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Chronological Alphabetical |
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[Maryla Jonas] [Etelka Freund] [Lubka Kolessa] [Concert Schedules] [Mona Golabek] [Gila Goldstein] [Janice Weber] [Elena Kuschnerova] [Rosario Andiano] [Mabel Pugh] Subj: More Maryla Jonas material I've now placed a good deal more Maryla Jonas material on my web site at: http://users.bigpond.net.au/nettheim/jonas/jonaindx.htm There are now ten items, including a discography. I re-named the original 1947 article, and have included a notice to that effect. You might like to refer just to the index, given above. The sequel to the 1947 story is sad indeed. Nigel Nettheim Subj: Etelka Freund Hi, All best, Subj: Re: Etelka Freund Dear M. Farhan, Sincerely, Subj: Lubka Kolessa I'm brand new to this great site. Why can't
I find Lubka Kolesa here? Subj: Re: Lubka Kolesa Dear Bill C., Thank you for your interest. Subj: Re: Lubka Kolessa I'll poke around the Royal Conservatory of
Music here in Toronto and send along whatever I come up with. Lubka Kolessa's
son and I were closest of friends in our early- and middle-teens in
the early fifties and she often made lunch for us. We hadn't a clue
she was a world famous concert pianist. She was certainly a beautiful
woman. She was famous in her later years for the teaching she did here
in Toronto and in Montreal where, I think, she died four or five years
ago. The local music shop has a box of her performances which I'll buy
in the next few days. The liner notes may help us and I'll send them along
to you. She was a rather big deal both in Europe and New York and I'm
delighted you're going to add her to your great site. Subj: Re: Lubka Kolessa (explained attachments). . .It's charming to recall those early-fifties days of playing with her son Igor in her house as a youngster. She was a dramatic and beautiful presence even for us. We weren't allowed to talk much on the ground floor which was where she taught. She made sandwiches and soup for us on weekends and chatted with us at the kitchen table for 15 or 20 minutes on those occasions. Listening to her cds now is thrilling. Her scarlatti is first rate. It all is but I have a special admiration for pianists who do Scarlatti very well. A few days back I started a thread in rec.music.classical seeking suggestions as to Notable Variations. I started with the Goldbergs, the Diabellis and something else and got about fifteen suggestions. Just now I'm listening to Lubka Kolessa's performance of Mozart's Variations on a Theme by Gluck, a piece no one suggested. Love that'd. My wife and I were in a box at Royal Albert Hall two days after the WTC catastrophe. Sir Colin Davis interrupted our furious welcoming applause for him by raising his hands to us and ask that we join him in a minute of silent reflection before beginning the performance of Beethoven's Pastoral. The faces and costumes of a Royal Albert audience reflect all mankind. The minute of silence was profound. God Bless us all. Bill C.------------------------------- Subj: Re: Lubka Kolessa Dear Bill C., "LUBKA KOLESSA. Ukrainian pianist, comes from an eminent family of Ukrainian musicians. She was born on May 19, 1904" [CD states 1902] "in Lviv (or Lemberg, Western Ukraine). Luka Kolessa studied and graduated from the State Academy of Music and the Performing Arts of Vienna. At the Academy her teachers were Louis Thern and Emil von Sauer and they guided her through her first successes, which came very early. At the age of sixteen, Kolessa was in the 'Meisterschule" of the Academy studying with von Sauer (ca. 1920); she concertized and a few years later continued studying with Eugene D'Albert. Her first spectacular success (for a girl of fourteen) came in 1918 when she won the coveted State Prize at the Vienna State Academy of Music Competition. Public appearances started very early and by 1920 she was well on the way of establishing a future. In the 1920's she performed in most cities of Europe with great success. After 1929, Kolessa's career established her as a leading pianist not only in Europe but also in other locales. She visited South America, and later performed in the U.S. and Canada. In the 1930's and 1940's she was frequently guiest soloist of orchestral programs in Europe, appearing most often with such conductors as Furtwangler, Weingartner, Mengelberg, Bruno Walter, Sir Henry Wood, Hans Kindler, etc. In Canada she was soloist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. But from the beginning much of her musical activity centered in Germany. In the 1920's she gave recitals in Berlin alsmost every year. On May 21, 1937, Kolessa appeared on British television (probably the first such performance by a pianist wearing Ukrainina folk dress). In 1939 she recorded a number of works for HMV in Germany. In 1940 the pianist moved to Toronto, where she remained professor at the Royal Conservatory for years. In the later years she also taught at the McGill University Conservatory/Montreal. Kolessa taught also at the Ukrainian Music Institue, New York (1959-1960), where she was invitied by the Institute's founder, pianist/teacher Roman Sawycky, to lead a master piano class."The book also lists 8 programs, 3 in the 1920's from Frankfurter; 2 in Town Hall, NY, 1943; 2 in Carnegie Hall, 1948 & 1950; and one in Toronto, 1948. As far as other reference books, the only English music dictionary she is listed in, Thompson's "Cyclopedia", lists her as a man in a short, 3 sentence entry. She is in several French and German music dictionaries also... In the magazine article index there is an article by Jack Silver, who wrote the liner notes, entitled "In Search of Kolessa" in the Autumn 2000 issue of "International Classical Record Collector". Thank you for bringing this fascinating woman to my attention... Sincerely, Subj: Concert schedules info request Dear Editor, Thanks, Subj: Re: Concert schedules info
request Dear D. G..., I have chosen to link to a "fan" site for Martha Argerich, which lists many interviews, rather than the management site which has limited personality information (and no concert tour information the last time I checked). But for most artists I link to the management page, if they have a site. Some major companies are still in the process of publishing online. Best wishes in your search, Subj:trying to find mona? Have you ever heard of a pianist named mona
goldaback (sp?). apparently she was the daughter of a holocaust victim,
who sent her to the u.k. just prior to wwII as part of the kindertransport
program, to get jewish children safely out of the country. Subj:Re: trying to find mona? Mona Golabek currently hosts a radio program, based
in Southern California, that combines classical music and poetry. The website is
www.RomanticHours.com. There
is a biography page on that site, but there is also a very interesting interview
located at
www.talkcity.com/transcripts/women/3-29-2000.1-1.htmpl. None of those sources list
such a background, and the interview centers around her mother's influence on her life.
