Part 4 (1/2)

When Paganini appeared in England, of course there was a prodigious curiosity to see and hear the great player All kinds of rumors were in the public mouth about him, and many of the lower classes really believed that he had sold himself to the evil one The capacious area of the opera-house was densely packed, and the prices of adht The enthusias from some of the contemporary accounts

The concert opened with Beethoven's Second Symphony, performed by the Philhar Rossini's ”Largo al factotum” ”A breathless silence then ensued,”

writes Mr Gardiner, an amateur of Leicester, who at the peril of his ribs had been struggling in the crowd for two hours to get admission, ”and every eye watched the action of this extraordinary violinist as he glided froe An involuntary cheering burst fro fro the thunder of this unprecedented applause, his gaunt and extraordinary appearance being more like that of a devotee about to suffer ht you with his art With the tip of his bow he set off the orchestra in a grandas it was new At the termination of this introduction, he commenced with a soft, streamy note of celestial quality, and with three or four whips of his bow elicited points of sound that ht as stars Immediately an execution follohich was equally indescribable A screaht burst from the audience at the novelty of this effect etc” This _naive_ account may serve to show the iuard their words with ,” said a conteio passage His tone is, perhaps, not quite so full and round as that of a De Beriot or Baillot, for exa, but this delicacy was probably never possessed equally by another player” ”There is no trick in his playing,” writes another critic; ”it is all fair scientific execution, opening to us a new order of sounds All his passages seem free and unpremeditated, as if conceived on the instant One has no iht or labor

The word difficulty has no place in his vocabulary etc” Paganini's lengthened tour through London and the provinces was everywhere attended with the saolden harvest, for his reputation had non so portentous that he could exact the greatest terether pleased with England, but, under the surface of such coratified vanity He writes in a MS letter, dated from London in 1831, of the excessive and noisy admiration to which he was subjected in the London streets, which left hie to and froh the public curiosity to see h I have played in public at least thirty times, and my likeness has been reproduced in all possible styles and forand jostlingeither way, address lish of which I don't knoord, and even feel me as if to find out if I a the coanini repeated his visit to England during the next season, playing his final farewell concert at the Victoria Theatre, London, June 17, 1832 The two following years our artist lived in Paris, and was the great lion of musical and social circles People professed to be as much charmed with his lack of pretension, his _naive_ and sienius

Yet no hts as an artist One day a court concert was announced at the Tuilleries, at which Paganini was asked to play He consented, and went to examine the room the day before He objected to the nu as to deaden the sound, and requested the superintendent to see that they were changed The supercilious official ignored the artist's wish, and the offended Paganini determined not to play When the hour of the concert arrived, there was no violinist The royalties and their attendants were all seated; anini At last an official was sent to the hotel of the artist, only to be inforone out, but that he went to bed very early_ It was during his residence in Paris in the winter of 1834 that he proposed to Berlioz, for whom he had the most cordial esteem and admiration, to write a concerto for his Stradiuarius violin, which resulted in the famous symphony ”Harold en Italie” Four years after this he bestowed the sum of twenty thousand francs on Berlioz, as then in pressing need, delicately disguising the donation as a testimonial of his aderness of Paganini to ed hily frail, and though he was justly stigmatized as penurious in enerosity on occasions which appealed strongly to the ardent syanini reat fortune by the exercise of his art, and in 1834 purchased, a country seat called Villa Gajona, near Parh still continuing to give concerts At this period and for some tiht of his works But Paganini put a price on it which was prescriptive, the probability being that he did not wish his coiven up his career on the concert stage He illing that they should be arranged for the piano, but not published as violin ave severalothers, one for the poor at Placentia, on the 14th of November, 1834, and another at the court of the duchess of Pariving way most visibly

Phthisis of the larynx, which rendered him a mere shadow of his former self, and soround since his return to his native climate In 1836, however, he was better, and some unscrupulous Parisian speculators induced hiaanini This was duly opened in a fashi+onable part of Paris in 1837; but, as the Governa-house, and the concerts did not pay the expenses, it becareat failure, and the illustrious artist actually suffered loss by it to the extent of forty thousand francs

