Paganini was a man of the theater, a born performer who enhanced the musical impact of his appearances by dressing his pale, skeletal frame in funereal black to create the impression of a reanimated human cadaver. To add to the mystique, he collected in his handwritten parts after every performance to ensure that no-one could learn the secrets of his pyrotechnical legerdemain. Yet behind all the window dressing, Paganini, born in Genoa in 1782, was a deeply serious artist, whose 24 Caprices for Solo Violin Op. 1 (1817) form a priceless compendium of cutting-edge techniques, ranging from “thrown” bow strokes to contortionist multiple stops for the left hand. No less impactful are his six Rossini-in-overdrive violin concertos, the second of which—“La Campanella” (1826)—features twinkling, bell-like harmonics in the finale. Yet Paganini’s most lasting legacy was his reversal of interpretive norms. From now on, performers would attempt to make even the most fiendish passages appear effortless, while slow movements were ruminated over at length. Following Paganini’s death in 1840, music would never quite be the same.