Editing Niccolò Paganini (section)

=== 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>