Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840) was the most celebrated musician the first half of nineteenth century Europe. A consummate performer on the violin, his bold on-stage persona contrasted with his notoriously secretive private life. Groomed by his father to be a musician in the opera orchestra, he sought another existence, as a virtuoso violinist. Mired in an obsessive quest to realize his own destiny, he recklessly pursued a life of excess. Decades later, an American connection leads to revealing the true nature of this man widely recognized as the first of his kind.