One of his last, if not his very last, concert was given with the guitar-player, Signor Legnani, at Turin, on the 9th of June, 1837, for the benefit of the poor He was then on his way to fulfill his engagements at the fatal Parisian casino, which opened with ain broken down, and the fatigue of the journey had told upon him so much that he was unable to appear at the casino When the enterprise was found to be a failure, a pettifogging lawsuit was carried on against hi to Fetis, who is very explicit on this subject, the French judges condemned him to pay the aforesaid forty thousand francs, and to be deprived of his liberty until that a his defense!

The career of Paganini was at this critical period fast drawing to a close His medical advisers reco that the winter would kill hied fifty-six years He left to his legiti of his _liaison_ with the singer Antonia Bianchi, a fortune of eighty thousand pounds, and the title of baron, of which he had received the patent in Germany His beautiful Guarnerius violin, the vehicle of so many splendid artistic triumphs, he bequeathed to the town of Genoa, where he was born Though Paganini was superstitious, and died a son of Holy Church, he did not leave any ious bequests, nor did he even receive the last sacraments The authorities of Rome raised many difficulties about the funeral, and it was only after an enormous amount of trouble and expense that Achille was able to have a solemn service to the memory of his father perforanini's death that this occurred, and perround in the village churchyard near the Villa Gajona During this long period the dishonored remains of the illustrious musician were at the hospital of Nice, where the body had been eing to the fae noises were heard about the grave at night--the wailings of the unsatisfied spirit of Paganini over the unsanctified burial of its earthly shell It was to end these painful stories that the young baron made a final determined effort to placate the ecclesiastical authorities

VI

The singular personality of Paganini displayed itself in his private no less than in his artistic life, and a few out of thefresh light on theselfish andlittle even for his art, except as amoney While there is much in his life to justify such an indictreat generosity He was alilling to give concerts for the benefit of his fellow-artists and for other charitable purposes, and on e sums of money for the relief of distress We enerous by i except the art ofconditions, the fact that his character was, on the whole, so _naive_ and upright, speaks eloquently for the native qualities of his disposition His eccentricities, perhaps, justified the unreasoning vulgar in believing that he was slightly crazed His appearance and manner on the platform were fantastic in the extreic bow turned all other emotions into one of breathless admiration He talked to himself continually when alone, a habit which was partly responsible for the popular belief that he was always attended by a faer was introduced to hihastly s, half repulsive He was taciturn in society, except a his intimates, when his buoyant spirits bubbled out in the ue, for he never knew any language well except his own Naturally irritable, his quick temper was infla that was aggravated by a nostrued freely Indeed, it was said by his friends that his death was accelerated by his devotion to uments could wean him

To his fellow-artists he was always polite and attentive, though they annoyed him by their persistent curiosity as to the means by which he produced his unrivaled effects--effects which the established technique of violin-playing could not explain An Englishe Harris, as an _attache_ of the Hanoverian court, attended Paganini for a year as his private secretary, and he asserts that Paganini was never seen to practice a single note ofdexterity was kept up to its pitch by the nuave, and by his exquisitely delicate organization He was accustoious and continual study, and that he could afford to repose in after years Paganini's knowledge of music was profound and exact, and the most difficult music wasat Paranini's ability to play thethe possessor of a valuable Stradiuarius violin, he challenged our artist to play, at first hand, a manuscript concerto which he placed before him ”This instrument shall be yours,” he said, ”if you can play, in a ht” The Genoese took the violin in his hand, saying, ”In that case, my friend, you may bid adieu to it at once,” and he immediately threw Pasini into ecstatic admiration by his performance of the piece There is little doubt that this is the Stradiuarius instruanini to his son, and valued at about six hundred pounds sterling

