Niccolo Paganini was a phenomenal musician who is widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time. He began playing the mandolin at the age of five, then switched to the violin at the age of seven, giving his first public performance in Genoa at eleven. At the tender age of 15, the gifted adolescent embarked on solo tours. There were many great violinists in the nineteenth century, but none quite like Paganini. People wanted to think he had developed a deal with the devil because his ability went too much above that of his peers. Paganini's mother was claimed to have sold his life to the devil for him to become the most remarkable virtuoso in history.