Revised January 4, 2020

Niccolò Paganini became the world’s first international superstar of the violin. People wondered, could the brilliance of this eccentric, odd-looking man possibly be natural? Or did he have diabolical help?

Paganini could perform technical feats no other violinist could match. If anything, his showmanship was even more marvelous than his technique. The first virtuoso to perform from memory, he could move around the stage and interact with the audience.

In part, he could outdo other violinists because he invented new techniques such as left-hand pizzicato and various new kinds of bowing and tuning. Later violinists have learned them all. But he also had incredible joint flexibility and long fingers, which gave him a reach up and down the fingerboard that no one before or since has been able to match.

Apparently, the physiological uniqueness of his technique came from some kind of congenital condition like Marfan syndrome or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. The nineteenth-century knew nothing of these conditions. Rumor had it that Paganini had sold his soul to the devil.

Other health conditions gave him a gaunt appearance. A serious illness in 1822 left him with a cadaverous pallor. In 1828, he had two operations on his jaws, which required the extraction of all his teeth. His international fame started a year later.

Whether from his medical conditions or his sense of showmanship, Paganini looked the part of an evil genius. Tall and pale, he had a long nose, long curly hair, and thin lips often formed into a sarcastic smile. Continue reading →