ANGELA LYONS

I t’s not every day that a violin – even one as rare and precious as a Stradivari or Guarneri – is afforded its own security guards. But ‘Il Cannone’ is not an ordinary instrument. Once the pride and joy of Nicolò Paganini, the 1743 ‘del Gesù’ was bequeathed in his will to the city of Genoa on condition that it be ‘perpetually conserved’. Throughout the years the town has taken that directive extremely seriously, and although the violin has been loaned under strict guidance to numerous performers since Paganini’s death, in recent times it has rarely left the confines of its glass cabinet. That Francesca Dego was permitted to record her latest album for Chandos on the instrument is therefore something of a coup – and the culmination of a lifelong dream for the Italian violinist. On page 26 she shares the rather surreal experience with Tom Stewart, and describes a still-powerful violin with several fascinating idiosyncrasies.