unrestrained jubilee, as if a thousand bards had struck their harps and
raised their voices in a song of victory." Thus, a poet on a poet in
tones.
In 1829 Paganini was in Warsaw, and Chopin was among those who heard
him. As he was leaving, in July, he was stopped some distance from the
city by a numerous company who had met together in a garden. They drank
the health of the artist, and Joseph Xaver Elsner, Director of the
Conservatoire, handed him a costly snuff box, bearing this inscription:
"Al Cavaliere Nicolo Paganini, gli ammiratori del suo talento, Varsovia
19 Luglio 1829." Paganini pressed it to his lips, speechless with
surprise, and affected almost to tears. At Munich he gave three concerts
in November of the same year; and at the close of the last _soirée_ the
artist was crowned by Stunz, the Kapellmeister, while thousands of
laudatory poems were showered from different parts of the hall. At
Stuttgart, the King of Würtemberg presented him with 100 _louis d'or_,
and it is said that before leaving Germany Paganini sent over £6,000 to
the Bank of England for safe custody, a proceeding which showed his good
sense, and perhaps revealed a mistrust of his continental friends.
Paganini's tours, extending over three years, embraced Bohemia, Poland,
Saxony, Bavaria, Prussia, and the Rhine provinces. Many more details
might be given, but they are really needless: it was always the same
story of the artist's success, excepting, indeed, at Augsburg, where the
criticisms were adverse, as at Prague. An anecdote may fitly close the
narration of Paganini's long stay in Germany, as it reveals an
interesting trait in the character of the peasantry. Paganini, in the
autumn of 1829, was summoned to appear before the Queen Dowager of
Bavaria, at the Castle of Tegernsee, a magnificent residence of the
Kings of Bavaria, situated on the banks of a lake of the same name. At
the moment the concert was about to begin, a great bustle was heard
outside. The Queen, having enquired the cause, was informed that about
sixty of the neighbouring peasantry, having been told of the arrival of
the famous Italian violinist, were come with the hope of hearing some of
his notes, and requested that the windows should be opened, in order
that they also might enjoy his talent. The Queen went beyond their
wishes, and with truly Royal good-nature, gave orders that they should
all be admitted into the saloon, where she had the pleasure of remarking
their discernment, and the judicious manner in which they applauded the
most striking parts of the distinguished artist's performance.
Frankfort seems to have been a favourite stopping place with Paganini,
and from there, at last, he quitted the fatherland, and arrived at
Strasburg, where he gave two concerts, and thence proceeded direct to
Paris.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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