|
The history
of violin "Il Cannone" and its conservators Nicolo
Paganini's first contact with the instrument took place
in 1802
during one of his tours, when after one of his concert
the famous dealer
Livorn of Livorno fascinated by Paganini's play, bestowed
the instrument
to him. Paganini considered Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (1798-1875)
as the only
luthier who could take care for his precious instrument.
For several months corrected it and examined the violin
closely.
He also made a couple of copies of them.
One of them was bought by Paganini for 500 franks.
Shortly before his death, Paganini sold this copy to one
of his pupils,
Camillo Sivori. Paganini died in Nice on 27 March 1840.
In his testament he passed the original instrument to the
city of Genua.
He wanted the local government to look after the violin
properly.
Nowadays both the original instrument and the copy are
exposed in the
Town Hall in Genua. The violin „Il Cannone” was
considered as sacred.
Everyone wanted to touch it even for a while.
The first violinist who played it after Paganini's death
was Angelo Mariani.
The successors of Paganini cared for the instrument very
well.
It has always been serviced by an appointed luthier, who
looked after it also
during concerts.
The first luthier to take care of the violin was Leonardo
Bisiach (1864-1945),
who was later replaced by Cesare Candi (1864-1947).
In 1937 the General Consul of Genua agreed to exhibit the
instrument
in Cremona on the 200th anniversary of Stradivari's death.
During the World War II the violin was kept in a bomb
shelter
in Cassa di Risparmio Bank.
After the war the following luthiers took care for the
instrument:
Paolo de Barbieri (1889-1962), Giuseppe B. Lecchi (1895-1967),
since 1962 Lorenzo Bellafontana (1906-1979), then Sesto
Rocchi.
Since 1988 up until today - Renato Scrollavezza. Karol
Mikołaj Sawicki
(1792 Lvov, 1850 Vienna) polish violin-maker, made
several copies
of "Il Cannone". Pagannini called him "...
an extraordinary genius".
|
