Niccolò Paganini, born on 27 October 1782 in Genoa and died on 27 May 1840 in Nice, was possibly the most virtuoso violinist in music history, but certainly the most popular and most celebrated of his time. In his day, the musician was surrounded by an aura of the demonic and was not unlike some pop stars of our time in terms of the "hype" surrounding his person and the circumstances of his appearance.

This live recording with orchestra is a rarity, as recordings of this work have only been available in the version with piano accompaniment since the turn of the century.