Famous Violinists of To-day and Yesterday Part 13

Other names are Madame Filipowicz, Madame Pollini, Mlle. Zerchoff, Eliza Wallace, and Rosina Collins, who all played publicly and were well known.

In 1827 Teresa Milanollo was born, and in 1832 her sister Marie, and these two young ladies played so well, and were in such striking contrast to one another, that they proved very successful as concert players. They were natives of Savigliano, in Piedmont, where their father was a manufacturer of silk-spinning machinery. Teresa, the elder, was taught by Ferrero, Caldera, and Morra, but in 1836 she went to Paris and studied under Lafont, and afterwards under Habeneck, going still later to Brussels, where she took lessons of De Beriot, and received the finishing touch to her artistic education,--faultless intonation. Her career as a concert player began when she was about nine years of age.

When Marie was old enough to handle a violin Teresa began to teach her, and in fact was the only teacher Marie ever had.

The two sisters, who were called, on account of their most striking characteristics, Mlle. Staccato and Mlle. Adagio, travelled together through France, Holland, Belgium, Germany, and England, and were everywhere received with the greatest interest. They played before Louis Philippe at Neuilly, and appeared with Liszt before the King of Prussia.

They also created a furore at Vienna and Berlin.

Marie, the younger, who was of a happy and cheerful disposition, was not strong, and in 1848 she died in Paris. Teresa, the elder, after a long retirement, resumed her travels, and, having matured and improved, she played better and excited more interest than before. In 1857 she married a French officer, Captain Theodore Parmentier, who had seen service in the Crimean War, and she abandoned the concert stage.

From 1857 until 1878 she followed the fortunes of her husband, who became a general and a "Grand Officier de la Legion d'Honneur," and her public appearances were limited to such places as the vicissitudes of a military life took her to. Since 1878 Madame Parmentier has lived quietly in Paris, where she is still to be met by a few fortunate persons in select musical and social circles.

During the lifetime of Marie, the sisters had already put themselves into direct personal relations with the poor of Lyons, but after Teresa had roused herself from her mourning for her sister she established a system of "Concerts aux Pauvres," which she carried out in nearly all the chief cities of France, and part of the receipts of these concerts was used for the benefit of the poor. Her plan was to follow up the first concert with a second, at which the audience consisted of poor school-children and their parents, to whom she played in her most fascinating manner, and, at the conclusion of her performance, money, food, and clothing, purchased with the receipts of the previous concerts, were distributed.

From 1830 there has been a constantly increasing number of ladies who have appeared as concert violinists, but few have continued long before the public, or have reached such a point of excellence as to be numbered amongst the great performers.

Mlle. Emilia Arditi, Fraulein Hortensia Zirges, Miss Hildegard Werner, Miss Bertha Brousil, and Madame Rosetta Piercy-Feeny were all born during the decade 1830 to 1840, and were well known, but in 1840 and 1842 two violinists were born who were destined to hold the stage for many years and to exert a great influence in their profession. Wilma Neruda, now known as Lady Halle and Camilla Urso are the two ladies in question, the former exerting her influence chiefly in England and on the Continent, and the latter in America.

Miss Werner has played an important part in advancing the art amongst women, having for many years conducted a school of music at Newcastle-on-Tyne, in England. She was also the first woman ever to address the Literary and Philosophical Society, when in 1880 she delivered an address on the history of the violin. There is little doubt, however, that the success of Teresa Milanollo gave the first great impulse toward the study of the violin by women.

Lady Halle was born at Brunn, March 21, 1840. Her father was Josef Neruda, a musician of good ability, and he gave her the first instruction on the violin, and then placed her under Leopold Jansa, in Vienna. Wilhelmina Maria Franziska Neruda made her first appearance in public in 1846, at which time she was not quite seven years old. On this occasion her sister Amalie, who was a pianist, accompanied her, and shortly afterwards her father took her, with her sister Amalie and one of her brothers, on an extended tour. The family consisted of two sons--a pianist and a 'cellist--and two daughters--a violinist and a pianist.

