From Stage to Page

Born in Melrose, Massachusetts in 1882, to Henrietta Barnes and the professional baseball player, Sidney Farrar (who played in the MLB out of Philadelphia from 1883-90), Geraldine Farrar would go on to become one of the great American sopranos who also appeared in over a dozen films during the period of 1915-20.  These included Cecil B. De Mille’s 1915 adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, as well as the role of Joan of Arc in the 1917 film, Joan the Woman.

Possessing a tireless work ethic which saw her give ninety-five appearances as Madama Butterfly and fifty-eight performances as Carmen, both over the span of sixteen seasons at the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City, Farrar counted amongst her acquaintances such distinguished individuals as David Belasco, Sarah Bernhardt, Emma Calvé, Enrico Caruso, Jean de Reszke, Maurice Grau, Lilli Lehmann, Guglielmo Marconi, Jules Massenet, Nellie Melba, Lillian Nordica, King Oscar of Sweden, Camille Saint-Saëns, Emma Thursby, Arturo Toscanini, Mark Twain, Kaiser Wilhelm II and his son, the Crown Prince Wilhelm.

Having sung at the Berlin State Opera, the Monte Carlo Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Company, Farrar was known for her striking physical appearance. Farrar’s young, female fans were famously known in New York as “Gerry-flappers.” Early studies occurred in Boston and later in New York City with Emma Thursby. Later studies occurred in Europe with Trabadello, Francesco Graziani and Lilli Lehmann, to whom Farrar had been recommended by Lillian Nordica.

Published in 1916, just prior to her marriage to the actor, Lou Tellegen, Geraldine Farrar: The Story of an American Singercovers the singer’s early years up to the age of thirty-four. Years later, in 1938, she wrote another book, The Autobiography of Geraldine Farrar: Such Sweet Compulsion. Farrar recorded extensively for the Victor Talking Machine Company and made her debut radio broadcast in 1931. In Ridgefield, Connecticut in 1967, Farrar died of heart disease at the age of eighty-five.

Born in Melrose, Massachusetts in 1882, to Henrietta Barnes and the professional baseball player, Sidney Farrar (who played in the MLB out of Philadelphia from 1883-90), Geraldine Farrar would go on to become one of the great American sopranos who also appeared in over a dozen films during the period of 1915-20.  These included Cecil B. De Mille’s 1915 adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, as well as the role of Joan of Arc in the 1917 film, Joan the Woman.

Possessing a tireless work ethic which saw her give ninety-five appearances as Madama Butterfly and fifty-eight performances as Carmen, both over the span of sixteen seasons at the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City, Farrar counted amongst her acquaintances such distinguished individuals as David Belasco, Sarah Bernhardt, Emma Calvé, Enrico Caruso, Jean de Reszke, Maurice Grau, Lilli Lehmann, Guglielmo Marconi, Jules Massenet, Nellie Melba, Lillian Nordica, King Oscar of Sweden, Camille Saint-Saëns, Emma Thursby, Arturo Toscanini, Mark Twain, Kaiser Wilhelm II and his son, the Crown Prince Wilhelm.

Having sung at the Berlin State Opera, the Monte Carlo Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Company, Farrar was known for her striking physical appearance. Farrar’s young, female fans were famously known in New York as “Gerry-flappers.” Early studies occurred in Boston and later in New York City with Emma Thursby. Later studies occurred in Europe with Trabadello, Francesco Graziani and Lilli Lehmann, to whom Farrar had been recommended by Lillian Nordica.

Published in 1916, just prior to her marriage to the actor, Lou Tellegen, Geraldine Farrar: The Story of an American Singercovers the singer’s early years up to the age of thirty-four. Years later, in 1938, she wrote another book, The Autobiography of Geraldine Farrar: Such Sweet Compulsion. Farrar recorded extensively for the Victor Talking Machine Company and made her debut radio broadcast in 1931. In Ridgefield, Connecticut in 1967, Farrar died of heart disease at the age of eighty-five.

Born in Melrose, Massachusetts in 1882, to Henrietta Barnes and the professional baseball player, Sidney Farrar (who played in the MLB out of Philadelphia from 1883-90), Geraldine Farrar would go on to become one of the great American sopranos who also appeared in over a dozen films during the period of 1915-20.  These included Cecil B. De Mille’s 1915 adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, as well as the role of Joan of Arc in the 1917 film, Joan the Woman.

Possessing a tireless work ethic which saw her give ninety-five appearances as Madama Butterfly and fifty-eight performances as Carmen, both over the span of sixteen seasons at the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City, Farrar counted amongst her acquaintances such distinguished individuals as David Belasco, Sarah Bernhardt, Emma Calvé, Enrico Caruso, Jean de Reszke, Maurice Grau, Lilli Lehmann, Guglielmo Marconi, Jules Massenet, Nellie Melba, Lillian Nordica, King Oscar of Sweden, Camille Saint-Saëns, Emma Thursby, Arturo Toscanini, Mark Twain, Kaiser Wilhelm II and his son, the Crown Prince Wilhelm.

Having sung at the Berlin State Opera, the Monte Carlo Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Company, Farrar was known for her striking physical appearance. Farrar’s young, female fans were famously known in New York as “Gerry-flappers.” Early studies occurred in Boston and later in New York City with Emma Thursby. Later studies occurred in Europe with Trabadello, Francesco Graziani and Lilli Lehmann, to whom Farrar had been recommended by Lillian Nordica.

Published in 1916, just prior to her marriage to the actor, Lou Tellegen, Geraldine Farrar: The Story of an American Singercovers the singer’s early years up to the age of thirty-four. Years later, in 1938, she wrote another book, The Autobiography of Geraldine Farrar: Such Sweet Compulsion. Farrar recorded extensively for the Victor Talking Machine Company and made her debut radio broadcast in 1931. In Ridgefield, Connecticut in 1967, Farrar died of heart disease at the age of eighty-five.

Born in Melrose, Massachusetts in 1882, to Henrietta Barnes and the professional baseball player, Sidney Farrar (who played in the MLB out of Philadelphia from 1883-90), Geraldine Farrar would go on to become one of the great American sopranos who also appeared in over a dozen films during the period of 1915-20.  These included Cecil B. De Mille’s 1915 adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, as well as the role of Joan of Arc in the 1917 film, Joan the Woman.

Possessing a tireless work ethic which saw her give ninety-five appearances as Madama Butterfly and fifty-eight performances as Carmen, both over the span of sixteen seasons at the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City, Farrar counted amongst her acquaintances such distinguished individuals as David Belasco, Sarah Bernhardt, Emma Calvé, Enrico Caruso, Jean de Reszke, Maurice Grau, Lilli Lehmann, Guglielmo Marconi, Jules Massenet, Nellie Melba, Lillian Nordica, King Oscar of Sweden, Camille Saint-Saëns, Emma Thursby, Arturo Toscanini, Mark Twain, Kaiser Wilhelm II and his son, the Crown Prince Wilhelm.

Having sung at the Berlin State Opera, the Monte Carlo Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Company, Farrar was known for her striking physical appearance. Farrar’s young, female fans were famously known in New York as “Gerry-flappers.” Early studies occurred in Boston and later in New York City with Emma Thursby. Later studies occurred in Europe with Trabadello, Francesco Graziani and Lilli Lehmann, to whom Farrar had been recommended by Lillian Nordica.

Published in 1916, just prior to her marriage to the actor, Lou Tellegen, Geraldine Farrar: The Story of an American Singercovers the singer’s early years up to the age of thirty-four. Years later, in 1938, she wrote another book, The Autobiography of Geraldine Farrar: Such Sweet Compulsion. Farrar recorded extensively for the Victor Talking Machine Company and made her debut radio broadcast in 1931. In Ridgefield, Connecticut in 1967, Farrar died of heart disease at the age of eighty-five.

Born in Melrose, Massachusetts in 1882, to Henrietta Barnes and the professional baseball player, Sidney Farrar (who played in the MLB out of Philadelphia from 1883-90), Geraldine Farrar would go on to become one of the great American sopranos who also appeared in over a dozen films during the period of 1915-20.  These included Cecil B. De Mille’s 1915 adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, as well as the role of Joan of Arc in the 1917 film, Joan the Woman.

Possessing a tireless work ethic which saw her give ninety-five appearances as Madama Butterfly and fifty-eight performances as Carmen, both over the span of sixteen seasons at the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City, Farrar counted amongst her acquaintances such distinguished individuals as David Belasco, Sarah Bernhardt, Emma Calvé, Enrico Caruso, Jean de Reszke, Maurice Grau, Lilli Lehmann, Guglielmo Marconi, Jules Massenet, Nellie Melba, Lillian Nordica, King Oscar of Sweden, Camille Saint-Saëns, Emma Thursby, Arturo Toscanini, Mark Twain, Kaiser Wilhelm II and his son, the Crown Prince Wilhelm.

Having sung at the Berlin State Opera, the Monte Carlo Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Company, Farrar was known for her striking physical appearance. Farrar’s young, female fans were famously known in New York as “Gerry-flappers.” Early studies occurred in Boston and later in New York City with Emma Thursby. Later studies occurred in Europe with Trabadello, Francesco Graziani and Lilli Lehmann, to whom Farrar had been recommended by Lillian Nordica.

Published in 1916, just prior to her marriage to the actor, Lou Tellegen, Geraldine Farrar: The Story of an American Singercovers the singer’s early years up to the age of thirty-four. Years later, in 1938, she wrote another book, The Autobiography of Geraldine Farrar: Such Sweet Compulsion. Farrar recorded extensively for the Victor Talking Machine Company and made her debut radio broadcast in 1931. In Ridgefield, Connecticut in 1967, Farrar died of heart disease at the age of eighty-five.

Born in Melrose, Massachusetts in 1882, to Henrietta Barnes and the professional baseball player, Sidney Farrar (who played in the MLB out of Philadelphia from 1883-90), Geraldine Farrar would go on to become one of the great American sopranos who also appeared in over a dozen films during the period of 1915-20.  These included Cecil B. De Mille’s 1915 adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, as well as the role of Joan of Arc in the 1917 film, Joan the Woman.

Possessing a tireless work ethic which saw her give ninety-five appearances as Madama Butterfly and fifty-eight performances as Carmen, both over the span of sixteen seasons at the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City, Farrar counted amongst her acquaintances such distinguished individuals as David Belasco, Sarah Bernhardt, Emma Calvé, Enrico Caruso, Jean de Reszke, Maurice Grau, Lilli Lehmann, Guglielmo Marconi, Jules Massenet, Nellie Melba, Lillian Nordica, King Oscar of Sweden, Camille Saint-Saëns, Emma Thursby, Arturo Toscanini, Mark Twain, Kaiser Wilhelm II and his son, the Crown Prince Wilhelm.

Having sung at the Berlin State Opera, the Monte Carlo Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Company, Farrar was known for her striking physical appearance. Farrar’s young, female fans were famously known in New York as “Gerry-flappers.” Early studies occurred in Boston and later in New York City with Emma Thursby. Later studies occurred in Europe with Trabadello, Francesco Graziani and Lilli Lehmann, to whom Farrar had been recommended by Lillian Nordica.

Published in 1916, just prior to her marriage to the actor, Lou Tellegen, Geraldine Farrar: The Story of an American Singercovers the singer’s early years up to the age of thirty-four. Years later, in 1938, she wrote another book, The Autobiography of Geraldine Farrar: Such Sweet Compulsion. Farrar recorded extensively for the Victor Talking Machine Company and made her debut radio broadcast in 1931. In Ridgefield, Connecticut in 1967, Farrar died of heart disease at the age of eighty-five.

Born in Melrose, Massachusetts in 1882, to Henrietta Barnes and the professional baseball player, Sidney Farrar (who played in the MLB out of Philadelphia from 1883-90), Geraldine Farrar would go on to become one of the great American sopranos who also appeared in over a dozen films during the period of 1915-20.  These included Cecil B. De Mille’s 1915 adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, as well as the role of Joan of Arc in the 1917 film, Joan the Woman.

