Arabella Goddard and Ilona Eibenshutz
Two Famous Female Pianists of the Nineteenth Century
Sep 17, 2008
At the time of Arabella Goddard's birth at St Servans, France,in 1836, the musical world was not entirely friendly to women who played an instrument, and showing oneself in public either speaking or performing was mostly frowned upon.
Goddard defied convention and went on to a very successful career as one of the most influential of the English pianists. Her first teachers were Friedrich Kalkbrenner (1785-1849) in Paris and in London with a Mrs. Anderson (probably the pianist Lucy Philpot Anderson) and Sigismond Thalberg (1812-1871).
Lucy Philpot Anderson - Goddard's Teacher
Anderson was the first woman to appear in public in England playing at a Philharmonic Society concert in 1822. She also taught Queen Victoria. Obviously Arabella was given a fine background which prepared her well for the concert stage.
Goddard appeared in public for the first time in 1850, playing in a concert at Her Majesty's Theatre, London, sponsored by the Irish composer Michael Balfe. Sigismond Thalberg advised Goddard to take further study with James Willliam Davison, an English music critic for The Times. This she did, and married him in 1860.
Arabella Goddard introduced to London audiences many of the staples of the classical repertoire and was the first to play Beethoven's Sonata in B-Flat, Op.106, to London audiences. She was a frequent soloist at the Monday Popular Concerts and toured the world from 1873 to 1876. Goddard died in Boulonge in 1922.
Ilona Eibenschutz - A Royal Connection
Ilona Eibenschutz was a young prodigy at the piano and was born in Budapest on May 8,1872. She received her early musical instruction from her cousin Albert when she was just four years old. She studied later with Hans Schmitt at the Vienna Conservatory Her first appearance in public took place in 1878 (when she was 6) in Vienna and it caused a sensation in the musical world.
Eibenschutz performed for the Queen of Denmark, in Copenhagen; the Czar and Czarina in Gatschina;the Austrian Emperor in Vienna and she played for Franz Liszt in Pesth. When in Vienna she was the recipient of an Imperial stipend for a number of years. Later Ilona decided she needed further instruction and for five years she was a student of Clara Schumann (1819-1896) in Frankfort, Germany.
After the years of study with Clara Schumann, Ilona began a series of concert tours which were successful in every aspect. For some years she appeared several times a year at the Monday Popular Concerts in London, and performed also with the great violinist Joseph Joachim. She made her Berlin debut in 1890 as soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic and her Austrian debut at Vienna in 1901, both to great enthusiasm. Eibenschutz died in 1967 in London.
Source
Celebrated Pianists of the Past and Present A.Ehrlich, Theodore Presser, Philadelphia, 1894
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