In 1849 they reached London, where the young violinist played a concerto by De Beriot, at the seventh Philharmonic concert of that season. By the critics at that time she was said to be wonderful in bravura music, in musical intelligence, and in her remarkable accuracy.

As time went on, and her playing matured, she became known throughout Europe. In 1864 she married Ludwig Norman, conductor of the opera at Stockholm, and for a time she remained in that city and became a teacher at the Royal Music School.

Before long she was again busy with concert playing, and in 1869 she again appeared in England, where she became a great favourite, and has appeared there regularly almost, if not quite, every season since. Hans von Bulow spoke of her as Joachim's rival, and called her "the violin fairy."

Joachim has always been a great favourite in England, but Madame Norman-Neruda, or Lady Halle, as she became later, has fully shared his popularity. What Joachim is to the sterner s.e.x, just the same is Lady Halle to the gentler.

Joachim was indeed one of the first to recognise the fact that he had in Mlle. Neruda a rival, for in the days when she was earning her reputation he heard her at some place on the Continent, and remarked to Charles Halle, who afterwards became her husband, "I recommend this artist to your careful consideration. Mark this, when people have given her a fair hearing, they will think more of her and less of me."

Ludwig Norman died in 1885, and three years later Madame Norman-Neruda married the pianist, Charles Halle, who had long been identified with all that was best musically in England, and who was knighted in recognition of his services to the cause of art.

Sir Charles Halle established a series of orchestral concerts at Manchester in 1857, and by means of these concerts brought before the English public the works of many composers who would have remained unknown perhaps for years but for his efforts. In this work he was ably supported by this talented violinist, afterwards his wife, and with her he made many tours all over the British Isles.

In 1890 Sir Charles and Lady Halle made a tour in Australia, which was highly successful. Five years later they went to South Africa, where they met with a flattering reception. In his memoirs, Sir Charles Halle tells of a curious compliment which they received at Pietermaritzburg.

The mayor invited them to play at a munic.i.p.al concert to be given one Sunday afternoon. The concert began, and after an organ solo and a song had been given by other musicians, they played the Kreutzer sonata. At the conclusion of the sonata, a member of the corporation came forward, and said that after the impression just received he thought it would be best to omit the remainder of the programme, upon which the audience cheered and dispersed.

In 1895, shortly after their return from the South African tour, Sir Charles Halle died, and Lady Halle went into retirement. At this time her numerous admirers in England presented her with a valuable testimonial of their appreciation.

Throughout her career she has fulfilled the prophecies made of her in her youth, for her talent and musicianship developed as she grew up, and her genius did not burn itself out as that of many infant prodigies has done. She has never endeavoured to secure public applause at the expense of her real artistic nature. Her performances are and always have been synonymous with all that is good in musical art, and nothing but that which is of the best has ever been allowed to appear upon her programmes.

She is celebrated no less as a quartet player than as a soloist, and was for many years first violin of the Philharmonic Quartet in London.

In 1898, Lady Halle had the misfortune to lose her son, Mr. Norman Neruda, who, while scaling a difficult place in the Alps, slipped and was killed.

In the following year she emerged from her retirement and visited the United States, where her playing was highly appreciated by unbia.s.sed critics. There was a feeling, however, that she might have made the journey many years before, and allowed the American public to hear her in her prime, when she would have received not only a very warm welcome, but would have been judged rather by her merits than by her history, and she would not have challenged comparison with the violinists of the rising generation.

Camilla Urso has been for many years one of the best known violinists in the United States. She was born at Nantes, in France, in 1842, of Italian parents. Her father was Salvator Urso, a good musician, and son of a good musician, so that the young violinist inherited some of her talent. In 1852 the family crossed the Atlantic and settled in the United States, and almost immediately the little girl began to appear at concerts. Camilla Urso began to study the violin at the age of six years, and her choice of that instrument was determined by her hearing the violin and being fascinated by it during a celebration of the Ma.s.s of St. Cecilia. She was taken to Paris for instruction, for which purpose her father abandoned his position at Nantes. She entered the Conservatoire and became a pupil of Ma.s.sart.