Possessing a tireless work ethic which saw her give ninety-five appearances as Madama Butterfly and fifty-eight performances as Carmen, both over the span of sixteen seasons at the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City, Farrar counted amongst her acquaintances such distinguished individuals as David Belasco, Sarah Bernhardt, Emma Calvé, Enrico Caruso, Jean de Reszke, Maurice Grau, Lilli Lehmann, Guglielmo Marconi, Jules Massenet, Nellie Melba, Lillian Nordica, King Oscar of Sweden, Camille Saint-Saëns, Emma Thursby, Arturo Toscanini, Mark Twain, Kaiser Wilhelm II and his son, the Crown Prince Wilhelm.

Having sung at the Berlin State Opera, the Monte Carlo Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Company, Farrar was known for her striking physical appearance. Farrar’s young, female fans were famously known in New York as “Gerry-flappers.” Early studies occurred in Boston and later in New York City with Emma Thursby. Later studies occurred in Europe with Trabadello, Francesco Graziani and Lilli Lehmann, to whom Farrar had been recommended by Lillian Nordica.

Published in 1916, just prior to her marriage to the actor, Lou Tellegen, Geraldine Farrar: The Story of an American Singercovers the singer’s early years up to the age of thirty-four. Years later, in 1938, she wrote another book, The Autobiography of Geraldine Farrar: Such Sweet Compulsion. Farrar recorded extensively for the Victor Talking Machine Company and made her debut radio broadcast in 1931. In Ridgefield, Connecticut in 1967, Farrar died of heart disease at the age of eighty-five.

Born in Melrose, Massachusetts in 1882, to Henrietta Barnes and the professional baseball player, Sidney Farrar (who played in the MLB out of Philadelphia from 1883-90), Geraldine Farrar would go on to become one of the great American sopranos who also appeared in over a dozen films during the period of 1915-20.  These included Cecil B. De Mille’s 1915 adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, as well as the role of Joan of Arc in the 1917 film, Joan the Woman.

Possessing a tireless work ethic which saw her give ninety-five appearances as Madama Butterfly and fifty-eight performances as Carmen, both over the span of sixteen seasons at the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City, Farrar counted amongst her acquaintances such distinguished individuals as David Belasco, Sarah Bernhardt, Emma Calvé, Enrico Caruso, Jean de Reszke, Maurice Grau, Lilli Lehmann, Guglielmo Marconi, Jules Massenet, Nellie Melba, Lillian Nordica, King Oscar of Sweden, Camille Saint-Saëns, Emma Thursby, Arturo Toscanini, Mark Twain, Kaiser Wilhelm II and his son, the Crown Prince Wilhelm.

Having sung at the Berlin State Opera, the Monte Carlo Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Company, Farrar was known for her striking physical appearance. Farrar’s young, female fans were famously known in New York as “Gerry-flappers.” Early studies occurred in Boston and later in New York City with Emma Thursby. Later studies occurred in Europe with Trabadello, Francesco Graziani and Lilli Lehmann, to whom Farrar had been recommended by Lillian Nordica.

Published in 1916, just prior to her marriage to the actor, Lou Tellegen, Geraldine Farrar: The Story of an American Singercovers the singer’s early years up to the age of thirty-four. Years later, in 1938, she wrote another book, The Autobiography of Geraldine Farrar: Such Sweet Compulsion. Farrar recorded extensively for the Victor Talking Machine Company and made her debut radio broadcast in 1931. In Ridgefield, Connecticut in 1967, Farrar died of heart disease at the age of eighty-five.

Born in Melrose, Massachusetts in 1882, to Henrietta Barnes and the professional baseball player, Sidney Farrar (who played in the MLB out of Philadelphia from 1883-90), Geraldine Farrar would go on to become one of the great American sopranos who also appeared in over a dozen films during the period of 1915-20.  These included Cecil B. De Mille’s 1915 adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, as well as the role of Joan of Arc in the 1917 film, Joan the Woman.

Possessing a tireless work ethic which saw her give ninety-five appearances as Madama Butterfly and fifty-eight performances as Carmen, both over the span of sixteen seasons at the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City, Farrar counted amongst her acquaintances such distinguished individuals as David Belasco, Sarah Bernhardt, Emma Calvé, Enrico Caruso, Jean de Reszke, Maurice Grau, Lilli Lehmann, Guglielmo Marconi, Jules Massenet, Nellie Melba, Lillian Nordica, King Oscar of Sweden, Camille Saint-Saëns, Emma Thursby, Arturo Toscanini, Mark Twain, Kaiser Wilhelm II and his son, the Crown Prince Wilhelm.

Having sung at the Berlin State Opera, the Monte Carlo Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Company, Farrar was known for her striking physical appearance. Farrar’s young, female fans were famously known in New York as “Gerry-flappers.” Early studies occurred in Boston and later in New York City with Emma Thursby. Later studies occurred in Europe with Trabadello, Francesco Graziani and Lilli Lehmann, to whom Farrar had been recommended by Lillian Nordica.

Published in 1916, just prior to her marriage to the actor, Lou Tellegen, Geraldine Farrar: The Story of an American Singercovers the singer’s early years up to the age of thirty-four. Years later, in 1938, she wrote another book, The Autobiography of Geraldine Farrar: Such Sweet Compulsion. Farrar recorded extensively for the Victor Talking Machine Company and made her debut radio broadcast in 1931. In Ridgefield, Connecticut in 1967, Farrar died of heart disease at the age of eighty-five.

Born in Melrose, Massachusetts in 1882, to Henrietta Barnes and the professional baseball player, Sidney Farrar (who played in the MLB out of Philadelphia from 1883-90), Geraldine Farrar would go on to become one of the great American sopranos who also appeared in over a dozen films during the period of 1915-20.  These included Cecil B. De Mille’s 1915 adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, as well as the role of Joan of Arc in the 1917 film, Joan the Woman.

Possessing a tireless work ethic which saw her give ninety-five appearances as Madama Butterfly and fifty-eight performances as Carmen, both over the span of sixteen seasons at the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City, Farrar counted amongst her acquaintances such distinguished individuals as David Belasco, Sarah Bernhardt, Emma Calvé, Enrico Caruso, Jean de Reszke, Maurice Grau, Lilli Lehmann, Guglielmo Marconi, Jules Massenet, Nellie Melba, Lillian Nordica, King Oscar of Sweden, Camille Saint-Saëns, Emma Thursby, Arturo Toscanini, Mark Twain, Kaiser Wilhelm II and his son, the Crown Prince Wilhelm.

Having sung at the Berlin State Opera, the Monte Carlo Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Company, Farrar was known for her striking physical appearance. Farrar’s young, female fans were famously known in New York as “Gerry-flappers.” Early studies occurred in Boston and later in New York City with Emma Thursby. Later studies occurred in Europe with Trabadello, Francesco Graziani and Lilli Lehmann, to whom Farrar had been recommended by Lillian Nordica.

Published in 1916, just prior to her marriage to the actor, Lou Tellegen, Geraldine Farrar: The Story of an American Singercovers the singer’s early years up to the age of thirty-four. Years later, in 1938, she wrote another book, The Autobiography of Geraldine Farrar: Such Sweet Compulsion. Farrar recorded extensively for the Victor Talking Machine Company and made her debut radio broadcast in 1931. In Ridgefield, Connecticut in 1967, Farrar died of heart disease at the age of eighty-five.

Born in Melrose, Massachusetts in 1882, to Henrietta Barnes and the professional baseball player, Sidney Farrar (who played in the MLB out of Philadelphia from 1883-90), Geraldine Farrar would go on to become one of the great American sopranos who also appeared in over a dozen films during the period of 1915-20.  These included Cecil B. De Mille’s 1915 adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, as well as the role of Joan of Arc in the 1917 film, Joan the Woman.

Possessing a tireless work ethic which saw her give ninety-five appearances as Madama Butterfly and fifty-eight performances as Carmen, both over the span of sixteen seasons at the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City, Farrar counted amongst her acquaintances such distinguished individuals as David Belasco, Sarah Bernhardt, Emma Calvé, Enrico Caruso, Jean de Reszke, Maurice Grau, Lilli Lehmann, Guglielmo Marconi, Jules Massenet, Nellie Melba, Lillian Nordica, King Oscar of Sweden, Camille Saint-Saëns, Emma Thursby, Arturo Toscanini, Mark Twain, Kaiser Wilhelm II and his son, the Crown Prince Wilhelm.

Having sung at the Berlin State Opera, the Monte Carlo Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Company, Farrar was known for her striking physical appearance. Farrar’s young, female fans were famously known in New York as “Gerry-flappers.” Early studies occurred in Boston and later in New York City with Emma Thursby. Later studies occurred in Europe with Trabadello, Francesco Graziani and Lilli Lehmann, to whom Farrar had been recommended by Lillian Nordica.

Published in 1916, just prior to her marriage to the actor, Lou Tellegen, Geraldine Farrar: The Story of an American Singercovers the singer’s early years up to the age of thirty-four. Years later, in 1938, she wrote another book, The Autobiography of Geraldine Farrar: Such Sweet Compulsion. Farrar recorded extensively for the Victor Talking Machine Company and made her debut radio broadcast in 1931. In Ridgefield, Connecticut in 1967, Farrar died of heart disease at the age of eighty-five.

Born in Melrose, Massachusetts in 1882, to Henrietta Barnes and the professional baseball player, Sidney Farrar (who played in the MLB out of Philadelphia from 1883-90), Geraldine Farrar would go on to become one of the great American sopranos who also appeared in over a dozen films during the period of 1915-20.  These included Cecil B. De Mille’s 1915 adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, as well as the role of Joan of Arc in the 1917 film, Joan the Woman.

Possessing a tireless work ethic which saw her give ninety-five appearances as Madama Butterfly and fifty-eight performances as Carmen, both over the span of sixteen seasons at the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City, Farrar counted amongst her acquaintances such distinguished individuals as David Belasco, Sarah Bernhardt, Emma Calvé, Enrico Caruso, Jean de Reszke, Maurice Grau, Lilli Lehmann, Guglielmo Marconi, Jules Massenet, Nellie Melba, Lillian Nordica, King Oscar of Sweden, Camille Saint-Saëns, Emma Thursby, Arturo Toscanini, Mark Twain, Kaiser Wilhelm II and his son, the Crown Prince Wilhelm.

Having sung at the Berlin State Opera, the Monte Carlo Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Company, Farrar was known for her striking physical appearance. Farrar’s young, female fans were famously known in New York as “Gerry-flappers.” Early studies occurred in Boston and later in New York City with Emma Thursby. Later studies occurred in Europe with Trabadello, Francesco Graziani and Lilli Lehmann, to whom Farrar had been recommended by Lillian Nordica.

Published in 1916, just prior to her marriage to the actor, Lou Tellegen, Geraldine Farrar: The Story of an American Singercovers the singer’s early years up to the age of thirty-four. Years later, in 1938, she wrote another book, The Autobiography of Geraldine Farrar: Such Sweet Compulsion. Farrar recorded extensively for the Victor Talking Machine Company and made her debut radio broadcast in 1931. In Ridgefield, Connecticut in 1967, Farrar died of heart disease at the age of eighty-five.

Born in Melrose, Massachusetts in 1882, to Henrietta Barnes and the professional baseball player, Sidney Farrar (who played in the MLB out of Philadelphia from 1883-90), Geraldine Farrar would go on to become one of the great American sopranos who also appeared in over a dozen films during the period of 1915-20.  These included Cecil B. De Mille’s 1915 adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, as well as the role of Joan of Arc in the 1917 film, Joan the Woman.

Possessing a tireless work ethic which saw her give ninety-five appearances as Madama Butterfly and fifty-eight performances as Carmen, both over the span of sixteen seasons at the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City, Farrar counted amongst her acquaintances such distinguished individuals as David Belasco, Sarah Bernhardt, Emma Calvé, Enrico Caruso, Jean de Reszke, Maurice Grau, Lilli Lehmann, Guglielmo Marconi, Jules Massenet, Nellie Melba, Lillian Nordica, King Oscar of Sweden, Camille Saint-Saëns, Emma Thursby, Arturo Toscanini, Mark Twain, Kaiser Wilhelm II and his son, the Crown Prince Wilhelm.

