Prolific violinist Rachel Barton Pine's latest release is an exploration of the original rock star of classical music: Niccolo Paganini, a man known for his incredible skill and devil-may-care attitude.
"Paganini was a larger than life figure from 200 years ago who dressed all in black, and had long hair and lots of female fans," says Pine. "People said that maybe he sold his soul for his amazing technique."
Paganini has the reputation of a rockstar, but his legacy is that of a virtuoso. Pine's album focuses on Paganini's caprices and other unaccompanied works for violin, in which he showed the versatility the instrument was capable of.
"Paganini didn't actually do everything possible in the Caprices," says Pine. "He came close."