She made a tour through Germany, during which she met with immense success, and then returned to Paris to continue her studies.

She was fresh from Ma.s.sart's instruction when, in October, 1852, she made her first appearance in Boston, where her playing and her style called forth eulogies from the critics of those days. John S. Dwight wrote to the effect that it was one of the most touching experiences of his life to see and hear the charming little maiden, so natural and childlike, so full of sentiment and thought, so self-possessed and graceful. Her tone was pure, and her intonation faultless, and she played with a "fine and caressing delicacy," and gave out strong pa.s.sages in chords with thrilling grandeur.

For three years she continued to travel and delight American audiences, and then for a period of about five years she retired into private life, and did not resume her professional career until 1862, from which time she frequently made concert tours in America until she returned to Paris. It was about the period of these tours that her influence upon young women began to be felt, for she was at an age when womanly grace becomes evident, and her manners and character were as fascinating as her playing.

In Paris she so pleased M. Pasdeloup that he begged her not to allow herself to be heard in public until she had played at his concerts. "You may count upon a splendid triumph," he said. "It is _I_ who tell you so.

Your star is in the ascendant, and soon it will shine at the zenith of the artistic firmament."

The result justified the prophecy, and Camilla Urso was the recipient of great honours in Paris. She was presented by the public with a pair of valuable diamond earrings, and was treated almost like a prima donna.

In March, 1867, Mlle. Urso received a testimonial from the musical profession in Boston, where a few years later she had a curious experience. She was playing a Mozart concerto, at a concert, when an alarm of fire was given, and caused a good deal of excitement. Many of the audience left their seats and made for the door, but the violinist stood unmoved until the alarm was subdued and the audience returned to their seats, when she played the interrupted movement through from the beginning.

In 1879 she made a tour to Australia, and again in 1894.

In 1895 she was in South Africa, and achieved great triumphs in Cape Town, besides giving concerts at such out-of-the-way places as Bloemfontein. She has probably travelled farther than any other violin virtuosa.

For the past few years she has lived in New York, and has practically retired from the concert stage.

Teresina Tua, who was well known in the United States about 1887, was born at Turin in 1867. As in the case of Wilhelmina Neruda and of Camilla Urso, her father was a musician, and she received her early musical instruction from him. Her first appearance in public was made at the age of seven, and up to that time she had received no instruction, except that given her by her father. During her first tour she played at Nice, where a wealthy Russian lady, Madame Rosen, became interested in her, and provided the means to go to Paris, where she was placed under Ma.s.sart.

In 1880 Signorina Tua won the first prize for violin playing at the Paris Conservatoire, and the following year made a concert tour which extended through France and Spain to Italy. In 1882 she appeared in Vienna, and in 1883 in London, where she played at the Crystal Palace.

Wherever she went people of wealth and distinction showed the greatest interest in her, and when she came to America in 1887 she appeared laden with jewelry given her by royalty. Her list of jewels was given in the journals of that day,--"a miniature violin and bow ablaze with diamonds, given by the Prince and Princess of Wales; a double star with a solitaire pearl in the centre, and each point tipped with pearls, from Queen Margherita of Italy." Besides these, there were diamonds from the Queen of Spain and from the Empress of Russia and sundry grand d.u.c.h.esses. No lady violinist ever appeared before an American audience more gorgeously arrayed. "Fastened all over the bodice of her soft white woollen gown she wore these sparkling jewels, and in her hair were two or three diamond stars," said the account in Dwight's _Journal of Music_. Yet with all this the criticisms of her playing were somewhat lukewarm. The expectation of the people had been wrought up to an unreasonable pitch, and Signorina Tua, while she was acknowledged to be an excellent and charming violinist, was not considered _great._ After a time, however, as she became better known, she grew in popular estimation, and before she left America she had hosts of admirers.

