Clesh: Paganini caprice 21

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Paganini caprice 21
6 minutes, 28 seconds long
Published 3 January, 2010
Keywords: Jack Glatzer
The 21st caprice is titled 'Amoroso' (lovingly, with love). It's a very beautiful title of course for a caprice and it shows something of Paganini's character.  [Music] We need to remember that Paganini was accused by everyone of being a miser but I think that it's important to remember that he was traumatised by the poverty of his youth. He feared poverty again and also he knew that those terrible illnesses would shorten his career and he was correct. But his friendships were truly generous and particularly the one toward Berlioz is worth thinking about in relation to this beautiful caprice. Paganini knew how impoverished Berlioz was and he needed money to allow him time to write the great music that he had in his soul. And I think the description of the way that this gift is given to Berlioz is so moving and so significant in our understanding of Paganini and his music that we should here the quotation from the beautiful memoirs of Berlioz. 'A man stopped me in the passage, a man with long hair, piercing eyes, a strange and haggered face, a genius, a titan among the giants, whom I had never seen before and at first sight I was deeply moved. This man pressed my hand and overwhelmed me with burning eulogies that set both my heart and brain on fire, it was Paganini. Paganini followed by his son Achille, came up to me at the orchestra door gesticulating violently owing to the throat infection of which he ultimately died. He had already completely lost his voice and unless everything was perfectly quiet, noone but his son could hear or even guess what he was saying. He made a sign to the child who got up on a chair, put his ear close to his fathers mouth and listened attentively. Achille then got down and turning to me said 'My father desires me to assure you sir that he has never in his life been so powerfully impressed at a concert, that your music has quite upset him and if that he did not restrain himself he should go down on his knees to thank you for it.' I made a move of incredulous embarrassment at these strange words but Paganini seizing my arm and rattling out 'Yes, yes' with the little voice he had left, dragged me up on the stage where there were still a good many of the performers, knelt down and kissed my hand.' Paganini followed this generous gesture by having his son Achille, deliver a letter the next day to Berlioz. In the envelope was a gift of twenty thousand francs which permitted Berlioz to write the magnificent Romeo and Juliet.