Berthe Marx (Berthe Marx-Goldschmidt; 28 July 1859 - 1925) was a French pianist. She played about 250 works by heart during a series of concerts in Berlin and Paris in 1894.

Early years and education

Berthe Marx, born at Paris, July 28, 1859. Her father may have been

Charles Lamoureux Charles Lamoureux (; 28 September 183421 December 1899) was a French conductor and violinist. Life He was born in Bordeaux, where his father owned a café. He studied the violin with Narcisse Girard at the Paris Conservatoire, taking a ''prem ...

. She began to study the

pianoforte A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an action mechanism where hammers strike strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a chromatic scale in equal temp ...

at the age of four, receiving her first instruction from her father, who for 40 years was a

violoncello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C ...

-player in the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

and

Grand Opera Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and Orchestra, orchestras. The original productions consisted of spectacular design and stage effects with plots normally based on o ...

orchestras. In 1868, she was accepted by Auber as a student at the Conservatoire without any preliminary examination. At this institution, she gained the first prize for piano playing under Henri Herz’s guidance, and afterwards studied with

Stephen Heller Stephen Heller (15 May 181314 January 1888) was a Hungarian pianist, teacher, and composer whose career spanned the period from Schumann to Bizet. Heller was an influence for later Romantic composers. He outlived his reputation, and was a nea ...

Career

Upon completing her studies, Marx undertook a series of concert tours through France and Belgium, everywhere meeting with a cordial reception. At

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, she met

Pablo de Sarasate Pablo Martín Melitón de Sarasate y Navascués (; 10 March 1844 – 20 September 1908), commonly known as Pablo de Sarasate, was a Spanish violinist, composer and Conducting, conductor of the Romantic music, Romantic period. His best known work ...

, who, recognizing her great talent, engaged her as soloist and accompanist, in which capacities she accompanied him on his tours through Europe, Mexico, and the US; she played in all in about 600 concerts. She composed several "Rhapsodies Espagnoles," and arranged Sarasate's ''

Spanish Dances Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine ** Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

'' for the piano. Around 1894, she married Otto Goldschmidt, Sarasate's friend, accompanist, and manager. Marx accomplished some large memorizing feats in the course of her career. Perhaps the greatest occurred in 1894, when she played about 250 works by heart, during a series of concerts in Berlin and Paris. She died in 1925.

References

Bibliography

*Ehrlich, A
''Celebrated Pianists of the Past and Present Time''
Philadelphia: T. Presser, 1894. * *

External links

*''Jewish Encyclopedia''
“Marx, Berthe”
by Isidore Singer & Joseph Sohn (1906). {{DEFAULTSORT:Marx, Berthe 1859 births 1925 deaths Musicians from Paris Conservatoire de Paris alumni 19th-century French women classical pianists 19th-century French classical pianists 20th-century French women classical pianists 20th-century French classical pianists French Jews Jewish French musicians