On returning to Europe she made another tour, but shortly afterwards she married Count Franchi Verney della Valetta, a distinguished Italian critic, and retired into private life, though from time to time she was heard in concerts in Italy.

In 1897 she was again on the concert stage, and played at St. James's Hall, London, after an absence of eight years, and it was considered that her playing had gained in breadth, while her technique was as perfect as ever.

Of the three hundred or more pupils of Joachim, there have been several ladies who have attained celebrity, of whom Miss Emily Shinner (now Mrs. A. F. Liddell) has been for some years the most prominent in England, while the names of Gabrielle Wietrowitz and Marie Soldat are known throughout Europe, and Maude Powell and Leonora Jackson are among the brightest lights from the United States.

Miss Emily Shinner has been in many respects a pioneer amongst lady violinists, for in 1874, when quite young, she went to Berlin to study the violin. In those days pupils of the fair s.e.x were not admitted to the Hochschule, and Miss Shinner began to study under Herr Jacobsen. It happened, however, that a lady from Silesia arrived at Berlin, intending to take lessons of Joachim, but unaware of the rules against the admission of women to the Hochschule. Joachim interested himself in her, and she was examined for admission. Miss Shinner at once presented herself as a second candidate, and the result was that both ladies were accepted as probationers. In six months Miss Shinner was allowed to become a pupil of Joachim, and thus gained the distinction of being the first girl violinist to study under the great professor.

Again in 1884 Miss Shinner, having acquired a great reputation in musical circles in England, was called upon at very short notice to take Madame Neruda's place as leader to the "Pop" Quartet, on which occasion she acquitted herself so well that an encore of the second movement of the quartet was demanded. Since that time she has been always before the public, and has taken special interest in chamber music and quartet playing, the Shinner Quartet of ladies having acquired a national reputation.

Her marriage to Capt. A. F. Liddell took place in 1889.

Marie Soldat was born at Gratz in 1863 or 1864, and was the daughter of a musician, who was pianist, organist, and choirmaster, and who gave her instruction from her fifth year on the piano. Two years later she began to learn the organ, and was soon able to act as subst.i.tute for her father when occasion required her services. Until her twelfth year she studied music vigorously, taking violin lessons with Pleiner at the Steier Musical Union at Gratz, and composition with Thierot, the Kapellmeister, at the same time keeping on with the pianoforte.

She played the phantasie-caprice by Vieuxtemps in a concert at the Musical Union when she was ten years of age, and at thirteen she went on a tour and played Bruch's G minor concerto.

Soon after this she had the misfortune to lose her father, and a little later her violin teacher, Pleiner, also died, so that her progress received a check. Joachim, however, visited Gratz to play at a concert, and the young girl went to him and consulted him as to her future course. As a result of the interview she began to take lessons of August Pott, a good violinist at Gratz, and the following year (1879) she again went on a concert tour, visiting several cities in Austria.

During this tour, she made the acquaintance of Johannes Brahms, who took a great deal of interest in her, advised her to devote all her energies to the violin, and succeeded in arranging for another interview with Joachim, the result of which was that she was enabled to enter the Berlin High School for Music. Here she pursued her studies until 1882, after which she still continued her studies and took private lessons of Joachim.

At the high school she gained the Mendelssohn prize, and from that time commenced her career as a virtuosa, touring extensively throughout Europe. One of her greatest triumphs was when, in 1885, at Vienna, she played Brahm's violin concerto with Richter's orchestra.

Her career has been marked by hard work and continual practice, which have enabled her to overcome many obstacles, and have placed her on a level with the very best violinists of her s.e.x.

The Ladies' String Quartet, which she formed in Berlin, consisting of herself as first violin, with Agnes Tschetchulin, Gabrielle Roy, and Lucie Campbell, had a creditable career, and appeared in several German cities.