Mister Paganini

When it comes to violin playing, there's one name that stands totally apart – Nicolò Paganini, whose virtuosity was such that his early 19th-century listeners wondered if he could be in league with the devil. Paganini's compositions were not in the same class as his playing, and his musical spirit is now celebrated as often in other composers' takes on his work (especially the celebrated 24th Caprice) as in the music he wrote himself. Laurent Korcia's affectionate, sparkling tribute includes material from Paganini concertos morphed through the enriching lens of Fritz Kreisler, some short Kreisler bon-bons, Eugène Ysaÿe's high-jinks Paganini Variations, and Paganini's own Palpiti Variations, on a theme of Rossini. A most unusual collection. url.ie/8fjv