ike the Swedish neoclassical shred pioneer Yngwie Malmsteen, Bernd Steidl has adapted Niccolo Paganini's virtuosic violin compositions to the guitar. Unlike Malmsteen, however, Steidl plays them on acoustic. His 1991 debut album, "Psycho Acoustic Overture", established the then-23-year-old German wunderkind as one of the world's fastest acoustic guitar soloists. On his latest outing, "Paganiniana" (Shrapnel), he draws from both classical and flamenco sources to create a sound that is cinematic, and at times almost gothic. Highlights of the album are "Paganiniana 1" and "Paganiniana 2", in which Steidl offers his own interpretations of the great 19th century Italian artist.
"It's difficult to play Paganini on acoustic guitar because you have to play his music with real precision," says Steidl. "If you play sloppy, everything is just gone." Steidl is anything but sloppy, as he delivers his machine-gun solos with a passion and technical mastery that would no doubt have pleased Paganini himself.
Steidl attributes his instrumental facility to hard work and dedicated study.
"Around the time of my first album," he says, "I wasn't satisfied - I couldn't play what I heard in my head. So I kept practicing."
Things began to click for Steidl when, as a 19-year-old, he attendes Los Angeles' Musician's Institute of Technology. "I wanted to check out the guitar scene in L.A. because in the late Eighties it was the world's hottest." It was at Musician's Institute that a faculty member suggested that Steidl send a tape of his playing to Shrapnel Records' owner Mike Varney, who was impressed enough to sign the young guitarist.
Steidl spends much of his time these days scoring German films. And practicing incessantly, as anyone who worships at the altar of Paganini must.
ike the Swedish neoclassical shred pioneer Yngwie Malmsteen, Bernd Steidl has adapted Niccolo Paganini's virtuosic violin compositions to the guitar. Unlike Malmsteen, however, Steidl plays them on acoustic. His 1991 debut album, "Psycho Acoustic Overture", established the then-23-year-old German wunderkind as one of the world's fastest acoustic guitar soloists. On his latest outing, "Paganiniana" (Shrapnel), he draws from both classical and flamenco sources to create a sound that is cinematic, and at times almost gothic. Highlights of the album are "Paganiniana 1" and "Paganiniana 2", in which Steidl offers his own interpretations of the great 19th century Italian artist.