A new recording of Paganini's eccentric "Diary of Invention" for guitar by a young Italian musician who has quickly made a name for himself in the rock and classical genres.

Giacomo Carletti started playing the guitar at the age of 13, initially electrically. The composer Edoardo Catemario was impressed by his talent and encouraged Carletti to take up the classical guitar. Today, he makes a career as a busy concert singer with the classical instrument, while maintaining his links to pop and rock music by playing electric guitar in several bands.

As Carletti notes in his booklet essay for his debut album on Brilliant Classics, Paganini's 43 Ghiribizzi are a testament to his musical ingenuity and sense of humor. They are a showpiece for his technical prowess, but also reveal a lighter side to the virtuoso, who is often caricatured as a dark and forbidding figure.

The term Ghiribizzo is defined in Italian as "Idea bizzarra, capriccio improvviso". Many of the 43 sketches are less than a minute long and sometimes begin and end abruptly. Some are little more than melodies, others are eccentric fantasies. Many of them are based on existing material - not only on the Mozart aria "Là ci darem la mano" from Don Giovanni, which Paganini mentions in the score, but also on other melodies he picked up along the way, popular and folkloristic, often of anonymous origin. No. 37 of the collection has a particularly rich backstory: a beautiful musical reminiscence of Paganini's meeting with Rossini in Naples in 1820. The piece, divided into two parts, bears Rossini's name at the end of the first 16 bars and Paganini's at the end of the next 16, perhaps as a reminder of a game in which they improvised together.

"In recording the Ghiribizzi," says Carletti, "I wanted to emphasize the eccentric and eclectic character of the composer." I try to think of Paganini as a rock virtuoso of today and treat his music accordingly

- Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840) is perhaps best known for his 24 Caprices for solo violin, which earned him a reputation as the devilish virtuoso of his day. However, his contributions to the guitar world are equally fascinating, especially his 43 Ghiribizzi.

- In the dictionary of the Italian language, the word Ghiribizzo is described as follows: "Idea bizzarra, capriccio improvviso" (bizarre idea, capricious improvisation). The artist Giacomo Carletti on the recording: "With this precise and unambiguous definition in mind, I wanted to emphasize the eccentric and eclectic character of the composer when recording the 43 Ghiribizzi for guitar. I try to imagine Paganini as a rock virtuoso of today and treat his music accordingly. Every rhythmic variation, every single notation was studied, evaluated and decided upon with the awareness of making this as realistic as possible, what could have been a performance by Paganini himself. On this album you can hear hilarious melodies alternating, even in the same piece, with thoughtful, profound parts. Although there is no evidence of concerts given by the Italian maestro with the guitar, it is known that Paganini studied the guitar and knew how to play it with great mastery."

- Giacomo Carletti plays in a wide variety of genres and styles, alternating between performances in rock and pop bands with classical guitar solos and chamber concerts.