Paganini Il Cannone Guarnerious

Paganini is often described as the world’s first virtuoso and is still widely recognized as one of the greatest ever. While the story of Paganini’s life story is fascinating reading the story of his favorite violin – his “Il Cannone” (The Canon) is no less so.

Niccoló Paganini (1782-1840) achieved massive fame throughout Europe and was the most celebrated virtuosi of his time, and today he is considered the father of modern day violin techniques. Sadly he lived before the time of recordings, but this rendition of one of his most famous pieces – his Caprice No. 24 – should give you an idea of what his musical and technical prowess could produce. The artist seen is Alexander Markov.

Originally Paganini played a valuable Amati violin. This however he lost in a bet as he was heavily addicted to gambling. Instead a generous businessman and amateur violinist donated him a neglected Guarneri violin. The instrument distinguished itself by having lots a resonance and a booming quality which immediately attracted Paganini. He named it “Il Cannone” – The Canon, and it was on this violin he wrote some of his fastest pieces which require advance technique and performance at breakneck speed.

“Il Cannone” after Paganini

Upon his death Paganini donated “Il Cannone” to the Italian town of Genoa who still holds the violin at the Palazzo Doria Tursi. It is now considered a national treasure. All the principle parts of the violin are still intact a unique fact in itself, considering that this instrument dates back to 1742-43. Notice that it doesn’t have any chin rest, and instead the varnish which also is the original coating has rubbed of. This is due to the fact that Paganini like his contemporaries didn’t use a chin rest. Instead they rested their head directly on the sounding board.

The violin is supervised by a panel of experts. Among them is Mario Trabucco who is charged with playing the instrument regularly and Bruce Carlson, a violinmaker in charge of the conservation. Every year Genoa hosts a violin contest and the winner gets to play the masterpiece so thankfully this masterpiece has not been reduced to a museum artifact. Rarely it’s lended to guest cities with requirements of police escorts and multimillion dollar insurance policies. It can be heard on jazz-violinist Regina Carters “Paganini: After a dream”.

On the following video you can see Il Cannone in live action. The video features Israeli violinist Shlomo Mintz playing Paganinis Violin Concerto.

While Vintage & Rare can’t boast of having a genuine Guaneri on sale we have an excelent replica made by danish luthier Robert Knudsen. The violin is available through our partner Hertz Music based in Denmark.

Robert Knudsen Guaneri Model 1739 Violin