Books › Famous violinists and fine violins : historical notes, anecdotes, and reminiscences, 1896 › scan 27
Scan 27
Famous violinists and fine violins : historical notes, anecdotes, and reminiscences, 1896
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1know. He was a pupil of the celebrated Pugnani, of Turin, at the age of twenty, a wine merchant in London at forty-seven, leader of the Grand Opera in Paris at sixty-six, and died in London (or Brighton?) 24th March 1824, at the age of sixty-nine.
3His zenith of fame was just before the time of Paganini and De Bériot, and no performer had ever attained so high a degree of perfection, so fine a tone, such sustained elegance, such dramatic power, and so varied a style. Beauty and grandeur were the characteristics of his playing.
5Viotti shone in society as well as in the concert room. The latter he abandoned very early in his career, jealous of the applause bestowed upon others whom he knew to be inferior to himself. He played with great success in London in 1790, at which period his compatriote, the celebrated prima donna, Brigitta Banti, was still singing at the Opera here; and he was leader of the orchestra at the King's Theatre about 1794, but soon afterwards retired to Holland—it is generally supposed for certain political reasons—where, in perfect seclusion, he wrote his well-known Six Duets for two violins, and other esteemed compositions. I have said elsewhere that in this justly celebrated man we find the link which connects the modern school of violin-playing with the schools of the past; and though he had during the whole of his career only
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