Having sung at the Berlin State Opera, the Monte Carlo Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Company, Farrar was known for her striking physical appearance. Farrar’s young, female fans were famously known in New York as “Gerry-flappers.” Early studies occurred in Boston and later in New York City with Emma Thursby. Later studies occurred in Europe with Trabadello, Francesco Graziani and Lilli Lehmann, to whom Farrar had been recommended by Lillian Nordica.

Published in 1916, just prior to her marriage to the actor, Lou Tellegen, Geraldine Farrar: The Story of an American Singercovers the singer’s early years up to the age of thirty-four. Years later, in 1938, she wrote another book, The Autobiography of Geraldine Farrar: Such Sweet Compulsion. Farrar recorded extensively for the Victor Talking Machine Company and made her debut radio broadcast in 1931. In Ridgefield, Connecticut in 1967, Farrar died of heart disease at the age of eighty-five.

Born in Melrose, Massachusetts in 1882, to Henrietta Barnes and the professional baseball player, Sidney Farrar (who played in the MLB out of Philadelphia from 1883-90), Geraldine Farrar would go on to become one of the great American sopranos who also appeared in over a dozen films during the period of 1915-20.  These included Cecil B. De Mille’s 1915 adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, as well as the role of Joan of Arc in the 1917 film, Joan the Woman.

Possessing a tireless work ethic which saw her give ninety-five appearances as Madama Butterfly and fifty-eight performances as Carmen, both over the span of sixteen seasons at the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City, Farrar counted amongst her acquaintances such distinguished individuals as David Belasco, Sarah Bernhardt, Emma Calvé, Enrico Caruso, Jean de Reszke, Maurice Grau, Lilli Lehmann, Guglielmo Marconi, Jules Massenet, Nellie Melba, Lillian Nordica, King Oscar of Sweden, Camille Saint-Saëns, Emma Thursby, Arturo Toscanini, Mark Twain, Kaiser Wilhelm II and his son, the Crown Prince Wilhelm.

Having sung at the Berlin State Opera, the Monte Carlo Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Company, Farrar was known for her striking physical appearance. Farrar’s young, female fans were famously known in New York as “Gerry-flappers.” Early studies occurred in Boston and later in New York City with Emma Thursby. Later studies occurred in Europe with Trabadello, Francesco Graziani and Lilli Lehmann, to whom Farrar had been recommended by Lillian Nordica.

Published in 1916, just prior to her marriage to the actor, Lou Tellegen, Geraldine Farrar: The Story of an American Singercovers the singer’s early years up to the age of thirty-four. Years later, in 1938, she wrote another book, The Autobiography of Geraldine Farrar: Such Sweet Compulsion. Farrar recorded extensively for the Victor Talking Machine Company and made her debut radio broadcast in 1931. In Ridgefield, Connecticut in 1967, Farrar died of heart disease at the age of eighty-five.

Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships.

Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother’s maiden name, “Limpenny.”

A brief synopsis of Lympany’s life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes.

Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth.

Having performed around the world, Lympany’s career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town.

Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993.

Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany’s musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).

Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships.

Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother’s maiden name, “Limpenny.”

A brief synopsis of Lympany’s life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes.

Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth.

Having performed around the world, Lympany’s career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town.

Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993.

Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany’s musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).

Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships.

Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother’s maiden name, “Limpenny.”

A brief synopsis of Lympany’s life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes.

Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth.

Having performed around the world, Lympany’s career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town.

Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993.

Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany’s musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).

Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships.

Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother’s maiden name, “Limpenny.”

A brief synopsis of Lympany’s life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes.

Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth.

Having performed around the world, Lympany’s career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town.

Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993.

Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany’s musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).

Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships.

Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother’s maiden name, “Limpenny.”

A brief synopsis of Lympany’s life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes.

Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth.

Having performed around the world, Lympany’s career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town.

Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993.

Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany’s musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).

Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships.

Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother’s maiden name, “Limpenny.”

A brief synopsis of Lympany’s life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes.

Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth.

Having performed around the world, Lympany’s career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town.

Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993.

Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany’s musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).

Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships.

Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother’s maiden name, “Limpenny.”

A brief synopsis of Lympany’s life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes.

Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth.

Having performed around the world, Lympany’s career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town.

Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993.

Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany’s musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).

Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships.

Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother’s maiden name, “Limpenny.”

A brief synopsis of Lympany’s life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes.

Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth.

Having performed around the world, Lympany’s career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town.

Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993.

Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany’s musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).

Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships.

Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother’s maiden name, “Limpenny.”

A brief synopsis of Lympany’s life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes.

Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth.

Having performed around the world, Lympany’s career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town.

Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993.

Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany’s musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).

Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships.

Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother’s maiden name, “Limpenny.”

A brief synopsis of Lympany’s life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes.

Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth.

Having performed around the world, Lympany’s career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town.

Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993.

Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany’s musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).

Adored by audiences for her “Golden Voice” and dramatic death scenes, her slender figure, a wild mane of hair, a personal menagerie of exotic animals and her boundless energy, Sarah Bernhardt was, according to Peter Rader, the “world’s first superstar.” Born in Paris in 1844, the charismatic actress not only graced the stages of the world, mingling with such persons of distinction as Alexandre Dumas, Thomas Edison, King Edward VII, Emperor Franz Joseph I, Victor Hugo, Napoleon III, Queen Victoria, Oscar Wilde and Kaiser Wilhelm II, but was also a sculptor, painter and writer, whose memoirs she published in 1907.

Born Henriette-Rosine Bernard, Bernhardt spent much of her youth in a convent, the decision having been made by her mother, Judith Bernard, a courtesan who traveled a great deal. The Jewish-born Bernhardt eventually became a Roman Catholic, although she still considered herself “a member of the great Jewish race.” A funeral Mass was attended by 30,000 people, an enormous crowd having followed her casket from the Church of Saint-Francoise-de-Sales to Père Lachaise Cemetery.

After showing early signs of a talent, Bernhardt debuted at the Comédie Français in 1862. Finding it too stiff, she left shortly thereafter for the Gymnase, eventually arriving at the Théâtre de L’Odéon, a theatre she came to love most. Following the birth of her son, Maurice in 1864, Bernhardt continued to appear at the Odéon. With the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, however, Paris was under siege, its news and food supply having been cut off and its theatres having closed. Bernhardt converted the Odéon into a hospital, giving significantly of her own resources and when coal ran out, she used old stage props as fuel to heat the theatre.

Following the war, Bernhardt resumed acting, assembling her own troupe and touring the world. Living a lavish lifestyle that occasionally saw her in debt (her 1891-92 tour involved personal luggage consisting of 250 pairs of shoes, 45 crates for costumes and 75 crates for her off-stage clothing), Bernhardt would typically go on tour every 3-4 years when cash was needed. Having starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, she performed in works by Dumas, Hugo, Racine, Rostand, Sardou and others. She also played male roles, including Hamlet.

Always keen to try new things, Bernhardt loved riding in a balloon. France had played a significant role in the development of this mode of transportation, Henry Giffard having invented in 1852 the first balloon equipped with a steam engine. Bernhardt convinced Giffard to set up a balloon for her own use and in 1877 she went for a ride accompanied by her friends Georges Clairin and Louis Godard. In the Clouds: Impressions of a Chair as Told to Sarah Bernhardt involves these real characters (in the story, Bernhardt calls herself Dona Sol, a heroine she had portrayed in Hugo’s Hernani) in a fictional account from the standpoint of a chair. The story was published in 1878 with illustrations by Clairin.

Sarah Bernhardt possessed a magnetic personality, every appearance having been an event. Living by the motto “Quand même – Despite all” she faced anti-Semitism, was scorned for her lifestyle and endured physical injuries due to onstage accidents which eventually led to the amputation of her leg. Devoted to art, she clung to the sublime and despite the coming trend of a natural school of acting, held to a dramatic manner of expressing emotion. “My true country is the free air, and my vocation is art without constraints.”

Unfortunately, very little information can be found about the English pianist/teacher, Annette Hullah. Apart from an English newspaper having announced her return from Vienna, in 1893, following the completion of her studies with Theodor Leschetizky and the publication of an American newspaper having referred to her as “young” in 1902, one estimates that she was born in the 1870s.

Annette Hullah was the daughter of the famed English organist, teacher and composer, Sir John Pyke Hullah (1812-84). Interestingly, Hullah’s father knew Charles Dickens, the latter having wrote a failed comic opera entitled, The Village Coquettes for which the former was to have composed the music. Years later (ca. 1930) Hullah sold the letters that were written to her father by Dickens. Hullah's mother was Frances Rosser Hullah.

In addition to being a student of Leschetizky (one of the most famous and legendary piano teachers of all time) Hullah was one of his teaching assistants and, judging by her book, Theodor Leschetizky it appears as though she had a firm grasp of the teaching principles of her master. Published in 1906 as part of the “Living Masters of Music Series” by John Lane Company, Hullah’s short book serves more as biography than memoir. A few personal stories do pepper the text and make for an enjoyable read, particularly when read alongside Leschetizky As I Knew Him written by Hullah’s classmate, Ethel Newcomb. (The first seventeen episodes of this podcast are devoted to the book.)

Following her return to England in 1893, Hullah apparently taught piano and performed, although no major tours or orchestral debuts appear to have been documented and it is not known whether or not she made any recordings. Following some health issues, particularly with regards to weak lungs, Hullah resided for some time in California at the turn of the century. Her health having been improved by the weather, she later returned to England where she secured a wealthy patron.

It is interesting to note that during Hullah’s time in California, she performed both solo and chamber music in and around San Francisco and was frequently the guest at the teas, suppers and musicales of noted individuals, including Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Magee. Magee had been a millionaire property owner and was a retired real estate broker when he died in 1902 at the age of seventy.

While there exists very little biographical information about Hullah, one thing that evidently did not go unnoticed was her looks, numerous reporters having described her physical attributes in accounts such as: “Her head reminds you of Du Maurier’s Women…” Not unlike the Polish pianist, Ignacy Jan Paderewski (another pupil of Leschetizky) Hullah’s hair was described as having reminded one of the pre-Raphaelite faces painted by Sir Edward Burne-Jones and Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Another reporter wrote that Hullah “looks like an angel when she plays, for she has a halo of bright gold hair which is really much like an aureole, and her face is decidedly spirituelle.” Hullah was also frequently described as that “fascinating little English girl,” or the “pretty little English pianist with the aureole of bright hair” and that “dainty and charming little lady.”

As for her character, Hullah has been described as being of the “scholarly, academic, logical school – an intellectual rather than emotional conception” and it has been said that her distinguishing characteristics were “an admirable conscientiousness, considerable technical attainment and unusual poise.” As a pianist, she was said to have played “exceedingly well.”

Hullah also wrote A Little History of Music.

Unfortunately, very little information can be found about the English pianist/teacher, Annette Hullah. Apart from an English newspaper having announced her return from Vienna, in 1893, following the completion of her studies with Theodor Leschetizky and the publication of an American newspaper having referred to her as “young” in 1902, one estimates that she was born in the 1870s.

Annette Hullah was the daughter of the famed English organist, teacher and composer, Sir John Pyke Hullah (1812-84). Interestingly, Hullah’s father knew Charles Dickens, the latter having wrote a failed comic opera entitled, The Village Coquettes for which the former was to have composed the music. Years later (ca. 1930) Hullah sold the letters that were written to her father by Dickens. Hullah's mother was Frances Rosser Hullah.

In addition to being a student of Leschetizky (one of the most famous and legendary piano teachers of all time) Hullah was one of his teaching assistants and, judging by her book, Theodor Leschetizky it appears as though she had a firm grasp of the teaching principles of her master. Published in 1906 as part of the “Living Masters of Music Series” by John Lane Company, Hullah’s short book serves more as biography than memoir. A few personal stories do pepper the text and make for an enjoyable read, particularly when read alongside Leschetizky As I Knew Him written by Hullah’s classmate, Ethel Newcomb. (The first seventeen episodes of this podcast are devoted to the book.)

Following her return to England in 1893, Hullah apparently taught piano and performed, although no major tours or orchestral debuts appear to have been documented and it is not known whether or not she made any recordings. Following some health issues, particularly with regards to weak lungs, Hullah resided for some time in California at the turn of the century. Her health having been improved by the weather, she later returned to England where she secured a wealthy patron.

