Editing Niccolò Paganini (section)

==Biography==
[[File:Niccolò Paganini ritratto giovanile.jpg|thumb|upright|Possible portrait of a young Paganini. Artist and date unknown.]]

===Childhood===
Niccolò Paganini was born in [[Genoa]] (then capital of the [[Republic of Genoa]]) on 27 October 1782, the third of the six children of Antonio and Teresa (née Bocciardo) Paganini.<ref name=Sugden>{{cite book |last1=Sugden |first1=John |author-link=John Sugden |title=Paganini |date=1986 |publisher=Omnibus Press |location=London |isbn=071190264X |ol=911994M}}</ref>{{rp|11}} Antonio Paganini was an unsuccessful [[ship chandler]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Martens |first1=Frederick H. |title=Little Biographies: Paganini |date=1922 |publisher=Breitkopf |location=New York City |ol=13550064M |page=6}}</ref> but he managed to supplement his income by working as a musician and by selling [[mandolin]]s.{{r|Sugden|p=11}} At the age of five, Paganini started learning the mandolin from his father and moved to the violin by the age of seven. His musical talents were quickly recognized, earning him numerous scholarships for violin lessons. The young Paganini studied under various local violinists, including Giovanni Servetto and Giacomo Costa, but his progress quickly outpaced their abilities. Paganini and his father then traveled to [[Parma]] to seek further guidance from [[Alessandro Rolla]]. But upon listening to Paganini's playing, Rolla immediately referred him to his own teacher, [[Ferdinando Paer]] and, later, Paer's own teacher, [[Gasparo Ghiretti]].

=== Early career ===
The French invaded northern Italy in March 1796, and the political situation in Genoa became unstable. The Paganinis sought refuge in their country property in Romairone, near [[Bolzaneto]]. It was in this period that Paganini is thought to have developed his relationship with the guitar.{{r|Sugden|p=18}} He mastered the guitar, but preferred to play it in exclusively intimate, rather than public concerts.<ref>P.J. Bone: ''The Guitar and Mandolin''. Schotts, UK 1954.</ref> He later described the guitar as his "constant companion" on his concert tours. By 1800, Paganini and his father traveled to [[Livorno]], where Paganini played in concerts and his father resumed his maritime work. In 1801, the 18-year-old Paganini was appointed first violin of the [[Republic of Lucca]], but a substantial portion of his income came from freelancing. His fame as a violinist was matched only by his reputation as a gambler and philanderer.

In 1805, Lucca was annexed by [[Napoleon]]ic France, and the region was ceded to Napoleon's sister, [[Elisa Bonaparte]]. Paganini became a violinist for the Baciocchi court, while giving private lessons to Elisa's husband, [[Felice Pasquale Baciocchi|Felice]] for ten years. During this time, his wife and Paganini were also carrying on a romantic affair.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bargellini|first=Sante|date=1934|journal=The Musical Quarterly|volume=XX|issue=4|pages=408–418|doi=10.1093/mq/xx.4.408|issn=0027-4631|title=Paganini and the Princess}}</ref> In 1807, Baciocchi became the [[Grand Duchess of Tuscany]] and her court was transferred to [[Florence]]. Paganini was part of the entourage but, towards the end of 1809, he left Baciocchi to resume his freelance career.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

=== Travelling virtuoso ===
[[File:Nicolo Paganini by Richard James Lane.jpg|thumb|upright|1831 bulletin advertising a performance of Paganini]]
For the next few years, Paganini returned to touring in the areas surrounding Parma and Genoa. Though he was very popular with the local audience, he was still not very well known in the rest of Europe. His first break came from an 1813 concert at [[La Scala]] in Milan. The concert was a great success. As a result, Paganini began to attract the attention of other prominent, though more conservative, musicians across Europe. His early encounters with [[Charles Philippe Lafont]] and [[Louis Spohr]] created intense rivalry.

In 1827, [[Pope Leo XII]] honoured Paganini with the [[Order of the Golden Spur]].<ref name="pd1900">David, Paul. "Paganini, Nicolo", Grove (ed.) ''A Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1900), Vol. II, pp. 628–632.</ref><ref>''[[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' (1911), Vol. XX, p. 459, "Paganini, Nicolo".</ref> His fame spread across Europe with a concert tour that started in Vienna in August 1828, stopping in every major European city in Germany, Poland, and Bohemia until February 1831 in Strasbourg. This was followed by tours in Paris and Britain. His technical ability and his willingness to display it received much critical acclaim. In addition to his own compositions, theme and variations being the most popular, Paganini also performed modified versions of works (primarily concertos) written by his early contemporaries, such as [[Rodolphe Kreutzer]] and [[Giovanni Battista Viotti]].

