Gambling on the piano Zhang Baotong 2016.9.18

Neither of Paganini's parents had a formal musical education, and the couple earned a bounty by singing at the hotel. Paganini can be said to have inherited his parents' talent www.biquge.info Pen Fun Pavilion. His body seems to have been born to play the violin. His shoulders, elbows, and wrist joints are unusually soft, his wide chest does not require him to use shoulder pads and cheek rests, and his cerebellum is well developed and his sense of hearing is sensitive, allowing him to play accurate tones even with an incorrectly tuned instrument.

Paganini was a well-known virtuoso and, at the same time, a well-known gambler. His passion and impulse to gamble are as frantic as he is to play the violin on stage. His musical talent can be said to have been inherited from his parents, while this crazy penchant for gambling was inherited from his father. When he was very young, his father often took him to such occasions, so he was already familiar with gambling at a very young age. It's just that his father is a poor man, and his wins and losses are just small fights. Paganini, however, is different. He spends a lot of money, and the bets he makes are very scary. He would often bet all the proceeds of a concert as a bet in advance.

Someone once said, "Some people have a strong personality and remain unswerving all their lives, but they can't control their gambling fanaticism." "Paganini has been short of money since he became famous, and every time he performs, he can bring him a good income. However, his money came and went quickly. In addition to being enthusiastic about **** and keeping a lover, almost all of his money was lost in the casino.

On that day, Paganini came to the casino as usual. I saw that the guys who used to gamble together were playing dice around a table. They use two dice to get bigger than the dots. The one with the big pip wins. Maybe people who don't know how to gamble will think that losing the dice, which is bigger than the point, is a very boring game. However, when this kind of game can bring you a decent income, it will be more fun to play it dramatically.

Paganini began to place bets with everyone. For the people who gambled with him were all lords who had no shortage of money, one was a young earl, another was a Jewish merchant, and the other was a gambler who made a living purely by gambling. So, everyone is making big bets. Paganini began to bet from two hundred francs. But he lost again and again, and lost all the four thousand francs he had with him. That's pretty much all he can earn from a single gig. At this point, he should be out of the game. However, he was not reconciled and wanted to get all the lost money back. Because this happens here as well. Not long ago, something like this happened here. A gambler loses all his possessions and, in the end, his young baby daughter. I don't want to, my baby daughter also lost to others. At this time, he became a clean egg, and there was nothing left except the clothes he was wearing, because his wife had divorced him a long time ago. Feeling that he had no face to live any longer, he went to the Seine, ready to end his life by jumping into the icy river.

But at that moment, a noble woman rescued him. The woman persuaded him for a while, and then gave him two hundred francs. so that he can find a job and live well. However, the gambler went straight to the casino. He staked the two hundred francs, thinking that if he lost again, he would really go to the river. However, I don't know what wind blew suddenly, how he gambled and how he won, and in the end, not only won back his precious daughter, but also won all the money of everyone present, and became a rich man in Paris in one fell swoop.

Therefore, Paganini also wanted to follow in the gambler's footsteps, and offered to bet all the money for his evening's performance in the total of five thousand francs. As a result, in a short time, the five thousand francs became someone else's spoils of war. But he didn't give up and continued to gamble. However, the others refused to gamble with him any more, because he was penniless, and the income from the evening performances had been given to others.

Seeing that others refused to gamble with him, he was anxious, he had already lost so much money, and he couldn't stop there, if so, then he would have lost too wronged, and there was no hope of even a little return. Not reconciled, he put the Amati violin beside him on the table and said, "Don't be afraid, I still have this violin." ”

This is his favorite violin, which was by his side during his eight years in prison and is named after Amati. Amati was once his most beloved woman, but because she betrayed him, she slept with another man, and in a fit of rage, he stabbed him to death with a dagger. He regretted it very much, not because he was in prison for it, but because he loved her too much. So, after that, he named the violin after her. It's as if this piano is his beloved Amati.

Everyone saw that it was his violin. Everyone picked up the violin and looked at it for a while, and then asked, "How much is this violin worth?"

Paganini said, "At least 200,000. "If it were 300,000 francs in normal life, he wouldn't sell it.

Immediately, however, someone shook their head and said, "Not so much, right?"

