A violin competition backed by a wealthy Russian collector, who recently paid more than $1 million for a violin once owned by Paganini, began in Moscow yesterday. The third Paganini Moscow International Violin Competition, held at the Moscow Conservatory, has 24 contestants, half of whom are Russian, competing for a top prize of $25,000 given by the private Violin Art Foundation. The organization's chairman, Maxim Viktorov, a lawyer, has been buying up rare violins, collecting 15 so far. His latest acquisition is a Bergonzi, left, made in Cremona, Italy, around 1720 and purchased at Sotheby's in London on Nov. 1 for $1.05 million. The instrument is to go on display today through the end of the month at the Pushkin State Museum of the Arts in Moscow, and will be played by Sergei Stadler, the chairman of the competition jury, in Paganini's First Concerto on Dec. 1, when the prizes will be awarded. SOPHIA KISHKOVSKY