Michael Romkey by The Vampire's Violin

Author:The Vampire's Violin
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-06-01T22:32:54+00:00

20

I HAVE THE unhappy distinction to be the last living ex-pert to have seen the Seven before it disappeared at the end of the war,” Gianni Felici began. “One of the stranger coincidences is that I am the first expert to see it now that it has resurfaced, a half a century later, a half a world away from where I last saw it.

“The violins Archangelo Serafino made are very good instruments; all of the surviving examples are collectible and valuable, and yet they are just short of the extraordinary quality of a Stradivari. That is, all except for the final series he made at the end of his life, after losing his sight. Those violins, the so-called Angel violins, have the reputation for being the best-sounding violins ever built. The fact that he made them after he lost his sight, with only his sense of touch and hearing to guide him, makes the Angels all the more miraculous. Who can say? Perhaps Serafino really did have an angel guiding his hands as he worked.

“Serafino numbered each of the Angel violins. The one you brought to me to repair is called the Seven, for it was seventh in the series of only thirteen Angel violins built before Serafino died. The Seven belonged to Paganini for a time, so I suppose it might as

well be called the Paganini Angel. Some say the violin itself is what turned him into such a monstrous prodigy. According to legend, Paganini sold his soul to the devil in order to become the world’s greatest violinist. At least, that is what people say. Another version of the story, much less commonly known, is that the devil upheld his part of the bargain not by simply giving Paganini extraordinary talent, but rather by arranging for a wealthy patron to present the young violinist with the magnificent Seven. For so long as Paganini played the Seven, every concert was sold out and the wealthiest and most beautiful noblewomen of Europe literally threw themselves at his feet. Of course, that is all just legend. Or so we think today, but who knows for certain?

“The rest of story—and this much is true and part of the historical record—is that Paganini lost the Seven gambling. But another patron gave him the famous Guarneri del Gesu Cannon he played the rest of his life, so it didn’t turn out so badly for Paganini, though his later career never equaled its early heights. Paganini did seem to have led a life that was charmed and cursed at the same time. Which is exactly what one would suspect of someone who made a bargain with the devil.

“After Paganini lost the Seven, it changed hands, from one dealer to the next. For a time it belonged to a German violinist, a beautiful woman who inspired Johannes Brahms to write several of his lovelier sonatas and trios for piano, violin, and cello. The Seven disappeared from the records after that. Perhaps it was sold to a wealthy amateur or a professional player whose heirs were unaware of its value.

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