Memorable World History/Authors

The Music of Teresa Carreno

María Teresa Gertrudis de Jesús Carreño García (December 22, 1853 – June 12, 1917) was a Venezuelan pianist, soprano, composer, and conductor. Over the course of her 54-year concert career, she became an internationally renowned virtuoso pianist and was often referred to as the "Valkyrie of the Piano." Carreño was an early adopter of the works of one of her students and friend, American composer and pianist, Edward MacDowell (1860–1908) and premiered several of his compositions across the globe. She also frequently performed the works of Norwegian composer and pianist, Edvard Grieg (1843–1907). Carreño composed approximately 75 works for solo piano, voice and piano, choir and orchestra, and instrumental ensemble. Several composers dedicated their compositions to Carreño, including Amy Beach (Piano Concerto, op. 45) and Edward MacDowell (Piano Concerto No. 2).

Early Life and Education

María Teresa Carreño García de Sena was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on December 22, 1853, to Manuel Antonio Carreño (1812–1874) and Clorinda García de Sena y Rodríguez del Toro (1816–1866). Her father was the son of José Cayetano Carreño (1773–1836) and came from a musical family. He gave her music lessons from an early age and oversaw her career until his death in 1874. Her mother was a cousin of Maria Teresa Rodriguez del Toro y Alayza, wife of South America's founding father Simón Bolívar, on whose honor she was named. Before leaving Caracas she also studied with a German musician, Julio Hohene.

Career

In 1862 her family emigrated to New York City and Carreño entered the musical world with a series of private and public concerts.[5] During the first few weeks in New York City, she met American pianist and composer, Louis Moreau Gottschalk who heard her perform and promoted her as an artist. At the age of eight on November 25 she made her debut at Irving Hall performing a Rondo Brillant, Op. 98 (Johann Nepomuk Hummel), accompanied by a quintet (Mosenthal, Matzka, Bergner, C. Preusser); Grande Fantaisie sur Moise, Op. 33 (Sigismond Thalberg); Nocturne (Theodor Döhler), Jerusalem (Louis Moreau Gottschalk); and Variations on "Home! Sweet Home!" Op. 72 (Thalberg) for an encore. This debut was followed by concerts (1863–1865) across the northeastern and mid-Atlantic United States, including stops in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. During the fall of 1863 Carreño performed for Abraham Lincoln at the White House. Interspersed with her North American concerts were concert performances in Cuba during the spring of 1863 and fall of 1865.

In the spring of 1866 Carreño and her family left the United States for Paris, France where she made her debut on May 14 at the Salle Érard. During her time in Paris, she met many prominent musicians, including Gioachino Rossini, Georges Mathias (a pupil of Frédéric Chopin who may have given her a few lessons), Charles Gounod, and Franz Liszt. Between 1866 and 1872, Carreño performed regularly in concerts across cities in the United Kingdom, France, and Spain. While in Paris, she studied voice with Rossini, and later during the 1870s with Signor Fontana and Russian soprano Herminia Rudersdorff (1822–1882). Her preparation enabled her to step into the role of and appeared as the Queen in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots during a performance with the Colonel Henry Mapleson troupe in Edinburgh, Scotland after the leading lady, Thérèse Tiejens (1831–1877), became ill. In New York, on February 25, 1876, she again performed in an operatic role, this time as Zerlina, in Mozart's Don Giovanni.

In 1872 she returned to the United States with an artist troupe (led by Max Strakosch) consisting of well-known musicians, including American singer Annie Louise Cary, operatic soprano Carlotta Patti, French violinist and composer Émile Sauret, baritone Signor Del Puente, and Italian tenor Giovanni Matteo de Candia Mario. During 1873/1874 she appeared in performances in England with the Philharmonic Society, and in M. Riviere's promenade concerts, London Ballad Concerts, Hanover Square Rooms and the Monday Popular Concerts. While touring with the Max Strakosch troupe, Carreño and Sauret became romantically involved and on July 13, 1873, they were married in London, England. They had one child, Emilita (b. March 23, 1874) who was left in the care of a family friend, Mrs. James Bischoff, while Carreño and Sauret pursued musical opportunities in the United States. Emilita was eventually adopted by the Bischoff family.