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GREAT WOMEN PIANISTS



Can any but a handful of high school music students with a range of interest somewhat broader than the instrument they play name any great women pianists other, perhaps, than Martha Argerich? And do those know that Argerich is as great as, if not a greater pianist than, any living male pianist? And that she is not an oddity of nature?

Long before it was seemly for a woman to have a profession, or for that matter to vote or own property, women of genius and great courage have shaken, if not changed the world. The names of a few of these remarkable women are in the books our children study at school. They know about Harriet Tubman, and Susan B. Anthony, of course, and Florence Nightingale, and George Eliot. Some few know of Madame Curie. Fewer still have heard of Mary Cassatt .

It will come as little surprise to anyone to discover that in every field of endeavor - let us for the sake of our argument say over the last 250 years - it is a huge surprise whenever it is discovered that a woman has made a prodigious contribution to that field. (Acting and pop music are recent exceptions for reasons our popular socio-anthropologists ponder at length.) And so it is in the field of classical music.

The number of great women pianists or women composers that comes easily to the minds of most is pitifully small, the number of women conductors smaller still.

Below are links to what I hope will be an astonishingly impressive number of truly great women pianists. It has certainly answered the disturbing question my then 9 year old daughter put to me after attending a piano recital: "Daddy, can a woman be a concert pianist too?"

I have many special favorites, Dame Myra Hess and Dame Moura Lympany, both British, were phenomenal pianists, as was Guiomar Novaes, a Brazilian, who was considered by many to be one of the greatest pianists of the 20th Century. The wonderful Lili Kraus leaves me breathless. Martha Argerich, a contemporary giant from Argentina, must be at the top of anyone's list of the greatest living pianists. And my most recent discoveries: a young, because she died so young, Russian pianist, Rosa Tamarkina, Marcelle Meyer, an amazing French pianist of the first half of the 20th Century whose playing of the French composers of her time is as exciting as it is authentic, and Agnelle Bundervoet, also French, whose mastery of the great German repertoire leaves be breathless. But perhaps the most wonderful of all is Maria Tipo whose playing makes me shudder.

And finally, a very special treat, recordings of the complete Kinderszenen of Robert Schumann by Fanny Davies and Adelina de Lara, pupils of Clara Schumann, and of Brahms and Robert Schumann by Ilona Eibenschütz , another student of Clara Schumann, who as a child of six played duets with Liszt, and was a very good friend of Johannes Brahms.

It is one of my goals to celebrate the achievements of as many of these great women pianists as possible. The following link will take you to a page containing the links to pages I have created for the names printed in bold type below.


Great Women Pianists Play


Åberg, Kerstin (contemporary)
Ader, Alice (b 1945)
Adler, Agnes (1865-1935)
Ajemian, Maro (1920-1978)
Amato, Donna (contemporary)
Andreae, Bärbel (1909-1996)
Argerich, Martha (b 1941)
Arghamanyan, Nareh (b 1989)
Artymiw, Lydia (contemporary)
Astanova, Lola (b 1985)
Atwell, Una Winifred (1910 or 1914-1983)
Avdeeva, Yulianna (b 1985)
Avetisyan, Anna (contemporary)

Bacewiczowa, Zofia (20th century)
Bachauer, Gina (1913-1976)
Bacon, Katherine (1896-1982)
Baczewska, Magdalena (contemporary)
Ballon, Ellen (1898-1969)
Barfield, Louise (contemporary)
Barówna, Maria (1900-1960)
Bartlett, Ethel (1896-1978)
Beach, Amy (1867-1944)
Beecham, Betty Humby (1908-1958)
Bekman-Shcherbina, Yelena Alexandrovna (1882-1951)
Bergmann, Maria (1918-2002)
Bernathova, Eva (b 1930s)
Berthelot, Marie-Catherine (contemporary)
Bianca, Sondra (b 1930)
Biret, Idil (b 1941)
Birnie, Tessa (1934-2008)
Bíró, Sári (1912-1990)
Bjørkøe, Christina (b 1970)
Blancard, Jacqueline (1909-1994)
Bloomfield Zeisler, Fannie (1863-1927)
Blumental, Felicja (1908-1991)
Boehm, Mary Louise (1924-2002)
Bonneau, Jacqueline (1917-2007)
Bor, Hilda (1910-1993)
Boschi, Hélène (1917-1990)
Bourne, Una Mabel (1882-1974)
Bovet, Jeanne (1917-2010)
Boynet, Emma (1891-1974)
Bravo, Carmen (1923-2007)
Bronsart von Schellendorf, Ingeborg (1840-1913)
Bundervoet, Agnelle (b 1922)
Buniatishvili. Khatia (b 1987)
Burganger, Judith (contemporary)

