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Nicoḷ Paganini was born in Genoa, October 27, 1782. He is considered
one of the greatest violinists of all time.
His name is also connected with the history of the guitar; his
outstanding facility on that instrument was widely known. Though he played only
for his pleasure, he often used the guitar as an accompanying instrument for his
chamber works, in quartets, and in concerti for violin and orchestra.
His family was poor. He was pushed by his father Antonio into
general music study and lessons on the mandolin. Shortly after he began to take
lessons on violin under the tutelage of the Genoese teacher Costa.
He made rapid progress, showing an extraordinary talent. In
1795 his father brought him to Parma, the Emilian city near Bologna. Here he
came to know the famous violinist Alessandro Rolla, who lived at the time in
that city. It can be presumed that on those occasions in which Nicoḷ visited
Rolla he heard the guitar playing, as Rolla usually accompanied his violin
students with this instrument; that could well have stimulated his curiosity for
the guitar.
In November 1798 Paganini moved to Lucca. Modern musicologists
all agree that he displayed a prominent interest in the guitar during this
period. Paganini spent the three following years in intense and dedicated study
of the guitar, perhaps pushed by mundane and private reasons, rather than from a
real artistic need: Paganini had made the acquaintance of a woman of noble rank
that he was seeking to impress.
After this episode was ended, however, Paganini never forsook
the guitar, using it often for accompanying his violin students. It is quite
sure, though, that he never performed in public on the guitar, at least on
official occasions, despite reports that he was quite a skilled performer.
His career with the violin was stellar, studded with triumphs
throughout Europe, though accompanied unfortunately by chronically precarious
physical conditions, not to mention a problematic personal life. In 1822
Paganini met with Rossini in Rome: the two played and composed together music
for the carnival, in February of that year. Paganini probably also came to know
Mauro Giuliani, who resided in Rome from 1819 to 1823, though this is not
documented.
 By
1835 Paganini had returned to Genoa for a brief period, and there he had the
opportunity of meeting Luigi Legnani, with whom he is supposed to have planned
an artistic collaboration; unfortunately no document validates this hypothesis,
except the announcement of a concert in Turin on October 9, 1837.
The last part of Paganini's life was plagued by health
problems. He came back to Genoa in 1839 and then, after a few months, moved to
Nizza, where he died on May 27, 1840.
Paganini's production for guitar is, as is well known, quite
plentiful: it comprises more than two hundred works for solo guitar, violin and
guitar, and quartets with guitar, most of which remained in manuscript for
decades, largely because Paganini was always reluctant to publish his works.
Only five works, four of which call for the guitar, were
engraved with his consent during his lifetime; they are the Op. 1, 2, 3, 4 and
5, all published by Ricordi in 1820. Around 1830 (probably 1832; this is as
stated in old Ricordi catalogues) a set of "Bravura Variations" for
violin and piano, with an alternate accompaniment for guitar included, was
published by that firm; apparently this was done without Paganini's knowledge.
(Transl. M. Penny)
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