Dynamic Russian virtuoso Sergey Malov’s homage to Paganini stretches from the 17th century to the 21st, from Domenico Gabrielli and Locatelli through Paganini and Vieuxtemps to John Corigliano, Peter Christoskov, Alfred Schnittke, Jörg Widmann and Garth Knox.
Malov uses four instruments, baroque and modern violins, viola, and violoncello da spalla, literally a shoulder cello, held up with a strap — watch him play it on YouTube.
It’s clear that the spirit of Paganini remains alive and well, whether in Corigliano’s Red Violin Caprices, a nostalgic, late-20th-century evocation of Paganini-like techniques, the folksy take of Bulgarian Christoskov’s Dunavsko Horo, the bouncing dance of Knox’s Up, down, sideways, round, or the more challenging visions of Schnittke and Widmann.