It is interesting to note that during Hullah’s time in California, she performed both solo and chamber music in and around San Francisco and was frequently the guest at the teas, suppers and musicales of noted individuals, including Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Magee. Magee had been a millionaire property owner and was a retired real estate broker when he died in 1902 at the age of seventy.

While there exists very little biographical information about Hullah, one thing that evidently did not go unnoticed was her looks, numerous reporters having described her physical attributes in accounts such as: “Her head reminds you of Du Maurier’s Women…” Not unlike the Polish pianist, Ignacy Jan Paderewski (another pupil of Leschetizky) Hullah’s hair was described as having reminded one of the pre-Raphaelite faces painted by Sir Edward Burne-Jones and Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Another reporter wrote that Hullah “looks like an angel when she plays, for she has a halo of bright gold hair which is really much like an aureole, and her face is decidedly spirituelle.” Hullah was also frequently described as that “fascinating little English girl,” or the “pretty little English pianist with the aureole of bright hair” and that “dainty and charming little lady.”

As for her character, Hullah has been described as being of the “scholarly, academic, logical school – an intellectual rather than emotional conception” and it has been said that her distinguishing characteristics were “an admirable conscientiousness, considerable technical attainment and unusual poise.” As a pianist, she was said to have played “exceedingly well.”

Hullah also wrote A Little History of Music.

Unfortunately, very little information can be found about the English pianist/teacher, Annette Hullah. Apart from an English newspaper having announced her return from Vienna, in 1893, following the completion of her studies with Theodor Leschetizky and the publication of an American newspaper having referred to her as “young” in 1902, one estimates that she was born in the 1870s.

Annette Hullah was the daughter of the famed English organist, teacher and composer, Sir John Pyke Hullah (1812-84). Interestingly, Hullah’s father knew Charles Dickens, the latter having wrote a failed comic opera entitled, The Village Coquettes for which the former was to have composed the music. Years later (ca. 1930) Hullah sold the letters that were written to her father by Dickens. Hullah's mother was Frances Rosser Hullah.

In addition to being a student of Leschetizky (one of the most famous and legendary piano teachers of all time) Hullah was one of his teaching assistants and, judging by her book, Theodor Leschetizky it appears as though she had a firm grasp of the teaching principles of her master. Published in 1906 as part of the “Living Masters of Music Series” by John Lane Company, Hullah’s short book serves more as biography than memoir. A few personal stories do pepper the text and make for an enjoyable read, particularly when read alongside Leschetizky As I Knew Him written by Hullah’s classmate, Ethel Newcomb. (The first seventeen episodes of this podcast are devoted to the book.)

Following her return to England in 1893, Hullah apparently taught piano and performed, although no major tours or orchestral debuts appear to have been documented and it is not known whether or not she made any recordings. Following some health issues, particularly with regards to weak lungs, Hullah resided for some time in California at the turn of the century. Her health having been improved by the weather, she later returned to England where she secured a wealthy patron.

It is interesting to note that during Hullah’s time in California, she performed both solo and chamber music in and around San Francisco and was frequently the guest at the teas, suppers and musicales of noted individuals, including Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Magee. Magee had been a millionaire property owner and was a retired real estate broker when he died in 1902 at the age of seventy.

While there exists very little biographical information about Hullah, one thing that evidently did not go unnoticed was her looks, numerous reporters having described her physical attributes in accounts such as: “Her head reminds you of Du Maurier’s Women…” Not unlike the Polish pianist, Ignacy Jan Paderewski (another pupil of Leschetizky) Hullah’s hair was described as having reminded one of the pre-Raphaelite faces painted by Sir Edward Burne-Jones and Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Another reporter wrote that Hullah “looks like an angel when she plays, for she has a halo of bright gold hair which is really much like an aureole, and her face is decidedly spirituelle.” Hullah was also frequently described as that “fascinating little English girl,” or the “pretty little English pianist with the aureole of bright hair” and that “dainty and charming little lady.”

As for her character, Hullah has been described as being of the “scholarly, academic, logical school – an intellectual rather than emotional conception” and it has been said that her distinguishing characteristics were “an admirable conscientiousness, considerable technical attainment and unusual poise.” As a pianist, she was said to have played “exceedingly well.”

Hullah also wrote A Little History of Music.

Unfortunately, very little information can be found about the English pianist/teacher, Annette Hullah. Apart from an English newspaper having announced her return from Vienna, in 1893, following the completion of her studies with Theodor Leschetizky and the publication of an American newspaper having referred to her as “young” in 1902, one estimates that she was born in the 1870s.

Annette Hullah was the daughter of the famed English organist, teacher and composer, Sir John Pyke Hullah (1812-84). Interestingly, Hullah’s father knew Charles Dickens, the latter having wrote a failed comic opera entitled, The Village Coquettes for which the former was to have composed the music. Years later (ca. 1930) Hullah sold the letters that were written to her father by Dickens. Hullah's mother was Frances Rosser Hullah.

In addition to being a student of Leschetizky (one of the most famous and legendary piano teachers of all time) Hullah was one of his teaching assistants and, judging by her book, Theodor Leschetizky it appears as though she had a firm grasp of the teaching principles of her master. Published in 1906 as part of the “Living Masters of Music Series” by John Lane Company, Hullah’s short book serves more as biography than memoir. A few personal stories do pepper the text and make for an enjoyable read, particularly when read alongside Leschetizky As I Knew Him written by Hullah’s classmate, Ethel Newcomb. (The first seventeen episodes of this podcast are devoted to the book.)

Following her return to England in 1893, Hullah apparently taught piano and performed, although no major tours or orchestral debuts appear to have been documented and it is not known whether or not she made any recordings. Following some health issues, particularly with regards to weak lungs, Hullah resided for some time in California at the turn of the century. Her health having been improved by the weather, she later returned to England where she secured a wealthy patron.

It is interesting to note that during Hullah’s time in California, she performed both solo and chamber music in and around San Francisco and was frequently the guest at the teas, suppers and musicales of noted individuals, including Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Magee. Magee had been a millionaire property owner and was a retired real estate broker when he died in 1902 at the age of seventy.

While there exists very little biographical information about Hullah, one thing that evidently did not go unnoticed was her looks, numerous reporters having described her physical attributes in accounts such as: “Her head reminds you of Du Maurier’s Women…” Not unlike the Polish pianist, Ignacy Jan Paderewski (another pupil of Leschetizky) Hullah’s hair was described as having reminded one of the pre-Raphaelite faces painted by Sir Edward Burne-Jones and Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Another reporter wrote that Hullah “looks like an angel when she plays, for she has a halo of bright gold hair which is really much like an aureole, and her face is decidedly spirituelle.” Hullah was also frequently described as that “fascinating little English girl,” or the “pretty little English pianist with the aureole of bright hair” and that “dainty and charming little lady.”

As for her character, Hullah has been described as being of the “scholarly, academic, logical school – an intellectual rather than emotional conception” and it has been said that her distinguishing characteristics were “an admirable conscientiousness, considerable technical attainment and unusual poise.” As a pianist, she was said to have played “exceedingly well.”

Hullah also wrote A Little History of Music.

Unfortunately, very little information can be found about the English pianist/teacher, Annette Hullah. Apart from an English newspaper having announced her return from Vienna, in 1893, following the completion of her studies with Theodor Leschetizky and the publication of an American newspaper having referred to her as “young” in 1902, one estimates that she was born in the 1870s.

Annette Hullah was the daughter of the famed English organist, teacher and composer, Sir John Pyke Hullah (1812-84). Interestingly, Hullah’s father knew Charles Dickens, the latter having wrote a failed comic opera entitled, The Village Coquettes for which the former was to have composed the music. Years later (ca. 1930) Hullah sold the letters that were written to her father by Dickens. Hullah's mother was Frances Rosser Hullah.

In addition to being a student of Leschetizky (one of the most famous and legendary piano teachers of all time) Hullah was one of his teaching assistants and, judging by her book, Theodor Leschetizky it appears as though she had a firm grasp of the teaching principles of her master. Published in 1906 as part of the “Living Masters of Music Series” by John Lane Company, Hullah’s short book serves more as biography than memoir. A few personal stories do pepper the text and make for an enjoyable read, particularly when read alongside Leschetizky As I Knew Him written by Hullah’s classmate, Ethel Newcomb. (The first seventeen episodes of this podcast are devoted to the book.)

Following her return to England in 1893, Hullah apparently taught piano and performed, although no major tours or orchestral debuts appear to have been documented and it is not known whether or not she made any recordings. Following some health issues, particularly with regards to weak lungs, Hullah resided for some time in California at the turn of the century. Her health having been improved by the weather, she later returned to England where she secured a wealthy patron.

It is interesting to note that during Hullah’s time in California, she performed both solo and chamber music in and around San Francisco and was frequently the guest at the teas, suppers and musicales of noted individuals, including Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Magee. Magee had been a millionaire property owner and was a retired real estate broker when he died in 1902 at the age of seventy.

While there exists very little biographical information about Hullah, one thing that evidently did not go unnoticed was her looks, numerous reporters having described her physical attributes in accounts such as: “Her head reminds you of Du Maurier’s Women…” Not unlike the Polish pianist, Ignacy Jan Paderewski (another pupil of Leschetizky) Hullah’s hair was described as having reminded one of the pre-Raphaelite faces painted by Sir Edward Burne-Jones and Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Another reporter wrote that Hullah “looks like an angel when she plays, for she has a halo of bright gold hair which is really much like an aureole, and her face is decidedly spirituelle.” Hullah was also frequently described as that “fascinating little English girl,” or the “pretty little English pianist with the aureole of bright hair” and that “dainty and charming little lady.”

As for her character, Hullah has been described as being of the “scholarly, academic, logical school – an intellectual rather than emotional conception” and it has been said that her distinguishing characteristics were “an admirable conscientiousness, considerable technical attainment and unusual poise.” As a pianist, she was said to have played “exceedingly well.”

Hullah also wrote A Little History of Music.

Unfortunately, very little information can be found about the English pianist/teacher, Annette Hullah. Apart from an English newspaper having announced her return from Vienna, in 1893, following the completion of her studies with Theodor Leschetizky and the publication of an American newspaper having referred to her as “young” in 1902, one estimates that she was born in the 1870s.

Annette Hullah was the daughter of the famed English organist, teacher and composer, Sir John Pyke Hullah (1812-84). Interestingly, Hullah’s father knew Charles Dickens, the latter having wrote a failed comic opera entitled, The Village Coquettes for which the former was to have composed the music. Years later (ca. 1930) Hullah sold the letters that were written to her father by Dickens. Hullah's mother was Frances Rosser Hullah.

In addition to being a student of Leschetizky (one of the most famous and legendary piano teachers of all time) Hullah was one of his teaching assistants and, judging by her book, Theodor Leschetizky it appears as though she had a firm grasp of the teaching principles of her master. Published in 1906 as part of the “Living Masters of Music Series” by John Lane Company, Hullah’s short book serves more as biography than memoir. A few personal stories do pepper the text and make for an enjoyable read, particularly when read alongside Leschetizky As I Knew Him written by Hullah’s classmate, Ethel Newcomb. (The first seventeen episodes of this podcast are devoted to the book.)

Following her return to England in 1893, Hullah apparently taught piano and performed, although no major tours or orchestral debuts appear to have been documented and it is not known whether or not she made any recordings. Following some health issues, particularly with regards to weak lungs, Hullah resided for some time in California at the turn of the century. Her health having been improved by the weather, she later returned to England where she secured a wealthy patron.

It is interesting to note that during Hullah’s time in California, she performed both solo and chamber music in and around San Francisco and was frequently the guest at the teas, suppers and musicales of noted individuals, including Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Magee. Magee had been a millionaire property owner and was a retired real estate broker when he died in 1902 at the age of seventy.