Others also said, "I don't think it's as good as seventy or eighty thousand." If it's not the piano you use, I don't want seven or eight thousand. ”

After some haggling, the price was finally set at 100,000 francs. But when Paganini bought it from the luthier, it cost 120,000 yuan. If he sells it to any rich man, it will be 300,000 yuan. However, now he can't care so much, he just wants to hurry up and get the lost money back.

Finally, Paganini lost a clean slate. The violin he carried with him also lost to others. He left the casino empty-handed. However, it was already dark, and the evening recital was about to begin.

He started to panic all at once, he was about to play, but he lost his piano, what should he do to play it for others? In the past, he also gambled and lost, but no matter how much he lost, as long as he had that instrument, he could earn back all the money he had lost. However, now that he doesn't even have a piano, what should he do?

When he arrives at the theater hungry from the casino, the concert is about to begin. At the entrance of the theater, a wealthy merchant named Livron, seeing that he was empty-handed and depressed, joked, "Dear Monsieur Paganini, why didn't you bring your Amati?" Amati had two meanings, one was his violin, and the other was his favorite lover.

Of course he knew what he meant, but he was now in a state of trepidation, he had come to play, but he had no piano, and how could he not be afraid of it? ”

The rich merchant looked at Paganini's face full of shame and asked, "How can you play without a piano?"

The violinist bowed his head and said, "I don't know, I think I'm going to commit suicide by jumping into the river." ”

The wealthy merchant Livron immediately waved his hand and said, "Slow down, my dear devil virtuoso, let me figure it out." He thought for a moment, then said to Paganini, "Please wait for me on stage." I'll be there in a moment. So saying, he hurried toward the luxurious carriage. It turned out that the wealthy merchant was also a well-known collector in Paris. Among his valuable collection is a very valuable violin. It was made by the famous French luthier Jesus Guarneri.

The concert will start soon. However, because there was no piano, Paganini had to wait. When nearly ten minutes had passed, the audience in the theater burst into chaos. At this time, the theater owner had to come out and explain, "Ladies and gentlemen, one of the strings of Mr. Paganini's violin has suddenly broken and needs some time to repair it. ”

Immediately, however, someone in the theater shouted, "It's not that the strings of his piano are broken, but that he has lost it." Immediately, the theater was even more chaotic and noisy. When people heard this, they began to talk about it. Some people are worried that Paganini's performance is going to be ruined, while others are eager to see Paganini's jokes. Listening to the noise and noise, Paganini's heart felt as if it were being clenched heavily, as if every minute of waiting was like a hundred years of torment.

After waiting for about twenty minutes, the rich merchant Livron, panting and running to the stage, with a violin in his hand, said, "This is a treasure from my collection, made by Jesus Guarneri, take it and use it first." ”

After waiting for a long time, Paganini, who was so anxious, didn't listen to him at all, took the violin and rushed to the stage. By this time, the curtain had already opened, and he repeatedly apologized to the audience, saying, "Bear me, the strings of my violin are broken." Now it's finally fixed. ”

When the audience saw him holding the violin in his hand, they stopped believing the claim that he had gambled and lost, and began to quiet down and listen to him play.

Paganini tried the sound and modulated the pitch. The sound quality of the piano is very good, and there is also a sound of an organ that has never been done before. So, he played very successfully.

At the end of the recital, he returned the piano to the wealthy merchant Riffron, and thanked him for giving him the first aid. The wealthy merchant Livron, on the other hand, generously gifted him this precious collection. But one of the conditions he made to Paganini was that the instrument could only be played by Paganini, and if Paganini no longer used it, he would give it to the museum.

Paganini kept this promise, and he loved it so much that he kept it with him throughout his career, naming it "My Cannon". Paganini later sent it to the famous Parisian violin repairer Verlaumi. Verlaumi made an almost authentic imitation that made it difficult for Paganini to distinguish with the naked eye, and only by careful pulling could he distinguish the real from the fake. He gave the replica to his favorite disciple, Severy.

It was this violin, called the Cannon, that made Paganini quit gambling. At one point, someone offered a very high price to bet on the instrument, and Paganini accepted. Luckily, after he had bet the last 30 francs on it, he won the gamble. Since then, Paganini has never sat down at the table again. (To be continued.) )