Capriccio Diabolico (Omaggio a Paganini) Op. 85 - Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco

Capriccio Diabolico (Omaggio a Paganini) was written for Andrés Segovia, and was premiered in Madrid in 1935. It is just one of the many gems of the Segovia repertoire, and has been one of my favourite pieces to play in concert for a while now. The piece, written in a Neo-Romantic style, has three motives which all appear in the introduction, and are developed throughout the course of the piece. The opening octaves and arpeggio, which sound very “Paganini“ to me, are followed by a triple stop passage, and finally a more lyrical passage which leads into the theme of the piece. Tedesco’s masterful development of these themes is what helps to maintain the listeners interest during the 10 minute run time. The only time Tedesco deviates from these themes are to quote Paganini directly. This first quote, after the tremolo section, is from Paganini’s Grand Sonata for Guitar and Violin. The second quote of “La Campanella“ at the very end, is actually an addition by Segovia. Originally, Tedesco had written some repeated high notes with the text “La Campanella“, but Segovia probably felt it was a little too cryptic, so he added the full quote. In 2006, a new edition was published adhering a little more to the manuscript than Segovia’s edited score. I’ve always found Segovia’s edits very smart, serving to make the material a little more comfortable and able to sing. However, Segovia edited out the entire penultimate page, which serves as a big build up to the ending. Although I may not play the extra page in concert, I felt compelled to include it in this recording.