Sophie Menter
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Sophie Menter (29 July 1846 – 23 February 1918) was a German
pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...
and
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...
who became the favorite female student of
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
.Schonberg, 262. She was called ''l'incarnation de Liszt'' in Paris because of her robust, electrifying playing styleSchonberg, 262. and was considered one of the greatest piano virtuosos of her time.Rieger, 326. She died at Stockdorf, near Munich.


Biography

Sophie Menter was born in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, the daughter of cellist Josef Menter and singer Wilhelmine Menter (née Diepold). She studied piano with Siegmund Lebert and later Friedrich Niest. At 15, she played
Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (5 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and Music criticism, critic in the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Best known for List of operas by Carl Maria von Weber, h ...
's ''Konzertstück'' for piano and orchestra with
Franz Lachner Franz Paul Lachner (2 April 180320 January 1890) was a German composer and conductor. Biography Lachner was born in Rain am Lech to a musical family (his brothers Ignaz, and Vinzenz also became musicians). He studied music with Simon Sec ...
conducting. Her first concert appearances took her to
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
,
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
and
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, and in 1867 she became acclaimed for her interpretation of Liszt's piano music at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. In Berlin, Menter became acquainted with the famous pianist Carl Tausig; she became a pupil of Liszt in 1869 after studying with Tausig and
Hans von Bülow Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow (; 8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was a German conductor, pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for establishi ...
. While studying in Berlin in 1870, American pianist Amy Fay was impressed by Menter, who she described as “becoming very celebrated and who plays superbly.” "I envied her dreadfully," write Fay in ''Music Study in Germany''. "She plays everything by heart, and has a beautiful conception. She gave her concert entirely alone, except that someone sang a few songs, and at the end arlTausig played a duet for two pianos with her, in which he took the second piano." Between 1872 and 1886 she was married to cellist David Popper, with whom she had a daughter named Celeste. In 1881 she first appeared in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
and was awarded honorary membership of the
Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...
two years later. In 1883 she became professor of piano at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory but left in 1886 to continue concertizing.Rieger, 326. Because of her popularity, Menter succeeded with music that no other pianist would touch. This included Liszt's First Piano Concerto, which she played in Vienna in 1869, 12 years after its disastrous premiere there. One of her recital specialties was a piece entitled ''Rhapsodies''. This was a composite of three of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies—Nos. 2, 6 and 12—along with fragments from several others. She also composed various pieces for piano, mainly in a brilliant style, yet referred to her own compositional talent as "miserable."Rieger, 326.


Description

Liszt described Menter as "my only piano daughter";As quoted in Rieger, 326. he proclaimed that "No woman can touch her" and especially admired her "singing hand."As quoted in Schonberg, 262. Critic Walter Nieman described her style as "a blend of virtuosity and elegance; a great, round and full Lisztian kind of tone; fiery temperament; a masculine weight on the keys; plasticity; a through-and-through distinguished craft of shape and form; in which soul, spirit and technique are fused in harmony and union."
George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...
, who heard Menter in 1890, wrote that she "produces an effect of magnificence which leaves Paderewski far behind ... Mme Menter seems to play with splendid swiftness, yet she never plays faster than the ear can follow, as many players can and do; and it is the distinctness of attack and intention given to each note that makes her execution so irrestibly impetuous."
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...
was also well acquainted with Menter, dedicating the full score of his '' Concert Fantasia'' to her (although the earlier piano arrangement is inscribed to
Anna Yesipova Anna Yesipova (born Anna Nikolayevna Yesipova; ; ) was a Russian pianist. Life Yesipova was one of Teodor Leszetycki's most brilliant pupils. She made her debut in Saint Petersburg in 1874 attracting rave reviews and the artistic admiratio ...
). While staying with her in Austria in September 1892, he scored her '' Ungarische Zigeunerweisen'' (''Concerto in the Hungarian Style'') for piano and orchestra; he also conducted the work at its premiere in
Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...
four months later.


References


Bibliography

*Rieger, Eva, ed. Julie Anne Sadie and Rhian Samuel, "Menter, Sophie", ''The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers'' (New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1995). . * Schonberg, Harold C., ''The Great Pianists'' (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987, 1963). .


External links


Tchaikovsky Research article on Sophie Menter
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Menter, Sophie Honorary members of the Royal Philharmonic Society 1846 births 1918 deaths 19th-century German classical pianists 19th-century German musicians 19th-century German women musicians German classical composers German women classical composers German women classical pianists Pupils of Franz Liszt 19th-century German women pianists