The ghost of Paganini

The Belgian violinist Eugène Yasÿe frightened Busoni by playing the Bach Chaconne and Paganini Caprices on a kit violin in the darkened passages of a hotel.  ”It was like the ghost of Paganini, purposely exaggerating all the worst mannerisms of the typical virtuoso, and Busoni could never forget the sight of Ysaÿe’s vast bulk and the grotesque contrast of the tiny little violin. It was a scene from an unwritten tale of Hoffmann…”

Edward J. Dent (Ferruccio Busoni: A Biography, Oxford University Press, 1933). Cited at: http://mouthfulsfood.com/forums//lofiversion/index.php/t16677.html

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