For one lesson, I brought in Paganini’s 13th caprice. It begins with a fingered octave passage in e minor, then comes a variation of broken chords, played in a very high register. There is no room for error in finger placement, and I was leaving plenty of room in this particular performance. Perhaps it was [...]
Finishing work on a piece was always an exciting time, because Mr. Galimir and I generally worked on only one piece at a time. The end of the lesson would become a discussion about the next project. On one such occasion, we decided to begin work on Paganini’s first concerto. “Next week, the first movement, [...]