Isolde Ahlgrimm was born in Vienna at the beginning of World War I, July 31st, 1914. Initially taught by her mother, Camilla, a good professional pianist, Isolde Ahlgrimm had been recognised from an early age as a genuine prodigy, a virtuoso pianist for whom a brilliant future was predicted. At the age of seven she entered the Vienna Music Academy and obtained her diploma in 1932, having studied with Vienna's most prominent teachers, including Emil von Sauer, a favourite pupil of Franz Liszt. She quickly adopted baroque music, and the harpsichord, as her specialty, adding an organ-type pedalboard, not only for organ practice, but to achieve many of the longer handspans demanded by Bach, and to add bass emphasis whenever the music so demanded.
Borrowing the title from a series of keyboard pieces by CPE Bach, Concerte für Kenner und Liebhaber, Isolde instituted a series of concerts on the fortepiano, an instrument which at that time had fallen into neglect. The Wiener Neueste Nachrichten, February 26, 1937, reported: "The first concert for connoisseurs and amateurs must be emphasised to be something entirely special. It succeeded in moving to enthusiasm the discerning Viennese musical public. Isolde Ahlgrimm, who has already achieved notable success on the modern piano, brought to the hammerklavier great ability and fine musicianship. Her technique, personality and appearance are as though made for this instrument." Her influence was to have a long-lasting effect: Peter Watchorn, Isolde Ahlgrimm's last student and biographer, was told recently by Paul Badura Skoda that it was his and Jorg Demus' attendance at one of Isolde's Mozart Cycle concerts in 1949 that convinced them to take up the fortepiano.
She then moved on to institute a series of concert-lectures featuring the harpsichord, playing always from memory. The photo on the right above, and below, was taken during a lecture-recital of the Art of the Fugue in 1952.
Peter Watchorn has written a fascinating article about his experiences, Ms Ahlgrimm's teaching methods and performance style, and much about her life in Vienna. Check:
Isolde Ahlgrimm: Harpsichordist, mentor and friend.
"Isolde Ahlgrimm, Vienna & the Early Music Revival"
by Peter Watchorn
c.260pp, 32 photographs (most never published)
will be published by
Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. London
Due date: December, 2007