Carreño, Teresa (1853-1917)
Casadesus, Gaby (1901-1999)
Cavallo, Enrica (1921-2007)
Celletti, Alessandra (b 1966)
Chaminade, Cecile (1857-1944)
Chareli (Charuashvili), Ina (b 1984)
Chen, Tzu-yi (contemporary)
Christie, Winifred (1882-1965)
Chuprik, Ethella (contemporary)
Clidat, France (1932-2012)
Cohen, Dame Harriet (1895-1967)
Collard, Catherine (1947-1993)
Cooper, Imogen (b 1949)
Cornil, Dominique (contemporary)
Cosma, Sofia (b ca 1915)
Cox, Lillian Bauer (!920-2002)
Crochet, Evelyne (b 1934)
Czerny-Stefanska, Halina (1922-2001)

Dănilă, Mădălina–Claudia (b 1990)
D'Arco, Annie (1920-1998)
Dariescu, Alexandra (contemporary)
Darre, Jeanne-Marie (1905-1999)
Davidovich, Bella (b 1928)
Davies, Fanny (1861-1934)
de Costa, Raie (1905-1934)
de La Bruchollerie, Monique (1915-1972)
de Lara, Adelina (1872-1961)
de Larrocha, Alicia (1923-2009)
de Valmalète, Madeleine (1899-1999)
Dehelly, Geneviève (1885-1970)
Deliyska, Dora (b 1980)
Derzhavina, Ekaterina (b 1967)
Descaves, Lucette (1906-1993)
Désert, Claire (b 1967)
Deyanova, Marta (contemporary)
Dinnerstein, Simone (contemporary)
Dondysh, Victoria (contemporary)
Dorfmann, Ania (1899-1984)
Dosse, Marylene (b 1939)
Doyen, Ginette (1921-2002)
Dumont (Dymont), Lily (1911-2006)
Dussaut, Thérèse (b 1939)
Dvarionaite, Aldona (contemporary)

Edlina-Dubinsky, Luba (contemporary)
Effenbach, Leah (1915-1978)
Egorova, Violetta (b 1969)
Eibenschütz, Ilona (1872-1967)
Ellegaard, France (1913-1999)
Engerer, Brigitte (1952-2012)
Erikson, Greta (1919-2014)
Eskin, Virginia (b 1941)
Estrada Bascuñana, Carolina (contemporary)
Etkin (-Moszkowska), Róża (1908-1945)
Evsina, Anastasiya (b 1987)
Eymar, Jacqueline (1922-2008)

Farnadi, Edith (1921-1973)
Farrenc, Louise (1804-1875)
Farrugia, Charlene (contemporary)
Fedorova, Anna (b 1990)
Fernández Béiztegui, Araceli (contemporary)
Filippova, Nadezda (b 1989)
Filjak, Martina (contemporary)
Filonova, Elena (contemporary)
Fischer, Annie (1914-1995)
Fleury, Mariinha (20th century)
Fliter, Ingrid (b 1973)
Fotino, Maria (1912/1913-1996)
Fourneau, Marie-Thérèse (1927-2000)
França, Neusa
Franceschi, Vera (1926-1966)
Freund, Etelka (1879-1977)
Fuchsova, Liza (1913-1977)
Fyodorova. Margarita (contemporary)

