Alessandro Rolla (b. Pavia, 22 April 1757 – d. Milan, 15 September 1841) was widely acknowledged in his time as a violin and, especially, viola virtuoso, composer and teacher. His contribution to technique, repertoire and history of music is greatly underestimated. His son, Antonio Rolla, was also a violin virtuoso and composer.
His fame now rests mainly as "teacher of the great Paganini", yet his role was very important in the development of vio...
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Alessandro Rolla (b. Pavia, 22 April 1757 – d. Milan, 15 September 1841) was widely acknowledged in his time as a violin and, especially, viola virtuoso, composer and teacher. His contribution to technique, repertoire and history of music is greatly underestimated. His son, Antonio Rolla, was also a violin virtuoso and composer.
His fame now rests mainly as "teacher of the great Paganini", yet his role was very important in the development of violin and viola technique. Some of the technical innovations that Paganini later used largely, such as left-hand pizzicato, chromatic ascending and descending scales, the use of very high positions on violin and viola, octave passages, were first introduced by Rolla.
Rolla was born in Pavia, Italy in 1757 and after his initial studies he moved to Milan where, from 1770 to 1778, he studied with Giovanni Andrea Fioroni, Maestro di cappella at Milan Cathedral,
In 1772, he made his first public appearance as a soloist and composer performing “the...
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