While there exists very little biographical information about Hullah, one thing that evidently did not go unnoticed was her looks, numerous reporters having described her physical attributes in accounts such as: “Her head reminds you of Du Maurier’s Women…” Not unlike the Polish pianist, Ignacy Jan Paderewski (another pupil of Leschetizky) Hullah’s hair was described as having reminded one of the pre-Raphaelite faces painted by Sir Edward Burne-Jones and Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Another reporter wrote that Hullah “looks like an angel when she plays, for she has a halo of bright gold hair which is really much like an aureole, and her face is decidedly spirituelle.” Hullah was also frequently described as that “fascinating little English girl,” or the “pretty little English pianist with the aureole of bright hair” and that “dainty and charming little lady.”

As for her character, Hullah has been described as being of the “scholarly, academic, logical school – an intellectual rather than emotional conception” and it has been said that her distinguishing characteristics were “an admirable conscientiousness, considerable technical attainment and unusual poise.” As a pianist, she was said to have played “exceedingly well.”

Hullah also wrote A Little History of Music.

Unfortunately, very little information can be found about the English pianist/teacher, Annette Hullah. Apart from an English newspaper having announced her return from Vienna, in 1893, following the completion of her studies with Theodor Leschetizky and the publication of an American newspaper having referred to her as “young” in 1902, one estimates that she was born in the 1870s.

Annette Hullah was the daughter of the famed English organist, teacher and composer, Sir John Pyke Hullah (1812-84). Interestingly, Hullah’s father knew Charles Dickens, the latter having wrote a failed comic opera entitled, The Village Coquettes for which the former was to have composed the music. Years later (ca. 1930) Hullah sold the letters that were written to her father by Dickens. Hullah's mother was Frances Rosser Hullah.

In addition to being a student of Leschetizky (one of the most famous and legendary piano teachers of all time) Hullah was one of his teaching assistants and, judging by her book, Theodor Leschetizky it appears as though she had a firm grasp of the teaching principles of her master. Published in 1906 as part of the “Living Masters of Music Series” by John Lane Company, Hullah’s short book serves more as biography than memoir. A few personal stories do pepper the text and make for an enjoyable read, particularly when read alongside Leschetizky As I Knew Him written by Hullah’s classmate, Ethel Newcomb. (The first seventeen episodes of this podcast are devoted to the book.)

Following her return to England in 1893, Hullah apparently taught piano and performed, although no major tours or orchestral debuts appear to have been documented and it is not known whether or not she made any recordings. Following some health issues, particularly with regards to weak lungs, Hullah resided for some time in California at the turn of the century. Her health having been improved by the weather, she later returned to England where she secured a wealthy patron.

It is interesting to note that during Hullah’s time in California, she performed both solo and chamber music in and around San Francisco and was frequently the guest at the teas, suppers and musicales of noted individuals, including Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Magee. Magee had been a millionaire property owner and was a retired real estate broker when he died in 1902 at the age of seventy.

While there exists very little biographical information about Hullah, one thing that evidently did not go unnoticed was her looks, numerous reporters having described her physical attributes in accounts such as: “Her head reminds you of Du Maurier’s Women…” Not unlike the Polish pianist, Ignacy Jan Paderewski (another pupil of Leschetizky) Hullah’s hair was described as having reminded one of the pre-Raphaelite faces painted by Sir Edward Burne-Jones and Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Another reporter wrote that Hullah “looks like an angel when she plays, for she has a halo of bright gold hair which is really much like an aureole, and her face is decidedly spirituelle.” Hullah was also frequently described as that “fascinating little English girl,” or the “pretty little English pianist with the aureole of bright hair” and that “dainty and charming little lady.”

As for her character, Hullah has been described as being of the “scholarly, academic, logical school – an intellectual rather than emotional conception” and it has been said that her distinguishing characteristics were “an admirable conscientiousness, considerable technical attainment and unusual poise.” As a pianist, she was said to have played “exceedingly well.”

Hullah also wrote A Little History of Music.

Born of Jewish descent in Warsaw, Poland in 1879, Wanda Landowska would go on to achieve an impressive career as a keyboardist, specializing in the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and other composers from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. What is perhaps most remarkable about her career is that not only was she a performer of the highest rank – and one for whom her on-stage manner was known to have great individuality, charm and intimacy – but also she was extremely well-read, particularly in the area of musicology. Landowska’s vast writings, collected in the present volume – published five years after her death by her student and domestic partner, Denise Restout – represent discussions about many aspects pertaining to musical performance and interpretation.

Regarded for her revival of the harpsichord, Landowska was a student of Jan Kleczynski and Alexander Michalowski, both of which were authorities on the music of Frédéric Chopin. Additional studies in counterpoint and composition were taken with Heinrich Urban in Berlin. Landowska also studied with Moritz Moszkowski.

Following an elopement to Paris in 1900, with Henry Lew (who later died in a car accident following the First World War) Landowska began to give harpsichord performances, her famous Pleyel harpsichord having not been completed until 1912. This period saw concert tours throughout Europe. Also at this time, her essays began to be published. During the first decade of the twentieth century, Landowska taught at the Schola Cantorum in Paris and, a few years later, from 1912-19, at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. Following her American debut in 1923, she taught for several years in Philadelphia at the Curtis Institute.

By 1925, Landowska had established the École de Musique Ancienne in Paris and, by 1927, her famous home in Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, which would become a center for the performance and study of old music. She held residence there thru 1940, during which time she often attended – both as guest and performer – the famous salons of Natalie Clifford Barney. Becoming a naturalized French citizen in 1938, Landowska was the first person to record, at the harpsichord, the Goldberg Variations of J. S. Bach.

The years of the Second World War were hard on Landowska, her home in Saint-Leu having been looted. Priceless instruments and manuscripts were stolen. Having fled Europe for the USA with Denise Restout, the two arrived in New York on December 7, 1941, the date of the attack on Pearl Harbour. The two eventually settled in Lakeville, Connecticut, in a peaceful home where Landowska continued performing and teaching. Landowska gave her final public performance in 1954. That same year saw the issuing of her recording of The Well-Tempered Clavier by J. S. Bach.

Though not limited to the harpsichord (Landowska performed frequently at the piano), the instrument was, however, her primary vehicle of expression and she achieved success in conveying to contemporary composers, the reasons they ought to write for the instrument. Both Manuel de Falla and Francis Poulenc composed for her, works for harpsichord.

While the selections presented here represent a small sampling of the artist’s work, it is worth noting that the lives with whom Landowska came into contact during her life, included the likes of Louis Diémer, Gabriel Fauré, Serge Koussevitzky, Pierre Monteux, Arthur Nikisch, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Camille Saint-Saëns, Albert Schweitzer, Leopold Stokowski, Igor Stravinsky, Leo Tolstoy and many others. Landowska passed away in 1959 in Lakeville, Connecticut, at the age of eighty.

Born of Jewish descent in Warsaw, Poland in 1879, Wanda Landowska would go on to achieve an impressive career as a keyboardist, specializing in the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and other composers from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. What is perhaps most remarkable about her career is that not only was she a performer of the highest rank – and one for whom her on-stage manner was known to have great individuality, charm and intimacy – but also she was extremely well-read, particularly in the area of musicology. Landowska’s vast writings, collected in the present volume – published five years after her death by her student and domestic partner, Denise Restout – represent discussions about many aspects pertaining to musical performance and interpretation.

Regarded for her revival of the harpsichord, Landowska was a student of Jan Kleczynski and Alexander Michalowski, both of which were authorities on the music of Frédéric Chopin. Additional studies in counterpoint and composition were taken with Heinrich Urban in Berlin. Landowska also studied with Moritz Moszkowski.

Following an elopement to Paris in 1900, with Henry Lew (who later died in a car accident following the First World War) Landowska began to give harpsichord performances, her famous Pleyel harpsichord having not been completed until 1912. This period saw concert tours throughout Europe. Also at this time, her essays began to be published. During the first decade of the twentieth century, Landowska taught at the Schola Cantorum in Paris and, a few years later, from 1912-19, at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. Following her American debut in 1923, she taught for several years in Philadelphia at the Curtis Institute.

By 1925, Landowska had established the École de Musique Ancienne in Paris and, by 1927, her famous home in Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, which would become a center for the performance and study of old music. She held residence there thru 1940, during which time she often attended – both as guest and performer – the famous salons of Natalie Clifford Barney. Becoming a naturalized French citizen in 1938, Landowska was the first person to record, at the harpsichord, the Goldberg Variations of J. S. Bach.

The years of the Second World War were hard on Landowska, her home in Saint-Leu having been looted. Priceless instruments and manuscripts were stolen. Having fled Europe for the USA with Denise Restout, the two arrived in New York on December 7, 1941, the date of the attack on Pearl Harbour. The two eventually settled in Lakeville, Connecticut, in a peaceful home where Landowska continued performing and teaching. Landowska gave her final public performance in 1954. That same year saw the issuing of her recording of The Well-Tempered Clavier by J. S. Bach.

Though not limited to the harpsichord (Landowska performed frequently at the piano), the instrument was, however, her primary vehicle of expression and she achieved success in conveying to contemporary composers, the reasons they ought to write for the instrument. Both Manuel de Falla and Francis Poulenc composed for her, works for harpsichord.

While the selections presented here represent a small sampling of the artist’s work, it is worth noting that the lives with whom Landowska came into contact during her life, included the likes of Louis Diémer, Gabriel Fauré, Serge Koussevitzky, Pierre Monteux, Arthur Nikisch, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Camille Saint-Saëns, Albert Schweitzer, Leopold Stokowski, Igor Stravinsky, Leo Tolstoy and many others. Landowska passed away in 1959 in Lakeville, Connecticut, at the age of eighty.

Born of Jewish descent in Warsaw, Poland in 1879, Wanda Landowska would go on to achieve an impressive career as a keyboardist, specializing in the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and other composers from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. What is perhaps most remarkable about her career is that not only was she a performer of the highest rank – and one for whom her on-stage manner was known to have great individuality, charm and intimacy – but also she was extremely well-read, particularly in the area of musicology. Landowska’s vast writings, collected in the present volume – published five years after her death by her student and domestic partner, Denise Restout – represent discussions about many aspects pertaining to musical performance and interpretation.

Regarded for her revival of the harpsichord, Landowska was a student of Jan Kleczynski and Alexander Michalowski, both of which were authorities on the music of Frédéric Chopin. Additional studies in counterpoint and composition were taken with Heinrich Urban in Berlin. Landowska also studied with Moritz Moszkowski.

Following an elopement to Paris in 1900, with Henry Lew (who later died in a car accident following the First World War) Landowska began to give harpsichord performances, her famous Pleyel harpsichord having not been completed until 1912. This period saw concert tours throughout Europe. Also at this time, her essays began to be published. During the first decade of the twentieth century, Landowska taught at the Schola Cantorum in Paris and, a few years later, from 1912-19, at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. Following her American debut in 1923, she taught for several years in Philadelphia at the Curtis Institute.

By 1925, Landowska had established the École de Musique Ancienne in Paris and, by 1927, her famous home in Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, which would become a center for the performance and study of old music. She held residence there thru 1940, during which time she often attended – both as guest and performer – the famous salons of Natalie Clifford Barney. Becoming a naturalized French citizen in 1938, Landowska was the first person to record, at the harpsichord, the Goldberg Variations of J. S. Bach.

The years of the Second World War were hard on Landowska, her home in Saint-Leu having been looted. Priceless instruments and manuscripts were stolen. Having fled Europe for the USA with Denise Restout, the two arrived in New York on December 7, 1941, the date of the attack on Pearl Harbour. The two eventually settled in Lakeville, Connecticut, in a peaceful home where Landowska continued performing and teaching. Landowska gave her final public performance in 1954. That same year saw the issuing of her recording of The Well-Tempered Clavier by J. S. Bach.

Though not limited to the harpsichord (Landowska performed frequently at the piano), the instrument was, however, her primary vehicle of expression and she achieved success in conveying to contemporary composers, the reasons they ought to write for the instrument. Both Manuel de Falla and Francis Poulenc composed for her, works for harpsichord.

While the selections presented here represent a small sampling of the artist’s work, it is worth noting that the lives with whom Landowska came into contact during her life, included the likes of Louis Diémer, Gabriel Fauré, Serge Koussevitzky, Pierre Monteux, Arthur Nikisch, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Camille Saint-Saëns, Albert Schweitzer, Leopold Stokowski, Igor Stravinsky, Leo Tolstoy and many others. Landowska passed away in 1959 in Lakeville, Connecticut, at the age of eighty.

