Alessandro Rolla

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...