November 1 2008 Celebrating Salvatore Accardo Quotes* The official explanation about conferring the Genoa honorary citizenship on Salvatore Accardo Salvatore Accardo, famous and eminent personality both in the culture and in the music of the twentieth century. He is the first Italian to win the international violin competition “Niccolò Paganini” in 1958. His extraordinary virtuosity has enhanced the “Cannone” and made well-known the name of the city of Genoa all over the world. Salvatore Accardo and his musical influences David Oistrakh was my teacher, during the years we developed a great friendship. Oistrakh, Stern and Heifetz: I have learnt many things from them and now I teach my expertise to my students. Heifetz told me that if I could play scales like I did, I could play anything I would. I learned from him that technique is a medium to play music. Salvatore Accardo and Paganini Paganini for a violinist represents something wonderful, because he has discovered all it has to be discovered from the technical point of view. Paganini’s contemporaries couldn’t believe it was possible to play like he did, for them it was something inconceivable. They would prefer to think he was possessed by the devil instead. In my opinion it is important the way Paganini’s music is performed, with the due respect on the original score. Most of the violinists instead would like to make changes and to play different from what it is written by Paganini. This doesn’t’ happen to Mozart’s pieces, for example. Salvatore Accardo and the Paganini competition Winning the Paganini Competition become a burden too, because, for a period, I was asked to perform only Paganini’s music. Then I started to play other pieces by different composers, so I was able to prove I could perform not only Paganini’s music. Salvatore Accardo and the Paganini’s violin For a violinist, the violin is an extension of his own body. You can figure what it means to have the chance to perform on the Guarneri ‘del Gesù’, belonged to Paganini and put your fingers in the same place he used to: an incredible feeling. Salvatore Accardo and the music Music is emotion, love and force and all these feelings together. * Quotes taken from the interview made by the musicologist Alberto Cantù * Quotes taken from the interview made by the musicologist Alberto Cantù Photo Gallery