Born in Toronto, Canada in 1873, Maud Allan (born Ulah Maud Allan Durrant) would go on to have an important career as a dancer, having initially begun her artistic career as a pianist. In the late 1870s, the Durrant family moved to San Francisco when, by the mid-1890s, at the recommendation of her music teacher, Prof. Eugene Bonelli at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Allan went to Germany to study music in Berlin. She also travelled to Weimar, where she was a student of pianist, Ferruccio Busoni.

While in Germany – a period which saw the hanging of her beloved brother, Theo, for the murder of two young women – Allan began to shift her interest from the piano to dance, focusing primarily on the dances of Ancient Greece. The creative and original Allan took great delight in researching and designing her costumes, many of which she herself sewed. Allan, a lifelong solo dancer, did not consider her unique manner of movement to have much to do with dance, rather, her routines were known as “musically impressionistic mood settings.” The tall, athletic Allan had no formal dance training and had disliked having been compared to Isadora Duncan, another barefoot dancer.

Following her first dance performances in Vienna in 1903, Allan travelled throughout Europe, dancing before countless people of distinction. The list of individuals with whom Allan had some level of acquaintance and for which she mentions in her book, includes Sarah Bernhardt, Johannes Brahms, Ferruccio Busoni, François Delsarte, the Earl and Countess of Dudley, Yvette Guilbert, Joseph Joachim, King Edward VII, Princess Eugènie Murat, Marcel Remy, Franz Stuck, Eugène Ysaÿe and many others.

Having danced to the music of composers such as Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Rubinstein, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and others, Allan is best remembered for her dances of Salomé, the origins of which are described in her book and for whom Marcel Remy composed the music. The controversial dance was sought after by audiences worldwide, bringing rise to “Salomania.” Allan also played the lead role in a private performance of Oscar Wilde’s play, Salome, which was still banned from public performance in England. A resulting lawsuit initiated by an ultra-right-wing Conservative MP, brought scandal to Allan’s career.

Nevertheless, Allan continued dancing and also began acting. During the Second World War, she settled in Los Angeles, working as a draughtswoman at Macdonald Aircraft. Having once enjoyed considerable fortune, she died forgotten and a pauper, in 1956, at the age of eighty-three.

Most refreshing in her book, My Life and Dancing, published in 1908, is the author’s imagination, particularly in the form of fairies and “Fairyland” and she held particular affection for nature, books, museums, galleries, artistic freedom and even her beloved dollies. In her memoir, Allan also speaks of her fond memories of winters in Canada and of her views on the importance of the education of women.

According to the Maud Allan archives at the Dance Collection in Toronto: “While she did operate her own dance school briefly in London in the 1940s, she did not mentor any dancers who could continue to perform her very personal choreographic aesthetic and thus her dance works are lost.” Numerous artifacts of Maud Allan ephemerae can be found at the Dance Collection.

Born in Toronto, Canada in 1873, Maud Allan (born Ulah Maud Allan Durrant) would go on to have an important career as a dancer, having initially begun her artistic career as a pianist. In the late 1870s, the Durrant family moved to San Francisco when, by the mid-1890s, at the recommendation of her music teacher, Prof. Eugene Bonelli at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Allan went to Germany to study music in Berlin. She also travelled to Weimar, where she was a student of pianist, Ferruccio Busoni.

While in Germany – a period which saw the hanging of her beloved brother, Theo, for the murder of two young women – Allan began to shift her interest from the piano to dance, focusing primarily on the dances of Ancient Greece. The creative and original Allan took great delight in researching and designing her costumes, many of which she herself sewed. Allan, a lifelong solo dancer, did not consider her unique manner of movement to have much to do with dance, rather, her routines were known as “musically impressionistic mood settings.” The tall, athletic Allan had no formal dance training and had disliked having been compared to Isadora Duncan, another barefoot dancer.

Following her first dance performances in Vienna in 1903, Allan travelled throughout Europe, dancing before countless people of distinction. The list of individuals with whom Allan had some level of acquaintance and for which she mentions in her book, includes Sarah Bernhardt, Johannes Brahms, Ferruccio Busoni, François Delsarte, the Earl and Countess of Dudley, Yvette Guilbert, Joseph Joachim, King Edward VII, Princess Eugènie Murat, Marcel Remy, Franz Stuck, Eugène Ysaÿe and many others.

Having danced to the music of composers such as Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Rubinstein, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and others, Allan is best remembered for her dances of Salomé, the origins of which are described in her book and for whom Marcel Remy composed the music. The controversial dance was sought after by audiences worldwide, bringing rise to “Salomania.” Allan also played the lead role in a private performance of Oscar Wilde’s play, Salome, which was still banned from public performance in England. A resulting lawsuit initiated by an ultra-right-wing Conservative MP, brought scandal to Allan’s career.

Nevertheless, Allan continued dancing and also began acting. During the Second World War, she settled in Los Angeles, working as a draughtswoman at Macdonald Aircraft. Having once enjoyed considerable fortune, she died forgotten and a pauper, in 1956, at the age of eighty-three.

Most refreshing in her book, My Life and Dancing, published in 1908, is the author’s imagination, particularly in the form of fairies and “Fairyland” and she held particular affection for nature, books, museums, galleries, artistic freedom and even her beloved dollies. In her memoir, Allan also speaks of her fond memories of winters in Canada and of her views on the importance of the education of women.

According to the Maud Allan archives at the Dance Collection in Toronto: “While she did operate her own dance school briefly in London in the 1940s, she did not mentor any dancers who could continue to perform her very personal choreographic aesthetic and thus her dance works are lost.” Numerous artifacts of Maud Allan ephemerae can be found at the Dance Collection.

Born in Toronto, Canada in 1873, Maud Allan (born Ulah Maud Allan Durrant) would go on to have an important career as a dancer, having initially begun her artistic career as a pianist. In the late 1870s, the Durrant family moved to San Francisco when, by the mid-1890s, at the recommendation of her music teacher, Prof. Eugene Bonelli at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Allan went to Germany to study music in Berlin. She also travelled to Weimar, where she was a student of pianist, Ferruccio Busoni.

While in Germany – a period which saw the hanging of her beloved brother, Theo, for the murder of two young women – Allan began to shift her interest from the piano to dance, focusing primarily on the dances of Ancient Greece. The creative and original Allan took great delight in researching and designing her costumes, many of which she herself sewed. Allan, a lifelong solo dancer, did not consider her unique manner of movement to have much to do with dance, rather, her routines were known as “musically impressionistic mood settings.” The tall, athletic Allan had no formal dance training and had disliked having been compared to Isadora Duncan, another barefoot dancer.

Following her first dance performances in Vienna in 1903, Allan travelled throughout Europe, dancing before countless people of distinction. The list of individuals with whom Allan had some level of acquaintance and for which she mentions in her book, includes Sarah Bernhardt, Johannes Brahms, Ferruccio Busoni, François Delsarte, the Earl and Countess of Dudley, Yvette Guilbert, Joseph Joachim, King Edward VII, Princess Eugènie Murat, Marcel Remy, Franz Stuck, Eugène Ysaÿe and many others.

Having danced to the music of composers such as Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Rubinstein, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and others, Allan is best remembered for her dances of Salomé, the origins of which are described in her book and for whom Marcel Remy composed the music. The controversial dance was sought after by audiences worldwide, bringing rise to “Salomania.” Allan also played the lead role in a private performance of Oscar Wilde’s play, Salome, which was still banned from public performance in England. A resulting lawsuit initiated by an ultra-right-wing Conservative MP, brought scandal to Allan’s career.

Nevertheless, Allan continued dancing and also began acting. During the Second World War, she settled in Los Angeles, working as a draughtswoman at Macdonald Aircraft. Having once enjoyed considerable fortune, she died forgotten and a pauper, in 1956, at the age of eighty-three.

Most refreshing in her book, My Life and Dancing, published in 1908, is the author’s imagination, particularly in the form of fairies and “Fairyland” and she held particular affection for nature, books, museums, galleries, artistic freedom and even her beloved dollies. In her memoir, Allan also speaks of her fond memories of winters in Canada and of her views on the importance of the education of women.

According to the Maud Allan archives at the Dance Collection in Toronto: “While she did operate her own dance school briefly in London in the 1940s, she did not mentor any dancers who could continue to perform her very personal choreographic aesthetic and thus her dance works are lost.” Numerous artifacts of Maud Allan ephemerae can be found at the Dance Collection.

Born in Toronto, Canada in 1873, Maud Allan (born Ulah Maud Allan Durrant) would go on to have an important career as a dancer, having initially begun her artistic career as a pianist. In the late 1870s, the Durrant family moved to San Francisco when, by the mid-1890s, at the recommendation of her music teacher, Prof. Eugene Bonelli at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Allan went to Germany to study music in Berlin. She also travelled to Weimar, where she was a student of pianist, Ferruccio Busoni.

While in Germany – a period which saw the hanging of her beloved brother, Theo, for the murder of two young women – Allan began to shift her interest from the piano to dance, focusing primarily on the dances of Ancient Greece. The creative and original Allan took great delight in researching and designing her costumes, many of which she herself sewed. Allan, a lifelong solo dancer, did not consider her unique manner of movement to have much to do with dance, rather, her routines were known as “musically impressionistic mood settings.” The tall, athletic Allan had no formal dance training and had disliked having been compared to Isadora Duncan, another barefoot dancer.

Following her first dance performances in Vienna in 1903, Allan travelled throughout Europe, dancing before countless people of distinction. The list of individuals with whom Allan had some level of acquaintance and for which she mentions in her book, includes Sarah Bernhardt, Johannes Brahms, Ferruccio Busoni, François Delsarte, the Earl and Countess of Dudley, Yvette Guilbert, Joseph Joachim, King Edward VII, Princess Eugènie Murat, Marcel Remy, Franz Stuck, Eugène Ysaÿe and many others.

Having danced to the music of composers such as Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Rubinstein, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and others, Allan is best remembered for her dances of Salomé, the origins of which are described in her book and for whom Marcel Remy composed the music. The controversial dance was sought after by audiences worldwide, bringing rise to “Salomania.” Allan also played the lead role in a private performance of Oscar Wilde’s play, Salome, which was still banned from public performance in England. A resulting lawsuit initiated by an ultra-right-wing Conservative MP, brought scandal to Allan’s career.

Nevertheless, Allan continued dancing and also began acting. During the Second World War, she settled in Los Angeles, working as a draughtswoman at Macdonald Aircraft. Having once enjoyed considerable fortune, she died forgotten and a pauper, in 1956, at the age of eighty-three.

Most refreshing in her book, My Life and Dancing, published in 1908, is the author’s imagination, particularly in the form of fairies and “Fairyland” and she held particular affection for nature, books, museums, galleries, artistic freedom and even her beloved dollies. In her memoir, Allan also speaks of her fond memories of winters in Canada and of her views on the importance of the education of women.

According to the Maud Allan archives at the Dance Collection in Toronto: “While she did operate her own dance school briefly in London in the 1940s, she did not mentor any dancers who could continue to perform her very personal choreographic aesthetic and thus her dance works are lost.” Numerous artifacts of Maud Allan ephemerae can be found at the Dance Collection.

Born in Toronto, Canada in 1873, Maud Allan (born Ulah Maud Allan Durrant) would go on to have an important career as a dancer, having initially begun her artistic career as a pianist. In the late 1870s, the Durrant family moved to San Francisco when, by the mid-1890s, at the recommendation of her music teacher, Prof. Eugene Bonelli at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Allan went to Germany to study music in Berlin. She also travelled to Weimar, where she was a student of pianist, Ferruccio Busoni.

While in Germany – a period which saw the hanging of her beloved brother, Theo, for the murder of two young women – Allan began to shift her interest from the piano to dance, focusing primarily on the dances of Ancient Greece. The creative and original Allan took great delight in researching and designing her costumes, many of which she herself sewed. Allan, a lifelong solo dancer, did not consider her unique manner of movement to have much to do with dance, rather, her routines were known as “musically impressionistic mood settings.” The tall, athletic Allan had no formal dance training and had disliked having been compared to Isadora Duncan, another barefoot dancer.