George Kehler's book, The
Piano in Concert, published in 1982, seems to regard her as an important, upcoming artist,
though I don't know how much performing she does now:
Subj: my website Dear Mrs. Eide-Altman, Thank you, Subj: you forgot one Please don't forget my good friend Janice
Weber. See www.janiceweber.com
Subj: Re: you forgot one Dear Dr. L. Thank you again for your suggestion
to include Janice Weber, Subj: Elena Kuschnerova Hi, Dmitry ----------------------------- Subj: Re: Elena Kuschnerova Date: 9/11/2001 To: gara... Dear Dmitry, Thank you for updating me with the latest URL for Elena Kuschnerova. I have her listed in my page of Other Contemporary Pianists, but I see the link is old, so I will change it at my next update to http://kuschnerova.de. Sincerely, Subj: Re: Elena Kuschnerova Dear Rose, Yes, I remember that Elena Kuschnerova was in the list of "other pianists" on some web site, so it is yours. Her site at Geocities is a mirror whereas http://kuschnerova.de is her main site. I understand that compiling a list of female pianists is a hudge task. I heard that at the moment there are about 15000 professional pianists on the market, who are striving for a career as performers. And about a half of them should be female! I think that some clear criterion should
be applied to find out which artists should be included in the main list
and which in the list of other pianists, and this criterion should be explicitly
stated. The main list should be kept short enough. At the moment, it is
unclear what criterion was used and it seems that there are some artists
in the main lists that are not top concert pianists but rather teaching
staff at Schools of Music or Conservatories, such as Some of concert artists in the list are
probably not that good and more suited for the list of other pianists than
for the list of top concert pianists (Regina Shamvili?). I understand that
it is difficult to listen to all these pianists and decide who is a top artist
and who is not. If I would be the editor, I would use, as a zero approximation,
the following criterion for the inclusion in the main list: I believe that in a couple of years all serious concert artists will have web sites providing these informations and the task will become easier. Returning to Elena Kuschnerova, she has several highly acclaimed CD, she is playing big recitals, and, last but not least, she is the leading (female) pianist in the world distributing her music via Internet, see http://mp3.com/kuschnerova . That is why I would consider indluding Elena Kuschnerova in the main list. Warm regards, Subj: Re: Elena Kuschnerova Thank you for your letter. I realize that my initial label of "national or international" performing artist is rather vague and actually I do agree with you that those names you mentioned are now known more as teachers than performers. I have been considering various ways of identifying or just making one large list to avoid any controversy, but then there are obviously international artists, which we probably both agree on and that you did not contest, that should be distinct from those up and coming artists. Actually I think that less than half of the "15000" pianists are women, but that still leaves many. And maybe I should just categorize them by country, but many are residents of countries they are not born in, so I hesitate to add that label. I must admit to a personal bias toward older artists that are still playing, which includes the teachers listed, and younger artists that may give up playing after they have to "choose" between family and/or finances or other life changing activities that often have more impact on women. So in a way the lists are the young versus the older who have stuck with it as a full career, even if it involves more teaching as they get older. Thank you for pointing out broken links, I was just checking some more today. I need to sign up with a service that will do it for me, that is probably my next step. The site is still rather new and I am still working things out. Again, your comments are appreciated. Subj: Rosario Andiano Dear Editor: Mrs. Berkowtiz was a wonderful artist and human being. I lost track of her after discontinuing playing the piano but I often think of her now as I practice again. Have you heard of her? Does she have any recordings. I've been unsuccessful so far in trying to locate her until I found this site on my computer. Thanking you in advance for any assistance
I am Subj: Re: Rosario Andiano Dear P. Casey, I've looked in several sources for more information on Rosario Andiano and was unable to find any reference to her. The sources I check are listed in my site page "About This Site" at www.pianowomen.com/about.html. I am including your letter in my "Letters to the Editor" page for October and maybe a reader will recognize her from your letter and write in about her. Meanwhile, best wishes on your search and thank you for visiting "Women at the Piano". Sincerely, Subj: Mabel Pugh I'm looking for any information about a woman I know to have been a concert pianist in 1895and who died as Mabel Pugh in the late 1960s. I saw pictures of her with royalty as a result of her career. In 1960 she still had her grand piano. I don't know her maiden name.Thank you for your time. C. Wood. --------------------------------Subj: Re: Mabel Pugh Dear C.Wood, Sincerely, |
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