VIRTUOSITY AS RHETORIC - AGENCY AND TRANSFORMATION IN PAGANINIS MASTERY OF THE VIOLIN

While virtuosic-or incredibly skilled-action is recognized as an impor tant facet of symbolic activity, talk of virtuosity is often limited t o the superficial and deceptive uses of talent, a trend that constrain s the rhetorical nature of human agency. This essay examines virtuosit y as a performance in which the agent's display of extraordinary skill is valued because it transfigures cultural ideals concerning the expr essive power of the human agent. The study examines in detail a concer t by Nicolo Paganini, the nineteenth century violinist whose striking expressive force functioned rhetorically to expand ideas concerning mu sic and human agency, and to evoke a unique sense of communitas by emb odying the ideals of the Romantic era.