Niccol? Paganini's violin
The "Cannone" of Joseph Guarnerius del Ges?
The home town of Niccol? Paganini (1782 - 1840), Genova is the place where the famous violin, made by Joseph Guarnerius del Ges? is conservated. It seems that Paganini came in possession of the'Cannone' around 1802, although the circumstances are not very clear.
Paganini used this violin throughout his entire career and he was quite jelous of it, since the only violinmaker who could make a copy directly from the original violin was Jean Baptiste Vuillaume. During the winter of 1833/34 he was encharged to restore the Cannone and he took that opportunity to make a copy of it, that was given to Paganini: later the virtuoso passed that violin to his pupil Camillo Sivori (1815 - 1894) who left it to the town of Genova after his death.
The two violins owned by Niccolò Paganini are today exhibited in a special room of the town hall building, now converted into a museum. According to his father's will, the Cannone was consigned by the son of Paganini, Baron Achille to the Major of Genoa on 17th july 1851. Since then the violin has been preserved with lot of care and prudency and it is still in pure and admirable condition: it still retains its original neck, the plates have never been re-graduated, and the gorgeous varnish is one of the most beautiful.
It still sounds terrific. Ask people who heard its voice in New York in 1994 during the Guarneri exhibition for an opinion!