Of Antonia Bianchi, the anini tells us that, after many years of a most devoted life, the lady's temper became so violent that a separation was necessary ”Antonia was constantly tormented,” he says, ”by the most fearful jealousy One day she happened to be behind reat pianiste, and, when she read the few amiable words I had coed, she tore it from my hands, dee, would have assassinated me”

He was very fond of his little son Achille A French gentleanini to dine with hireat disorder A violin on the table with manuscriptwith his child's toys, music, money, letters, articles of dress--all _pele-mele_; nor were the tables and chairs in their proper places Everything was in the most conspicuous confusion The child was out of te had vexed him; he had been told to wash his hands; and, while the little one gave vent to the most violent bursts of temper, the father stood as calm and quiet as the most accomplished of nurses He merely turned quietly to his visitor, and said, in melancholy accents: ”The poor child is cross; I do not knohat to do to a, and I can not stand it any longer”

”It was rather aanini in his slippers doing battle with his child, who came about up to his knees

The little one advanced boldly with his wooden sword, while the father retired, crying out, 'Enough, enough! I a Achilles was never satisfied until his father, completely vanquished, fell heavily on the bed”

In the early part of the present century the facilities for travel were far less convenient than at the present tianini's frail condition of health He was, however, generally cheerful while jolting along in the post-chaise, and chatted incessantly as long as his voice held out Harris tells us that the artist was in the habit of getting out when the horses were changed, to stretch his long lie Often he extended his proh which he was passing, and would not return till long after the fresh horses had been harnessed, thereby causing much annoyance to the driver On one occasion Jehu swore, if it occurred again, he would drive on, and leave his passenger behind, to get along as best he could The secretary, Harris, was enjoying a nap, and the driver was true to his resolution at the next stopping-place, leaving Paganini behind This made ed artist, as found sputtering oaths in half a dozen languages Paganini refused to pay for the carriage, and it was only by force of law that he reluctantly settled the bill

His baggage was always of the plainest description; in fact, ludicrously simple A shabby box contained his precious Guarnerius fiddle, and served also as a portmanteau wherein to pack his jewelry, his linen, and sundry trifles In addition to this he carried a sanini was in eating and drinking exceedingly frugal Table indulgence was forbidden him by the condition of his health, as any deviation fro He was a thorough Italian in all his habits and ideas

Areat disdain for the lower classes, though he was by no means subservient to people of rank and wealth It was his habit, when an inferior addressed him, to inquire of his companion, ”What does this animal ith me?” If he was pleased with his coachman, he would say, ”That aniance of a small nature, elevated above the class in life froifts which ed all others, noble and sihly nervous constitution, he was keenly susceptible to both enjoyes that his irritability was excessive during a thunderstorether, while his eyes rolled and his lihly sensitive organizations are not unfrequently characteristic of reat Italian violinist it was developed in an abnor the last scenes of Paganini's life are very interesting He had been inti them Lord Byron, Sir Clifford Constable, Lord Holland, Rossini, Ugo Fascolo, Monti, Prince Jeroreat painters, poets, and e For Lord Byron he had a anini had stopped at Nice on his way from Paris, detained by extre near Under the blue sky and balreat ht he sat by his bedroo the glories of the Italian sunset that emblazoned earth, air, and sky, with the richest dyes of nature's palette A soft breeze swept into the roo of the birds in the green foliage ay proanini sat silently absorbed in watching the joyous scene, when suddenly his eyes turned on the picture of Lord Byron that hung on the wall A flash of enthusias to the surface, and he seized his violin to i” was the most remarkable production of his life He illustrated the storlish poet in led with the cry of liberty and the tuanini had scarcely finished this wonderful ers that refused any longer to perform their function, and the player sank into a dead swoon

The shock had been too great, and Paganini never quitted his bed afterward The day before his death he seeeon for hiht return of appetite On the last evening of his life he seemed very tranquil, and ordered the curtains to be drawn that he ht The fullwith splendor Paganini gazed eagerly, gave a long sigh of pleasure, and fell back on his pillow dead

VII