illnesses ... The reason for all this is fate, which pleases me to be unhappy ...

Dr. Binet is considered the best doctor in Nice, and he alone treats me now. He says that if I manage to reduce the catarrh by a third, I can stretch a little more; and if it succeeds by two-thirds, then I will be able to eat, but the medicines that I started taking four days ago are of no use.

And yet, before he died, he once again played the violin ... One evening, at sunset, he was sitting at the window in his bedroom. The setting sun lit up the clouds with golden and purple reflections; a light, gentle breeze carried the intoxicating scents of flowers; many birds chirped in the trees. Well-dressed young men and women strolled along the boulevard. After observing the lively audience for some time, Paganini turned his gaze to the beautiful portrait of Lord Byron hanging by his bed. He was inflamed and, thinking of the great poet, his genius, fame and misfortune, began to compose the most beautiful musical poem that his imagination had ever created.

"He seemed to follow all the events of Byron's turbulent life. At first it was doubt, irony, despair - they are visible on every page of Manfred, Lara, Giaura, then the great poet issued a cry of freedom, urging Greece to throw off the shackles, and finally the death of a poet among the Hellenes." The musician had barely finished the last melodic phrase of this amazing drama, when suddenly the bow suddenly froze in his chilling fingers... This last burst of inspiration destroyed his brain...

It is difficult to say how reliable this evidence is, but there is also the story of Count Chessole, who claims that Byron's improvisation of Paganini on the verge of death was amazing.

The poet's prophecy, unfortunately, came true: Paganini, like Byron, knew the full depth of suffering, and before the end, life appeared before him in all its cruel reality. Fame, wealth, love - he had it all, and with all this he was sickened to the point of disgust. Now his soul was completely empty, only endless loneliness and great weariness remained in it. Success left him bitter. And his dying body shuddered convulsively before freezing in the icy stillness of death.

Paganini experienced indescribable torment in the last days of his life - from May 15 to May 27. For many hours he stubbornly tried to swallow at least the tiniest pieces of food, and, already completely losing his voice, he could not even explain himself to his son and wrote his requests on sheets of paper ... Julius Kapp in his book gave a facsimile reproduction of the last sheet on which Paganini wrote : "Red roses... Red roses... They are deep red and look like damask... Monday 18th."

From that day on, he no longer took up the pen. A lot of fantastic things have been written about the last hour of the great musician. One poetic story paints the following picture: Paganini dies on a moonlit night, holding out his hand to his violin. In fact, it wasn't all that poetic. One of the violinist's friends, who did not leave him in recent days, Tito Rubaudo, said that neither he nor anyone else who was around these days thought "that his end was so close, when suddenly Paganini , who agreed to dine, began to cough painfully. This attack cut short the moments of his life.

This is confirmed by another eyewitness - Escudier. According to his testimony, when Paganini sat down at the dinner table, he suddenly began to have a strong attack of coughing. He coughed up blood and immediately choked on it. It happened on May 27, 1840, at 5 o'clock in the afternoon.

In Paganini's will it was written: "I forbid any magnificent funeral. I do not want artists to perform a requiem for me. Let a hundred masses be performed. I present my violin to Genoa so that it will be kept there forever. I give my soul to the great mercy of my Creator ".

Paganini's grave in Parma

BMore than ten times the coffin with the remains of the great musician was interred and dug up again. In life, perhaps, he did not make such a long journey without stopping, as this already lifeless body made.

“Paganini sold his soul to the devil,” said the rumor. “And after death he will not find peace!” It is difficult to say how true the first part of this statement is. But the fact that the body of the deceased maestro really did not know peace for a long time is an absolute truth.

The famous violinist died in Nice of consumption in May 1840. Her remains were embalmed according to all the rules of that time and exhibited in the hall. Crowds of people came to look at the musician, who wielded his instrument so masterfully that he was suspected of having connections with evil spirits. Meanwhile, Paganini's son Achille, already heartbroken, was expecting a new blow of fate. The Bishop of Nice, Rev. Domenico Galvano, forbade the burial of the heretic Paganini in the local cemetery.

A beautiful walnut coffin was secretly transferred to the ship. The maestro's friends decided to take him to the musician's hometown, Genoa, to whom he bequeathed his violin. But the cowardly governor of the city, Philip Paolucci, refused even to let the ship into the harbor.

The schooner stood in the roadstead for three months. The sailors drank bitter, claiming that at night sorrowful sighs and the sounds of a violin were heard from a heavy nut box. Finally, as a result of lengthy negotiations with the most senior officials, Paganini's remains were allowed to be transferred to the basement of the castle of Count Chessole, a friend of the great violinist.

But, alas, they did not last long. The servants began to complain that the coffin shimmered in the darkness with a devilish light. Once again, the walnut box was loaded onto a wagon and taken to the mortuary of the infirmary in Villafranca. However, local employees rebelled there, who, it would seem, should have been accustomed to the dead. But Paganini's body inspired indescribable horror on them too. People regularly heard the groans and sighs of the ghost, accompanied by the sounds of passionate music.

And again, Paganini's friends were forced to set off on the road along with a sad load ...

Guy de Maupassant, inspired by this incredible epic, wrote in one of his novels “that the walnut coffin with the body of the musician rested for more than five years on the deserted rocky island of Saint Honorat, while the son of Pagapini sought in Rome the highest permission to bury him.” But Count Chessole in his memoirs gives a completely different version. Here are its main stages:

In 1842, the violinist was buried at Cape St. Hospice, at the foot of the old tower.

In April 1844, the remains were dug up again and transported to Nice.

In May 1845, the coffin was moved to the villa of Count Chessole.

But that's not all. Friends did not leave efforts to bury the maestro in a Christian way in the cemetery. These efforts were crowned with success only in 1876 - thirty years after his death!

But in 1893, the coffin was dug up again, as there were rumors that strange sounds were heard from underground, as if there was a living creature there. In the presence of Paganini's grandson, the Czech violinist Frantisek Ondřicek, the rotten walnut box was opened. The body of the musician practically decayed, but the head, especially the face, was mysteriously perfectly preserved. This provided food for a new wave of the most incredible rumors and gossip.

In 1897, the coffin with the remains of Paganini was dug out again and transported to a new cemetery ...