Gambarian, Maria (contemporary)
Gärtner, Henriette (b 1975)
Gianoli, Reine (1915-1979)
Girod, Marie-Catherine (b 1949)
Gislinge, Katrine (b 1969)
Goddard, Arabella (1836-1922)
Gödény, Marta (contemporary)
Goldstein, Ella (b 1927)
Goldstein, Martha (20th century)
Goldsworthy, Anna (b 1974)

Golubovskaya, Nadezhda (1891-1975)
Gornostaeva, Vera (b 1929)
Gousseau, Lélia (1909-1997)
Graudan, Joanna (20th century)
Grimaud, Hélène (b 1969)
Grinberg, Maria (1908-1978)
Griner, Bozena (contemporary)
Grovlez-Fourgeaud, Madeleine (1889-?)
Grychtołówna, Lidia (b 1928)
Guilbert, Carmen-Marie-Lucie (1906-?)
Gülbadamova, Sofja (b 1981)
Guller, Youra (1895-1980)
Gulyak, Sofya (b 1979)
Guneyman, Meral (contemporary)
Gyöngyösi, Ivett (b 1993/4)

Haas, Monique (1906-1987)
Haebler, Ingrid (b 1929)
Hall, Elsie Maude Stanley (1877-1976)
Harris, Johanna (1912-1995)
Haskil, Clara (1895-1960)
Heming, Fujiko (b 1932)
Henriot-Schweitzer, Nicole (1925-2001)
Hernández, Mayra (b 1989
Herrenschmidt, Marcelle (1895-1974)
Hess, Dame Myra (1890-1965)
Hesse-Bukowska, Barbara (1930-2013)
Hewitt, Angela (b 1958)
Hogan, Virginia (contemporary)
Hyde, Miriam (1913-2005)

Iftinchi, Ana (20th century)
Igoshina, Valentina (b 1978)
Ilinskaya, Veronika (contemporary)
Iturbi, Amparo (1898-1969)

Jacquinot, Fabienne (b ca1927)
Jambor, Agi (1909-1997)
Janotha, Natalia (1856-1932)
Jemeljanova, Nina (1912-1998)
Jonas, Maryla (1911-1959)
Jones, Maureen (b 1927)
Jones, Dena Kay (contemporary)
Joy, Genevieve (1919-2009)
Joyce, Eileen (1908-1991)

Kabos, Ilona (1893-1973)
Kamenikova, Valentina (1930-1989)
Karrer, Felicitas (b 1924)
Kavtaradze, Nina (contemporary)
Keene, Constance (1921-2005)
Kern, Olga (contemporary)
Kerppo, Raija (b 1961)
Kerr, Muriel (1911-1963)
Kersenbaum, Sylvia (b 1945)
Klotina, Inese (b 1979)
Knardahl, Eva (1927-2006)
Knezkova-Hussey
Ludmila
(contemporary)
Kolessa, Lubka (1902-1997)

Kornienko, Karen (b 1974)
Kozubek, Lidia (b 1927)
Kraus, Lili (1903-1986)
Krehm, Ida (1912-1998)
Kreutzer, Toyoko (1916-1990) 
Kudritskaya, Natacha (b 1983)
Kusunoki, Chisato (b 1979)
Kuschnerova, Elena (contemporary)
Kwast-Hodapp, Frida (1880-1949)
Kyriakou, Rena (1917-1994)

Labeque, Katia (b 1950) and Marielle (b 1952)
Landowska, Wanda (1877-1959)
Laredo, Ruth (1937-2005)
Laretei, Käbi (1922-2014)
Lassimonne, Denise (1903-1994)
Laval, Danielle (contemporary)
Lear, Angela (contemporary)
Lee, Mi-Joo (contemporary)
Lefébure,Yvonne (1898-1986)
Leginska, Ethel (1886-1970)
Leonskaja, Elisabeth (b 1945)
Lerner, Tina (1890-?)
Leroux, Germaine (1906-????)
Leschenko, Polina (b 1981)
Lettberg, Maria (contemporary)
Levin, Beth (b 1950)
Lhevinne, Rosina (1880-1976)
Licad, Cecile (b 1961)
Llacuna-Andriot, Teresa (contemporary)
Lobo, Menininha (1904-1986)
Long, Kathleen (1896-1968)
Long, Marguerite (1874-1966)
Loriod, Yvonne (b 1924)
Lowenkron, Fani (b 1944)
Lundtvedt, Natalya (contemporary)
Lust, Eliane (contemporary)
Lympany, Dame Moura (1916-2005)

