Crescendo of the virtuoso

the long version

During the Age of Revolution, Paris came alive with wildly popular virtuoso performances. Whether the performers were musicians or chefs, chess players or detectives, these virtuosos transformed their technical skills into dramatic spectacles, presenting the marvelous and the outre for spellbound audiences. Who were these individuals, and how did they gain their fame? How did their values of spectacularism and self-promotion become so dominant? And why did Paris become their focal point? Paul Metzner answers these questions and more in this fascinating portrayal of the cyclone of virtuosity that overtook Paris from 1775 to 1850.