Following her first dance performances in Vienna in 1903, Allan travelled throughout Europe, dancing before countless people of distinction. The list of individuals with whom Allan had some level of acquaintance and for which she mentions in her book, includes Sarah Bernhardt, Johannes Brahms, Ferruccio Busoni, François Delsarte, the Earl and Countess of Dudley, Yvette Guilbert, Joseph Joachim, King Edward VII, Princess Eugènie Murat, Marcel Remy, Franz Stuck, Eugène Ysaÿe and many others.

Having danced to the music of composers such as Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Rubinstein, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and others, Allan is best remembered for her dances of Salomé, the origins of which are described in her book and for whom Marcel Remy composed the music. The controversial dance was sought after by audiences worldwide, bringing rise to “Salomania.” Allan also played the lead role in a private performance of Oscar Wilde’s play, Salome, which was still banned from public performance in England. A resulting lawsuit initiated by an ultra-right-wing Conservative MP, brought scandal to Allan’s career.

Nevertheless, Allan continued dancing and also began acting. During the Second World War, she settled in Los Angeles, working as a draughtswoman at Macdonald Aircraft. Having once enjoyed considerable fortune, she died forgotten and a pauper, in 1956, at the age of eighty-three.

Most refreshing in her book, My Life and Dancing, published in 1908, is the author’s imagination, particularly in the form of fairies and “Fairyland” and she held particular affection for nature, books, museums, galleries, artistic freedom and even her beloved dollies. In her memoir, Allan also speaks of her fond memories of winters in Canada and of her views on the importance of the education of women.

According to the Maud Allan archives at the Dance Collection in Toronto: “While she did operate her own dance school briefly in London in the 1940s, she did not mentor any dancers who could continue to perform her very personal choreographic aesthetic and thus her dance works are lost.” Numerous artifacts of Maud Allan ephemerae can be found at the Dance Collection.

Born in Toronto, Canada in 1873, Maud Allan (born Ulah Maud Allan Durrant) would go on to have an important career as a dancer, having initially begun her artistic career as a pianist. In the late 1870s, the Durrant family moved to San Francisco when, by the mid-1890s, at the recommendation of her music teacher, Prof. Eugene Bonelli at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Allan went to Germany to study music in Berlin. She also travelled to Weimar, where she was a student of pianist, Ferruccio Busoni.

While in Germany – a period which saw the hanging of her beloved brother, Theo, for the murder of two young women – Allan began to shift her interest from the piano to dance, focusing primarily on the dances of Ancient Greece. The creative and original Allan took great delight in researching and designing her costumes, many of which she herself sewed. Allan, a lifelong solo dancer, did not consider her unique manner of movement to have much to do with dance, rather, her routines were known as “musically impressionistic mood settings.” The tall, athletic Allan had no formal dance training and had disliked having been compared to Isadora Duncan, another barefoot dancer.

Following her first dance performances in Vienna in 1903, Allan travelled throughout Europe, dancing before countless people of distinction. The list of individuals with whom Allan had some level of acquaintance and for which she mentions in her book, includes Sarah Bernhardt, Johannes Brahms, Ferruccio Busoni, François Delsarte, the Earl and Countess of Dudley, Yvette Guilbert, Joseph Joachim, King Edward VII, Princess Eugènie Murat, Marcel Remy, Franz Stuck, Eugène Ysaÿe and many others.

Having danced to the music of composers such as Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Rubinstein, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and others, Allan is best remembered for her dances of Salomé, the origins of which are described in her book and for whom Marcel Remy composed the music. The controversial dance was sought after by audiences worldwide, bringing rise to “Salomania.” Allan also played the lead role in a private performance of Oscar Wilde’s play, Salome, which was still banned from public performance in England. A resulting lawsuit initiated by an ultra-right-wing Conservative MP, brought scandal to Allan’s career.

Nevertheless, Allan continued dancing and also began acting. During the Second World War, she settled in Los Angeles, working as a draughtswoman at Macdonald Aircraft. Having once enjoyed considerable fortune, she died forgotten and a pauper, in 1956, at the age of eighty-three.

Most refreshing in her book, My Life and Dancing, published in 1908, is the author’s imagination, particularly in the form of fairies and “Fairyland” and she held particular affection for nature, books, museums, galleries, artistic freedom and even her beloved dollies. In her memoir, Allan also speaks of her fond memories of winters in Canada and of her views on the importance of the education of women.

According to the Maud Allan archives at the Dance Collection in Toronto: “While she did operate her own dance school briefly in London in the 1940s, she did not mentor any dancers who could continue to perform her very personal choreographic aesthetic and thus her dance works are lost.” Numerous artifacts of Maud Allan ephemerae can be found at the Dance Collection.

Born in Toronto, Canada in 1873, Maud Allan (born Ulah Maud Allan Durrant) would go on to have an important career as a dancer, having initially begun her artistic career as a pianist. In the late 1870s, the Durrant family moved to San Francisco when, by the mid-1890s, at the recommendation of her music teacher, Prof. Eugene Bonelli at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Allan went to Germany to study music in Berlin. She also travelled to Weimar, where she was a student of pianist, Ferruccio Busoni.

While in Germany – a period which saw the hanging of her beloved brother, Theo, for the murder of two young women – Allan began to shift her interest from the piano to dance, focusing primarily on the dances of Ancient Greece. The creative and original Allan took great delight in researching and designing her costumes, many of which she herself sewed. Allan, a lifelong solo dancer, did not consider her unique manner of movement to have much to do with dance, rather, her routines were known as “musically impressionistic mood settings.” The tall, athletic Allan had no formal dance training and had disliked having been compared to Isadora Duncan, another barefoot dancer.

Following her first dance performances in Vienna in 1903, Allan travelled throughout Europe, dancing before countless people of distinction. The list of individuals with whom Allan had some level of acquaintance and for which she mentions in her book, includes Sarah Bernhardt, Johannes Brahms, Ferruccio Busoni, François Delsarte, the Earl and Countess of Dudley, Yvette Guilbert, Joseph Joachim, King Edward VII, Princess Eugènie Murat, Marcel Remy, Franz Stuck, Eugène Ysaÿe and many others.

Having danced to the music of composers such as Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Rubinstein, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and others, Allan is best remembered for her dances of Salomé, the origins of which are described in her book and for whom Marcel Remy composed the music. The controversial dance was sought after by audiences worldwide, bringing rise to “Salomania.” Allan also played the lead role in a private performance of Oscar Wilde’s play, Salome, which was still banned from public performance in England. A resulting lawsuit initiated by an ultra-right-wing Conservative MP, brought scandal to Allan’s career.

Nevertheless, Allan continued dancing and also began acting. During the Second World War, she settled in Los Angeles, working as a draughtswoman at Macdonald Aircraft. Having once enjoyed considerable fortune, she died forgotten and a pauper, in 1956, at the age of eighty-three.

Most refreshing in her book, My Life and Dancing, published in 1908, is the author’s imagination, particularly in the form of fairies and “Fairyland” and she held particular affection for nature, books, museums, galleries, artistic freedom and even her beloved dollies. In her memoir, Allan also speaks of her fond memories of winters in Canada and of her views on the importance of the education of women.

According to the Maud Allan archives at the Dance Collection in Toronto: “While she did operate her own dance school briefly in London in the 1940s, she did not mentor any dancers who could continue to perform her very personal choreographic aesthetic and thus her dance works are lost.” Numerous artifacts of Maud Allan ephemerae can be found at the Dance Collection.

Born in Toronto, Canada in 1873, Maud Allan (born Ulah Maud Allan Durrant) would go on to have an important career as a dancer, having initially begun her artistic career as a pianist. In the late 1870s, the Durrant family moved to San Francisco when, by the mid-1890s, at the recommendation of her music teacher, Prof. Eugene Bonelli at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Allan went to Germany to study music in Berlin. She also travelled to Weimar, where she was a student of pianist, Ferruccio Busoni.

While in Germany – a period which saw the hanging of her beloved brother, Theo, for the murder of two young women – Allan began to shift her interest from the piano to dance, focusing primarily on the dances of Ancient Greece. The creative and original Allan took great delight in researching and designing her costumes, many of which she herself sewed. Allan, a lifelong solo dancer, did not consider her unique manner of movement to have much to do with dance, rather, her routines were known as “musically impressionistic mood settings.” The tall, athletic Allan had no formal dance training and had disliked having been compared to Isadora Duncan, another barefoot dancer.

Following her first dance performances in Vienna in 1903, Allan travelled throughout Europe, dancing before countless people of distinction. The list of individuals with whom Allan had some level of acquaintance and for which she mentions in her book, includes Sarah Bernhardt, Johannes Brahms, Ferruccio Busoni, François Delsarte, the Earl and Countess of Dudley, Yvette Guilbert, Joseph Joachim, King Edward VII, Princess Eugènie Murat, Marcel Remy, Franz Stuck, Eugène Ysaÿe and many others.

Having danced to the music of composers such as Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Rubinstein, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and others, Allan is best remembered for her dances of Salomé, the origins of which are described in her book and for whom Marcel Remy composed the music. The controversial dance was sought after by audiences worldwide, bringing rise to “Salomania.” Allan also played the lead role in a private performance of Oscar Wilde’s play, Salome, which was still banned from public performance in England. A resulting lawsuit initiated by an ultra-right-wing Conservative MP, brought scandal to Allan’s career.

Nevertheless, Allan continued dancing and also began acting. During the Second World War, she settled in Los Angeles, working as a draughtswoman at Macdonald Aircraft. Having once enjoyed considerable fortune, she died forgotten and a pauper, in 1956, at the age of eighty-three.

Most refreshing in her book, My Life and Dancing, published in 1908, is the author’s imagination, particularly in the form of fairies and “Fairyland” and she held particular affection for nature, books, museums, galleries, artistic freedom and even her beloved dollies. In her memoir, Allan also speaks of her fond memories of winters in Canada and of her views on the importance of the education of women.

According to the Maud Allan archives at the Dance Collection in Toronto: “While she did operate her own dance school briefly in London in the 1940s, she did not mentor any dancers who could continue to perform her very personal choreographic aesthetic and thus her dance works are lost.” Numerous artifacts of Maud Allan ephemerae can be found at the Dance Collection.

Born in Toronto, Canada in 1873, Maud Allan (born Ulah Maud Allan Durrant) would go on to have an important career as a dancer, having initially begun her artistic career as a pianist. In the late 1870s, the Durrant family moved to San Francisco when, by the mid-1890s, at the recommendation of her music teacher, Prof. Eugene Bonelli at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Allan went to Germany to study music in Berlin. She also travelled to Weimar, where she was a student of pianist, Ferruccio Busoni.

While in Germany – a period which saw the hanging of her beloved brother, Theo, for the murder of two young women – Allan began to shift her interest from the piano to dance, focusing primarily on the dances of Ancient Greece. The creative and original Allan took great delight in researching and designing her costumes, many of which she herself sewed. Allan, a lifelong solo dancer, did not consider her unique manner of movement to have much to do with dance, rather, her routines were known as “musically impressionistic mood settings.” The tall, athletic Allan had no formal dance training and had disliked having been compared to Isadora Duncan, another barefoot dancer.

Following her first dance performances in Vienna in 1903, Allan travelled throughout Europe, dancing before countless people of distinction. The list of individuals with whom Allan had some level of acquaintance and for which she mentions in her book, includes Sarah Bernhardt, Johannes Brahms, Ferruccio Busoni, François Delsarte, the Earl and Countess of Dudley, Yvette Guilbert, Joseph Joachim, King Edward VII, Princess Eugènie Murat, Marcel Remy, Franz Stuck, Eugène Ysaÿe and many others.

Having danced to the music of composers such as Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Rubinstein, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and others, Allan is best remembered for her dances of Salomé, the origins of which are described in her book and for whom Marcel Remy composed the music. The controversial dance was sought after by audiences worldwide, bringing rise to “Salomania.” Allan also played the lead role in a private performance of Oscar Wilde’s play, Salome, which was still banned from public performance in England. A resulting lawsuit initiated by an ultra-right-wing Conservative MP, brought scandal to Allan’s career.