Madriguera Segovia, Paquita (1900-?)
Magnan, Gisèle (contemporary)
Malikova, Anna (b 1960s?)
Malinina, Inna (20th century)
Malling, Amalie (b 1948)
Mangova, Plamena (b 1980)
Marchant, Maria (contemporary)
Marciano, Rosario (1944-1998)
Marcus, Adele (1906-1995)
Margalit, Israela (contemporary)
Marik, Irén (1905-1986)
Mdivani, Marina (b 1936)
Mejoueva, Irina (contemporary)
Menter, Sophie (1846-1918)
Mercier, Hélène (contemporary)
Mero, Yolanda (1887-1963)
Meyer, Marcelle (1897-1958) 
Milkina, Nina (1919-2006)
Mitchell, Marjorie (20th century)
Montero, Gabriela (b 1970)
Morel, Lottie (1909-1973)
Morelli, Daniela (contemporary)
Mourão, Isabel (b 1932)
Musicescu, Florica (1887-1969)
Musulin, Branka (1917-1975)

Navasardyan, Svetlana (contemporary)
Nemtsova, Maria (b 1984)
Ney, Elly (1882-1968)
Nikolayeva, Tatiana (1924-1993)
Nishry, Varda (1935-1995)
Nissman, Barbara (contemporary)
Norton, Eunice (1908-2005)
Novaes, Guiomar (1895-1979)
Novello, Marie (1898-1928)

Oehler, Alexandra (b 1970)
Oemichen, Isabelle (Contemporary)
Ohanessian, Beatrice (1927-2008)
Øland, Anne (b 1949)

Oppens, Ursula (b 1944)
Ortiz, Cristina (b 1950)
Osińska, Ewa (contemporary)
Ossipova, Irina (contemporary)
Otaki, Michiko (contemporary)
Ott, Alice Sara (b 1988)
Ousset, Cécile (b 1936)

Panthes, Marie (1871-1955)
Périn Ida-Marie-Louise (b 1906-?)
Perkin, Helen (1909–?, 1996)
Perrotta, Maria (contemporary)
Pestova, Xenia (contemporary)
Petrova, Anna (contemporary)
Picht-Axenfeld, Edith (1914-2001)
Pires, Maria João (b 1944)
Pleasants, Virginia (1911-2011)
Pleyel, Marie (1811-1875)
Pokorná, Mirka (b 1930)
Polonsky, Anna (contemporary)
Postnikova, Viktoria (b 1944)
Protich, Svetla (b 1939)
Prunyi, Ilona (b 1941)

Queffélec, Anne (b 1948)

Raccagni, Herminia (20th century)
Raiz, Mira (b 1925)
Regules, Marisa (20th century)
Reisenberg, Nadia (1905-1983)
Renard, Rosita (1894-1949)
Rév, Lívia (b 1916)
Richepin, Éliane  (1910-1999)
Rivkin, Vivian (20th century)
Röder, Seda (contemporary)
Roger-Miclos, Aimée-Marie (1860-1950)
Rørbech, Marie (b 1973)
Ross, Pamela (Contemporary)
Roszborska (Leschetizky), Gabrielle Marie (1880-?)
Rubinova, Evgenia (contemporary)
Rudge, Antonietta (1885-1974)
Rumiantsev, Tamara (contemporary)
Ryumina, Tatiana (b 1950)

