Agnes Zimmermann and Adele Aus der Ohe
Two Famous Female Pianists of the Nineteenth Century
Sep 18, 2008
In the nineteenth century there were many celebrated male concert pianists, but women performers were more unusual, due to the societal restrictions of the time. Two women who surmounted this difficulty and made fine careers were Zimmermann and Aus der Ohe.
Agnes Zimmermann was born on July 5,1847 in Cologne, Germany. At an early age the family removed to England, where, at the age of nine she was enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music. Her teachers there were Reginald Steggall (born in London in 1867) and Cipriani Potter (1792-1871). Her later masters were Ernst Pauer (1826-1905) and Sir George Macfarren (1811-1887).
Public Performances by Agnes Zimmerman
Zimmermann was granted a scholarship for the years 1860 to 1862, and made her public debut in December of 1863, when she played at a Crystal Palace concert. This was followed by a tour of Germany, where she performed at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. Her concerts won her critical acclaim and she made several concert tours in 1879,1880,1882 and 1883. In December of 1872 Agnes Zimmermann performed a piano transcription of the Violin Concerto by Ludwig van Beethoven...the first time it had been heard at a Crystal Palace concert.
Agnes composed many works including Three Sonatas for Piano and Violin, Opus 16,21, and 23; a Trio for piano, violin and cello, Op.19 and several songs and arrangements of other instrumental works. In London she published her own editions of Sonatas by Beethoven and Mozart, and of some compositions by Robert Schumann. A lifelong resident of England, Zimmermann died there in 1925.
Adele Aus der Ohe
Born in Hanover, Germany in 1862, Adele was a child prodigy. At the age of seven she was recommended by Hans von Bulow (1830-1894) to seek admission to the prestigious piano school of Theodore Kullak (1818-1882) in Berlin. The next year she played in public for the first time. At the age of ten she was piano soloist with an orchestra in Berlin, following which she performed in her home town of Hanover.
At the age of twelve she was sent to study with Franz Liszt in Weimar. She soon became a favorite of the great Hungarian pianist, and it was said that he would listen to her for hours, saying that her touch was"as soft as velvet and as strong as a man's." He was especially pleased with her interpretation of his two piano concertos and told her, "You must show the world what Liszt has taught you."
Carnegie Hall and Adele Aus der Ohe
When Carnegie Hall opened in New York City in May of 1891, Aus der Ohe was chosen by Peter Tchaikowsky to play his new piano concerto for the American audience. Her performance was lauded bycritics, audience and composer. She went on to play for several years, always to enthusiastic audiences and critical acclaim.
Adele Aus der Ohe died in Berlin in 1937 after having enjoyed a remarkable concert career.
Sources
Celebrated Pianists of the Past and Present A.Ehrlich, Theodore Presser, Philadelphia, 1894
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music Third Edition Oxford University Press, 1980
For further reading about pianists see American Pianist William Sherwood
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