Isolde Ahlgrimm, Vienna and the Early Music Revival

264 Pages·2016·15.343 MB·English

by  Peter Watchorn

Isolde AhlgrImm, VIennA And the
eArly musIc reVIVAl
Isolde Ahlgrimm, Vienna 1943 (Isolde Ahlgrimm’s collection)
Isolde Ahlgrimm, Vienna and the
early music revival
Peter WAtchorn
R
O
UT Routledge
L
E
D Taylor & Francis Group
G
E
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2007 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © Peter Watchorn 2007
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
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Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to
infringe.
Peter Watchorn has asserted his moral right under the copyright, designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Watchorn, Peter
Isolde Ahlgrimm, Vienna and the early music revival 1. Ahlgrimm, Isolde, 1914–1995
2. early-music specialists – Austria – Biography 3. harpsichordists – Austria – Biography
4. harpsichord music – Austria –Vienna – history and criticism
I. title
786.4’092
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Watchorn, Peter.
Isolde Ahlgrimm, Vienna and the early music revival / Peter Watchorn.
p. cm.
Includes list of Ahlgrimm’s publications (p. 193) and discography (p. 163).
ISBN 978-0-7546-5787-3 (alk. paper)
1. Ahlgrimm, Isolde, 1914–1995. 2. harpsichordists–Austria–Biography.3. Pianists–Austria–
Biography. I. title.
ml417.A615W37 2007
786.4092–dc22
[B]
2007010747
IsBn 9780754657873 (hbk)
Bach musicological font developed by (c) yo tomita.
This work is dedicated to Isolde Ahlgrimm (1914–1995), one of the great
musicians of the twentieth century, whose contributions as performer, scholar
and thinker profoundly changed how we view great music of all periods.

contents
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgements xi
Foreword by Penelope Crawford xiii
Preface by Virginia Pleasants xv
Introduction: Early Music, Vienna and the Missing Link 1
1 Early Education and Influences 29
2 Instrument collecting, erich Fiala and the Concerte für Kenner
und Liebhaber, 1934–1956 51
3 Isolde Ahlgrimm, Philips Phongraphische Industrie and J. s. Bach:
The Complete Works for Harpsichord 89
4 After the deluge: Artistic Independence. the years 1956–1984 135
Appendices
1 discography 163
2 Performers in the Concerte für Kenner und Liebhaber, 1937–1956 169
3 Isolde Ahlgrimm holland debut: January 1957, reviews 171
4 die Concerte für Kenner und Liebhaber—chronology 177
5 Publications by Isolde Ahlgrimm 193
6 Instruments in the Ahlgrimm-Fiala collection 195
7 richard strauss: Capriccio suite, trV 279c 197
8 Bach: cembalo-Konzerte/das Amati orchester 199
9 current trends in Performance of Baroque music by Isolde Ahlgrimm 207
10 harpsichord lessons for the Beginner—à la
Isolde Ahlgrimm by Kim Kasling 235
Bibliography 239
Index 241

list of Figures
Frontispiece: Isolde Ahlgrimm, Vienna 1943 (Isolde Ahlgrimm’s collection)
1.1 Isolde and hans Ahlgrimm, 1917 (Isolde Ahlgrimm’s collection) 31
1.2 a) Isolde with friends, hofburg, Vienna c. 1925 32
b) Isolde at 17, 1931 32
1.3 Juliette matton Pain-Parré, 1929 (national Portrait gallery, london) 36
1.4 emil von sauer, c. 1935
(Photo: Fayer, Vienna. Isolde Ahlgrimm’s collection) 39
2.1 The first concert, 20 February 1937 (Isolde Ahlgrimm’s collection) 56
2.2 erich Fiala, Vienna, 1943 (Isolde Ahlgrimm’s collection) 58
2.3 Isolde Ahlgrimm at the 1937 Ammer harpsichord, 1943
(Isolde Ahlgrimm’s collection) 61
2.4 Programme for the richard strauss birthday concert, 1943 67
2.5 Isolde Ahlgrimm at an Ammer clavichord, Vienna 1940s
(Isolde Ahlgrimm’s collection) 69
2.6 the “lost” wartime Concerte, 1944–5 73
2.7 Isolde Ahlgrimm and erich Fiala, Vienna 1953
(Photo: nico Jesse) 80
2.8 Isolde Ahlgrimm and erich Fiala, Vienna 1951
(Photo: nico Jesse) 81
2.9 Concert für Kenner und Liebhaber, 1952: Die Kunst der Fuge
(Isolde Ahlgrimm’s collection) 82
2.10 At home, Linke Wienzeile 42, 1953 (Isolde Ahlgrimm’s collection) 82
2.11 Philips publicity photo: “Her Life’s Work,” 1953 (Photo: Nico Jesse) 84
2.12 recording the Bach concertos, Palais liechtenstein, Vienna 1955
(Photo: Kurt theiner) 86
3.1 marius van der meulen, producer for the Bach Complete
Works for Harpsichord, with Isolde Ahlgrimm and Friederike
Bretschneider (Isolde Ahlgrimm’s collection) 91
3.2 Between takes, Bach: Complete Works for Harpsichord, 1953
(Photo: nico Jesse) 96
3.3 Isolde Ahlgrimm with the Bach portrait, Vienna 1951
(Photo: nico Jesse) 107
3.4 The Amati Orchestra: Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Erich Fiala, 1955
(Photo: Kurt theiner, Isolde Ahlgrimm’s collection) 120
3.5 the Amati orchestra: rudolf Baumgartner, Alice harnoncourt,
Karl trotzmüller (Photo: Kurt theiner) 125