Antonietta Rudge (13 June 1885 – 14 July 1974) was a Brazilian pianist of international fame.

Early life

Rudge was born in 1885, in São Paulo, to Anna Emília da Silva Telles and João Henrique Rudge. She was a descendant of the English settler John Rudge, from

Stroud Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Sited below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the ...

, who came to Brazil in the early 19th century. Rudge demonstrated a talent for playing the piano since she was four years old. Her parents hired her a private teacher, the Frenchman

Gabriel Giraudon In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...

. She debuted in a public piano concert in 1892, at age seven, at the Casa Levy hall. She performed at São Paulo clubs, such as Clube Internacional and Clube Germânia, playing works by

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

. That time, Rudge was a pupil of

Luigi Chiaffarelli Luigi (; ) is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Part of Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise, he is a kind-hearted, cowardly Italian plumber, and the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario. Like h ...

. Rudge's repertoire also included

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's concertos, Chopin's sonatas and nocturnes,

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

's ''

The Well-Tempered Clavier ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time ''clavier'' referred to a variety of keyboard instruments, ...

'',

Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

, and

Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

's Hungarian Rhapsody no.6.

Career

In 1907, Rudge started a two-year European tour, playing in England, Germany and France. Her performances were acclaimed, garnering her praise from artists like

Isidor Philipp Isidor Edmond Philipp (first name sometimes spelled Isidore) (2 September 1863 – 20 February 1958) was a French pianist, composer, and pedagogue of Jewish Hungarian descent. He was born in Budapest and died in Paris. Biography Isidor Philipp ...

and

Charles Widor Charles-Marie-Jean-Albert Widor (21 February 1844 – 12 March 1937) was a French organist, composer and teacher of the late Romantic era. As a composer he is known for his ten organ symphonies, especially the toccata of his fifth organ sympho ...

. She toured Europe again in 1911. Back to Brazil, she did concerts in Brazilian capitals. In a concert in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

in 1918, Rudge and

Guiomar Novaes Guiomar Novaes (February 28, 1895 – March 7, 1979) was a Brazilian pianist known for individuality of tone and phrasing, singing line, and a subtle and nuanced approach to her interpretations. Biography Born in São João da Boa Vista (in the ...

were praised by

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein Order of the British Empire, KBE OMRI (; 28 January 1887 – 20 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

, who called them "brilliant". Rudge played less frequently in public, dedicating herself to musical education. In 1927 she founded the Musical Conservatory in

Santos Santos may refer to: People *Santos (surname) * Santos Balmori Picazo (1899–1992), Spanish-Mexican painter * Santos Benavides (1823–1891), Confederate general in the American Civil War Places *Santos, São Paulo, a municipality in São Paulo ...

. In the 1930s and 1940s she recorded some 78rpm discs with performances of

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

Liebestod "" ( German for "love death") is the title of the final, dramatic music from the 1859 opera ' by Richard Wagner. It is the climactic end of the opera, as Isolde sings over Tristan's dead body. The music is often used in film and television pro ...

and

Chopin's Barcarolle The Barcarolle in F-sharp major, Op. 60, is a piece for solo piano by Frédéric Chopin, composed between autumn of 1845 and summer 1846, three years before his death.''Chopin and His World''. United Kingdom, Princeton University Press, 2017. ...

. Those recordings were reissued in 2000 in a CD. Rudge died on 14 July 1974.

Personal life

In 1905, Antonietta Rudge married Charles Miller, known for introducing the game of football (soccer) to Brazil with whom she had two children. They divorced in 1925, and she started a relationship with Modernist poet Menotti del Picchia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudge, Antonietta 1885 births 1974 deaths Brazilian people of English descent Musicians from São Paulo 20th-century Brazilian musicians 20th-century Brazilian classical pianists Women classical pianists 20th-century Brazilian women pianists