A CAFÉ which has played various roles in a town’s history now carries a blue plaque to celebrate a performance it once hosted by a world-renowned musician.

Born in Italy in 1782, Niccolo Paganini was proficient on the violin by the age of seven and by 18 was a concert violinist who also gave impromptu recitals to earn money.

He performed across Europe in the early 19th century and in 1830 travelled from Durham to Bishop Auckland to play at its Assembly Rooms.

This week, on the anniversary of his death, a heritage plaque was unveiled at the venue by the Lord Lieutenant for County Durham Sue Snowdon.

“What a character he’s been, an absolute rascal I think is the way we’d describe him.

“Was I surprised to hear he’d been to Bishop Auckland? Absolutely not, because we have here a tradition of an awful lot of people travelling here,” she said.

“When I was first appointed in 2013 one of the things I said was ‘I’m here to represent the most amazing area, which has this rich culture, this rich heritage from both an industrial perspective and a Christian perspective.

“And I personally think that is what’s going to take us forward, that’s going to be the important thing – building on that culture.”

Mrs Snowdon said the blue heritage plaque was another example of the area using its history and culture, with attractions such as Auckland Castle, Kyren and art galleries, to stimulate regeneration.

Violinist Cathy Edmund performed one of his best-known pieces, Caprice 24 – the South Bank Show theme tune for a decade, for the occasion.

Beryl Anderson, of South Durham Enterprise Agency, spent 18 months researching Paganini and helped to organise the plaque’s installation in order to “mark the area’s rich and colourful heritage”.

She described Paganini as an eccentric man with long hair, a long black coat and long, double-jointed fingers which earned him the nickname ‘the devil’s fingers’.

He commanded high fees for concerts but he was a womaniser, a gambler and often ‘borrowed’ valuable instruments and didn’t return them. His appetite for travel saw his fortunes depleted and in 1936 he opened a casino in Paris which immediately flopped and left him in financial ruin.

In 1840 he died of internal haemorrhaging which some associated with the devil and he was denied a Catholic burial in Genoa – four years later and after an appeal to the Pope his body was moved to Genoa and he was later buried in a huge tomb in Parma.

The old Assembly Rooms have also been a judicial area, a church, a brewery, temperance bar and are now Zair’s Café and a holiday let.

Owner Sam Zair, whose family is from Italy, said: “Over the years, everything that happened in Bishop happened in that building. We’re very proud of its history.”