Marie-Clotilde-Elisabeth Louise de Riquet (3 June 1837 – 8 November 1890) was a Belgian pianist. She was the eldest daughter of Michel Gabriel Alphonse Ferdinand de Riquet (1810–1865), created prince de Chimay 1834, for himself only, and Rosalie de Riquet de Caraman (1814–1872)

Life

In childhood she developed considerable aptitude as a pianist. On 11 April 1860 she married Eugène Arnould Henri Charles François Marie, comte de Mercy-Argenteau (22 August 1838 – 2 May 1888). She met Franz Liszt the next year. In 1866, she met emperor Napoleon III of France, Napoleon III and befriended him. After his defeat at the Battle of Sedan, she visited him for a last time when he was a prisoner of the Prussians at Schloss Wilhelmshöhe and consoled him playing music. She later wrote a book about their four-year relationship, ''The Last Love of an Emperor''. In the early 1880s, she developed an interest in Music of Russia, Russian music. This led to her studying the Russian language, translating some vocal music by several Russian composers, and arranging concerts and recitals of their music. Her advocacy of music by The Mighty Handful favored that of César Cui and facilitated the production of the latter's opera ''Prisoner of the Caucasus (opera), Prisoner of the Caucasus'' in Liège in 1886. Cui's collection of piano pieces entitled ''À Argenteau'' is a musical reminiscence of the count and countess' estate in Belgium. La Comtesse de Mercy-Argenteau died of cancer on 8 November 1890 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Writings

*
César Cui: esquisse critique
'. Paris: Fischbacher, 1888. *''The Last Love of an Emperor'': reminiscences of the Comtesse Louise de Mercy-Argenteau, née Princesse de Caraman-Chimay, describing her association with the Napoleon III of France, Emperor Napoléon III and the social and political part she played at the close of the Second French Empire, Second Empire. Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Page & Co., 1926.

Notes

References

*Bronne, Carlo. ''La Comtesse de Mercy-Argenteau''. 2nd ed. Liège: Soledi, 1945. *Suttoni, Charles. "Liszt and Louise de Mercy-Argenteau," ''Journal of the American Liszt Society'', v. 34 (1993), pp. 1–10.

External links

* 1837 births 1890 deaths Belgian writers in French Deaths from cancer in Russia Belgian pianists Belgian women pianists Napoleon III 19th-century pianists 19th-century Belgian women musicians 19th-century women pianists {{Europe-noble-stub