Nevertheless, Allan continued dancing and also began acting. During the Second World War, she settled in Los Angeles, working as a draughtswoman at Macdonald Aircraft. Having once enjoyed considerable fortune, she died forgotten and a pauper, in 1956, at the age of eighty-three.

Most refreshing in her book, My Life and Dancing, published in 1908, is the author’s imagination, particularly in the form of fairies and “Fairyland” and she held particular affection for nature, books, museums, galleries, artistic freedom and even her beloved dollies. In her memoir, Allan also speaks of her fond memories of winters in Canada and of her views on the importance of the education of women.

According to the Maud Allan archives at the Dance Collection in Toronto: “While she did operate her own dance school briefly in London in the 1940s, she did not mentor any dancers who could continue to perform her very personal choreographic aesthetic and thus her dance works are lost.” Numerous artifacts of Maud Allan ephemerae can be found at the Dance Collection.

Born in Toronto, Canada in 1873, Maud Allan (born Ulah Maud Allan Durrant) would go on to have an important career as a dancer, having initially begun her artistic career as a pianist. In the late 1870s, the Durrant family moved to San Francisco when, by the mid-1890s, at the recommendation of her music teacher, Prof. Eugene Bonelli at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Allan went to Germany to study music in Berlin. She also travelled to Weimar, where she was a student of pianist, Ferruccio Busoni.

While in Germany – a period which saw the hanging of her beloved brother, Theo, for the murder of two young women – Allan began to shift her interest from the piano to dance, focusing primarily on the dances of Ancient Greece. The creative and original Allan took great delight in researching and designing her costumes, many of which she herself sewed. Allan, a lifelong solo dancer, did not consider her unique manner of movement to have much to do with dance, rather, her routines were known as “musically impressionistic mood settings.” The tall, athletic Allan had no formal dance training and had disliked having been compared to Isadora Duncan, another barefoot dancer.

Following her first dance performances in Vienna in 1903, Allan travelled throughout Europe, dancing before countless people of distinction. The list of individuals with whom Allan had some level of acquaintance and for which she mentions in her book, includes Sarah Bernhardt, Johannes Brahms, Ferruccio Busoni, François Delsarte, the Earl and Countess of Dudley, Yvette Guilbert, Joseph Joachim, King Edward VII, Princess Eugènie Murat, Marcel Remy, Franz Stuck, Eugène Ysaÿe and many others.

Having danced to the music of composers such as Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Rubinstein, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and others, Allan is best remembered for her dances of Salomé, the origins of which are described in her book and for whom Marcel Remy composed the music. The controversial dance was sought after by audiences worldwide, bringing rise to “Salomania.” Allan also played the lead role in a private performance of Oscar Wilde’s play, Salome, which was still banned from public performance in England. A resulting lawsuit initiated by an ultra-right-wing Conservative MP, brought scandal to Allan’s career.

Nevertheless, Allan continued dancing and also began acting. During the Second World War, she settled in Los Angeles, working as a draughtswoman at Macdonald Aircraft. Having once enjoyed considerable fortune, she died forgotten and a pauper, in 1956, at the age of eighty-three.

Most refreshing in her book, My Life and Dancing, published in 1908, is the author’s imagination, particularly in the form of fairies and “Fairyland” and she held particular affection for nature, books, museums, galleries, artistic freedom and even her beloved dollies. In her memoir, Allan also speaks of her fond memories of winters in Canada and of her views on the importance of the education of women.

According to the Maud Allan archives at the Dance Collection in Toronto: “While she did operate her own dance school briefly in London in the 1940s, she did not mentor any dancers who could continue to perform her very personal choreographic aesthetic and thus her dance works are lost.” Numerous artifacts of Maud Allan ephemerae can be found at the Dance Collection.

Born in Toronto, Canada in 1873, Maud Allan (born Ulah Maud Allan Durrant) would go on to have an important career as a dancer, having initially begun her artistic career as a pianist. In the late 1870s, the Durrant family moved to San Francisco when, by the mid-1890s, at the recommendation of her music teacher, Prof. Eugene Bonelli at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Allan went to Germany to study music in Berlin. She also travelled to Weimar, where she was a student of pianist, Ferruccio Busoni.

While in Germany – a period which saw the hanging of her beloved brother, Theo, for the murder of two young women – Allan began to shift her interest from the piano to dance, focusing primarily on the dances of Ancient Greece. The creative and original Allan took great delight in researching and designing her costumes, many of which she herself sewed. Allan, a lifelong solo dancer, did not consider her unique manner of movement to have much to do with dance, rather, her routines were known as “musically impressionistic mood settings.” The tall, athletic Allan had no formal dance training and had disliked having been compared to Isadora Duncan, another barefoot dancer.

Following her first dance performances in Vienna in 1903, Allan travelled throughout Europe, dancing before countless people of distinction. The list of individuals with whom Allan had some level of acquaintance and for which she mentions in her book, includes Sarah Bernhardt, Johannes Brahms, Ferruccio Busoni, François Delsarte, the Earl and Countess of Dudley, Yvette Guilbert, Joseph Joachim, King Edward VII, Princess Eugènie Murat, Marcel Remy, Franz Stuck, Eugène Ysaÿe and many others.

Having danced to the music of composers such as Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Rubinstein, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and others, Allan is best remembered for her dances of Salomé, the origins of which are described in her book and for whom Marcel Remy composed the music. The controversial dance was sought after by audiences worldwide, bringing rise to “Salomania.” Allan also played the lead role in a private performance of Oscar Wilde’s play, Salome, which was still banned from public performance in England. A resulting lawsuit initiated by an ultra-right-wing Conservative MP, brought scandal to Allan’s career.

Nevertheless, Allan continued dancing and also began acting. During the Second World War, she settled in Los Angeles, working as a draughtswoman at Macdonald Aircraft. Having once enjoyed considerable fortune, she died forgotten and a pauper, in 1956, at the age of eighty-three.

Most refreshing in her book, My Life and Dancing, published in 1908, is the author’s imagination, particularly in the form of fairies and “Fairyland” and she held particular affection for nature, books, museums, galleries, artistic freedom and even her beloved dollies. In her memoir, Allan also speaks of her fond memories of winters in Canada and of her views on the importance of the education of women.

According to the Maud Allan archives at the Dance Collection in Toronto: “While she did operate her own dance school briefly in London in the 1940s, she did not mentor any dancers who could continue to perform her very personal choreographic aesthetic and thus her dance works are lost.” Numerous artifacts of Maud Allan ephemerae can be found at the Dance Collection.

Born in Toronto, Canada in 1873, Maud Allan (born Ulah Maud Allan Durrant) would go on to have an important career as a dancer, having initially begun her artistic career as a pianist. In the late 1870s, the Durrant family moved to San Francisco when, by the mid-1890s, at the recommendation of her music teacher, Prof. Eugene Bonelli at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Allan went to Germany to study music in Berlin. She also travelled to Weimar, where she was a student of pianist, Ferruccio Busoni.

While in Germany – a period which saw the hanging of her beloved brother, Theo, for the murder of two young women – Allan began to shift her interest from the piano to dance, focusing primarily on the dances of Ancient Greece. The creative and original Allan took great delight in researching and designing her costumes, many of which she herself sewed. Allan, a lifelong solo dancer, did not consider her unique manner of movement to have much to do with dance, rather, her routines were known as “musically impressionistic mood settings.” The tall, athletic Allan had no formal dance training and had disliked having been compared to Isadora Duncan, another barefoot dancer.

Following her first dance performances in Vienna in 1903, Allan travelled throughout Europe, dancing before countless people of distinction. The list of individuals with whom Allan had some level of acquaintance and for which she mentions in her book, includes Sarah Bernhardt, Johannes Brahms, Ferruccio Busoni, François Delsarte, the Earl and Countess of Dudley, Yvette Guilbert, Joseph Joachim, King Edward VII, Princess Eugènie Murat, Marcel Remy, Franz Stuck, Eugène Ysaÿe and many others.

Having danced to the music of composers such as Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Rubinstein, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and others, Allan is best remembered for her dances of Salomé, the origins of which are described in her book and for whom Marcel Remy composed the music. The controversial dance was sought after by audiences worldwide, bringing rise to “Salomania.” Allan also played the lead role in a private performance of Oscar Wilde’s play, Salome, which was still banned from public performance in England. A resulting lawsuit initiated by an ultra-right-wing Conservative MP, brought scandal to Allan’s career.

Nevertheless, Allan continued dancing and also began acting. During the Second World War, she settled in Los Angeles, working as a draughtswoman at Macdonald Aircraft. Having once enjoyed considerable fortune, she died forgotten and a pauper, in 1956, at the age of eighty-three.

Most refreshing in her book, My Life and Dancing, published in 1908, is the author’s imagination, particularly in the form of fairies and “Fairyland” and she held particular affection for nature, books, museums, galleries, artistic freedom and even her beloved dollies. In her memoir, Allan also speaks of her fond memories of winters in Canada and of her views on the importance of the education of women.

According to the Maud Allan archives at the Dance Collection in Toronto: “While she did operate her own dance school briefly in London in the 1940s, she did not mentor any dancers who could continue to perform her very personal choreographic aesthetic and thus her dance works are lost.” Numerous artifacts of Maud Allan ephemerae can be found at the Dance Collection.

Born in Whitney Point, New York, in 1875, Ethel Newcomb would go on to have an important career as a concert pianist, having performed across Europe and the United States in the early 1900s, including under the batons of Richard Strauss and Ossip Gabrilowitsch. In later years, she devoted her attention to teaching. She died in 1959 at the age of eighty-three.

Ethel Newcomb is perhaps best known for her book, Leschetizky As I Knew Him, published in 1921. Brimming with detail and written in an easy, conversational style, the book recounts endless stories from her period of study in Vienna, under the guidance of the celebrated piano teacher, Theodore Leschetizky. Newcomb studied with Leschetizky from 1895-1903 and, in the years immediately following, served as one of his teaching assistants.

From stories about Leschetizky's infamous Wednesday evening classes to those about Viennese cultural life, as well as firsthand accounts of celebrated artists, patrons and members of the nobility, including Emperor Franz Joseph I, the book offers a friendly window into the world of a young American female pianist studying in Europe during the years leading up to the First World War.

Born in Whitney Point, New York, in 1875, Ethel Newcomb would go on to have an important career as a concert pianist, having performed across Europe and the United States in the early 1900s, including under the batons of Richard Strauss and Ossip Gabrilowitsch. In later years, she devoted her attention to teaching. She died in 1959 at the age of eighty-three.

Ethel Newcomb is perhaps best known for her book, Leschetizky As I Knew Him, published in 1921. Brimming with detail and written in an easy, conversational style, the book recounts endless stories from her period of study in Vienna, under the guidance of the celebrated piano teacher, Theodore Leschetizky. Newcomb studied with Leschetizky from 1895-1903 and, in the years immediately following, served as one of his teaching assistants.

From stories about Leschetizky's infamous Wednesday evening classes to those about Viennese cultural life, as well as firsthand accounts of celebrated artists, patrons and members of the nobility, including Emperor Franz Joseph I, the book offers a friendly window into the world of a young American female pianist studying in Europe during the years leading up to the First World War.

Born in Whitney Point, New York, in 1875, Ethel Newcomb would go on to have an important career as a concert pianist, having performed across Europe and the United States in the early 1900s, including under the batons of Richard Strauss and Ossip Gabrilowitsch. In later years, she devoted her attention to teaching. She died in 1959 at the age of eighty-three.

Ethel Newcomb is perhaps best known for her book, Leschetizky As I Knew Him, published in 1921. Brimming with detail and written in an easy, conversational style, the book recounts endless stories from her period of study in Vienna, under the guidance of the celebrated piano teacher, Theodore Leschetizky. Newcomb studied with Leschetizky from 1895-1903 and, in the years immediately following, served as one of his teaching assistants.

From stories about Leschetizky's infamous Wednesday evening classes to those about Viennese cultural life, as well as firsthand accounts of celebrated artists, patrons and members of the nobility, including Emperor Franz Joseph I, the book offers a friendly window into the world of a young American female pianist studying in Europe during the years leading up to the First World War.