Paganini's travels also brought him into contact with eminent guitar virtuosi of the day, including [[Ferdinando Carulli]] in Paris and [[Mauro Giuliani]] in Vienna.<ref>Thomas F. Heck: ''Mauro Giuliani, a life for the Guitar'' (doctoral dissertation). GFA Reference, US 2013.</ref>

===Late career and health decline===
Throughout his life, Paganini was no stranger to chronic illnesses. Although no definite medical proof exists, it has been later theorized that he might have been affected by [[Marfan syndrome]]<ref>{{cite journal|first=Myron R.|last=Schoenfeld|url=http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/239/1/40|title=Nicolo Paganini – Musical Magician and Marfan Mutant?|date=2 January 1978|volume=239|number=1|pages=40–42|journal=[[The Journal of the American Medical Association]]|pmid=336919|doi=10.1001/jama.239.1.40|access-date=19 January 2010|archive-date=3 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103083712/http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=357475|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pedrazzini|first=Alessio|title=Niccolò Paganini: the hands of a genius|pmid=25948024|journal=Acta Biomedica|year=2015|volume=86|issue=1|pages=27–31}}</ref> or [[Ehlers–Danlos syndrome]].<ref>{{cite journal | pmid = 11694491 | volume=175 | issue=5 | title=Creativity and chronic disease. Niccolo Paganini (1782–1840) | date=November 2001 | journal=West J Med | pages=345 | pmc=1071620 | doi=10.1136/ewjm.175.5.345| last1=Wolf | first1=P. }}</ref> His frequent concert schedule, as well as his extravagant lifestyle, may have affected his health. Paganini was diagnosed with [[syphilis]] as early as 1822, and his remedy, which included [[Mercury (element)|mercury]] and [[opium]], came with serious physical and psychological side effects. In 1834, while still in Paris, he was treated for [[tuberculosis]].

In September 1834, Paganini put an end to his concert career and returned to Genoa. Contrary to popular beliefs involving his wishing to keep his music and techniques secret, Paganini devoted his time to the publication of his compositions and violin methods. He accepted students, of whom two enjoyed moderate success: violinist [[Camillo Sivori]] and cellist Gaetano Ciandelli. Neither, however, considered Paganini helpful or inspirational. In 1835, Paganini returned to Parma, this time under the employ of [[Archduchess]] [[Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma|Marie Louise]] of Austria, Napoleon's second wife. He was in charge of reorganizing her court orchestra, but he eventually conflicted with the players and court, so his visions never saw completion. In Paris, he befriended the 11-year-old Polish virtuoso [[Apollinaire de Kontski]], giving him some lessons and a signed testimonial. It was widely put about, falsely, that Paganini was so impressed with de Kontski's skills that he bequeathed him his violins and manuscripts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kontski, Apollinaire de. [Apolinary Katski] (1826–1879) Autograph Musical Quotation, Inscribed to a Tolstoy |url=https://www.schubertiademusic.com//items/details/5528-kontski-apollinaire-de-apolinary-katski-%E2%80%93-autograph-musical-quotation-inscribed-to-a-tolstoy |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=Schubertiade Music & Arts |language=en}}</ref>

===Final years, death, and burial===
[[File:Paganinitomb.jpg|thumb|Tomb of Paganini in [[Parma]], Italy]]
In 1836, Paganini returned to Paris to set up a casino. Its immediate failure left him in financial ruin, and he auctioned off his personal effects, including his musical instruments, to recoup his losses. At Christmas of 1838, he left Paris for Marseille and, after a brief stay, traveled to Nice where his condition worsened. In May 1840, the Bishop of Nice sent Paganini a local parish priest to perform the [[last rites]]. Paganini assumed the sacrament was premature, and refused.<ref name="pd1900" />

A week later, on 27 May 1840, the 57-year-old Paganini died from internal hemorrhaging before a priest could be summoned. Because of this, and his widely rumored association with the devil, the Church denied his body a Catholic burial in Genoa. It took four years and an appeal to the Pope before the Church let his body be transported to Genoa, but it was still not buried. His body was finally buried in 1876, in a cemetery in Parma. In 1893, the Czech violinist [[František Ondříček]] persuaded Paganini's grandson, Attila, to allow a viewing of the violinist's body. After this episode, Paganini's body was finally reinterred in a new cemetery in Parma in 1896.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Eliza |date=2023-05-26 |title=The Turbulent Life During Niccolò Paganini's Last Years |url=https://interlude.hk/on-this-day-27-may-niccolo-paganini-died/ |access-date=2024-06-14 |language=en-US}}</ref>