Have you ever wondered what it would be like to walk the streets of Paris in the 19^th-century? You are strolling along the cobblestone streets, taking in the sights and sounds, when suddenly a song by Aristide Bruant catches your ear. Enticed, you follow the sounds into a dimly-lit room and hear this:

On today’s date in 1830, eleven-year-old Clara Wieck (later, Clara Schumann) gave her debut solo piano concert at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, sparking a career lasting more than sixty-years as both a distinguished performer and gifted composer.

We celebrate Wieck’s remarkable achievements with a portrait from her younger years published in the Parisian journal, Musica, and two enthusiastic reviews of her debut.  The first was published by the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung [AMZ] and the second was a translated and condensed version of the original AMZ report, published in the London journal The Harmonicon. 

Musica, Vol. 6 No. 59 (August 1907): 126.

A Young Clara Wieck (later, Clara Schumann)

Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, Vol. 32 No. 46 (17 November 1830): 752-753.

The Harmonicon, Vol. 9 No. 2 (February 1831): 47.

RIPM search tip:  A search for “Clara Wieck” in both RIPM’s Retrospective Index and e-Library of Music Periodicals reveals that her name appears in 800 records. A search for “Clara Schumann” … 6,600 records!

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Felix Mendelssohn died 170 years ago on 4 November 1847.  In his honor we present this beautiful lithograph of the composer, by an unidentified artist. It appeared in a biographical study published in 1836 in London’s The Musical World.

The Musical World, Vol. 4 Supplemental Pages (1836): [1p.]

His hair was black and curling, the forehead of the highest order of intellectual beauty, the nose somewhat bent, the lips well chiseled, the shape of the face oval, the eyes irresistible, brilliant, and spiritual.

Elise Polko, “Reminisces of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy,” translated by Grace Wallace (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1869): 77.

RIPM search tip: A search for “Mendelssohn” in RIPM’s Retrospective Index reveals that his name appears in 12,529 citations!

A battleground … with cavalry, cannons, bombs, and bullets.

The Baton, Vol. 9 No. 2 (1929 December): 15.

For more on The Baton, read here! 

In celebration of his birthday on 22 October 1811, we commemorate Franz Liszt with a set of caricatures published in The Musical World (Vol. 53 Nos. 45-48, 1875), originally printed in the Hungarian journal, Borsszem Jankó, depicting the great pianist-composer performing at the piano.

He appears with a smile…

The first chord…                                               With eyes closed…

Pianissimo…                                                         Awesome tingling…

Recalling Chopin and George Sand…                            Dante in hell…

Just after the performance…

RIPM search tip: To access dozens of images of Liszt in the Online Archive, first select “illustration” in the Type field, then, keyword search for “Liszt”.

Today marks the start of our new (mostly) weekly series, as part of the “Curios” section of RIPM’s enhanced Curios, News, and Chronicles publication.  On most Wednesdays, we will post an illustration selected from the thousands in our archives. We will try to select only those that are interesting, often unexpected, and amusing.  We want to share these with you, hoping that you enjoy them as much as we do.

Last week we published a curio entitled, “Study Under Caruso: Selling Recordings in the 20^th-Century”. Today we focus again on the great tenor by featuring another of his talents, that of illustrator.  Caruso sketched dozens of influential musical personalities and many of himself.  Here are just a few, along with contemporary photographs that offer interesting points of comparison.

RIPM search tip: A search for “Caruso” in RIPM’s e-Library of Music Periodicals reveals that his name appears at least once on 7,865 pages!