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‘Paganini was a strange, fantastical man’ - From the Archive: April 1896

2026-04-10T09:17:00

Nicolo_Paganini_by_Richard_James_Lane

The celebrated French violinist Charles Dancla (1817–1907) shares his recollections of seeing Nicolò Paganini (1782–1840) perform while he was a youngster

I WAS thirteen when I heard Paganini, a strange, fantastical man, yet endowed with a prodigious power of execution. What clearness, what assurance, what sympathetic warmth to his tone. I still see Paganini, so much did he strike me; his violin still sings in my ears…

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