Sadowsky, Reah (b 1915-2012)
Salvini, Patrizia (b 1985)
Salzman, Pnina (1922-2006)
Samaroff-Stowkowski, Olga (1880-1948)
Savova, Velichka (1899-1991)
Scharer, Irene (1888-1971)
Schein Ann (b 1939)
Schic, Anna Steela (1925-2009)
Schirmer, Ragna (b 1972)
Schmidt, Annerose (b 1936)
Schumann, Clara Wieck (1819-1896)
Schuyler, Philippa Duke (1931-1967)
Sellick, Phyllis (1911-2007)
Selva, Blanche (1884-1942)
Serviarian Kuhn, Dora (contemporary)
Shebanova, Tatiana (1953-2011)
Shevchenko, Margita (contemporary)
Shi Inouye, Fang-Fang (contemporary)
Siloti, Mary Alberta (20th century)
Silvestru, Ana-Cristina (contemporary)
Slenczynska, Ruth (b 1925)
Smendzianka, Regina (1924-2011)
Sofronitsky, Viviana (contemporary)
Sombart, Elizabeth (contemporary)
Somer, Hilde (1930-1979)
Sorel, Claudette (1932-1999)
Starr, Susan (contemporary)
Stavreva, Tania (contemporary) Stembolskaya, Maria (contemporary)
Stern, Edna (b 1977)
Sterne, Teresa (1927-2000)
Stockmarr, Johanne Amalie (1869-1944)
Szumowska-Adamowska, Antoinette (1868-?)

Taddei, Annarosa (b 1918)
Tagliaferro, Magda (1893-1986)
Tailleferre, Germaine (1892-1983)
Tal, Michal (contemporary)
Tamarkina, Rosa (1920-1950)
Tanyel, Seta (contemporary)
Tarasova, Elena (b 1984)
Telizyn, Daria (1960-2005)
Thinat, Françoise (b 1934)
Thyssens-Valentin, Germaine (1902-1987)
Tichman, Nina (contemporary) Timofeyeva, Luba (contemporary)
Tipo, Maria (b 1931)

Tomšič Srebotnjak, Dubravka (b 1940)
Tozzi, Mary (20th century)
Tureck, Rosalyn (1914-2003)
Tysman, Hélène (b 1982)

Uchida, Dame Mitsuko (b 1948)
Uehara, Ayako (b 1980)
Ugay, Lilia (b 1990)

Vacatello, Mariangela (b 1982)
Valenzi, Frieda (1910-2002)
van Barentzen, Aline Isabelle (1897-1981)
van Loo, Catherine (contemporary)
Varro, Marie-Aimée (1915-1971)
Varsi, Dinorah (1939-2013)
Vasheruk, Sofia (b 1988)
Vastek, Sophia Subbayya (contemporary)
Veneziano, Irene (b 1985)
Vengerova, Isabella (1877-1956)
Vered, Ilana (b 1943)
Verne, Adela (1877-1952)
Verne, Mathilde (1865-1936)
Vidovic, Ivana Marija (contemporary)
Vinnitskaya, Anna (b 1983)
Virsaladze, Eliso (b 1942)
Vogel, Edith (1912-1992)
von Alpenheim, Ilse (b 1927)
Voskresenskaya, Ekaterina (1964-1994)
Vronsky, Vitya (1909-1992)

Wagner, Vanessa (b 1973)
Wang, Yuja (b 1987)
Weber, Margrit (1924-2001)
Werschenska, Galina (1906-1994)
Wiłkomirska, Maria (1904 - 1995)

Yablonskaya, Oxana (b 1938)
Yakhlakova, Marina (b 1991)
Yeshchenko, Maria (1923-2000)
Yesipova, Anna (1851-1914)
Yudina, Maria (1899-1970)

Zabaleta, Marta (contemporary)
Zayas, Juana (contemporary)
Zilberstein, Lilya (b 1965)



For those of you who enjoy murder mysteries, here is my first with a strong musical polemic as background

Murder in the House of the Muse

which is also available as an audiobook.



And this is the more recently published second mystery in the series:

Murder Follows the Muse



Follow these links to our main subject categories


CLASSICAL PIANISTS

INTERPRETATION

PIANO CONCERTO

MASTERCLASS

CONTACT US

ABOUT US




WOMEN PIANISTS

THE LEFT HAND

FOUR HANDS

ACCOMPANISTS

IS IT MUSIC

INDULGE ME

HOME PAGE


COMPOSERS PLAY

CLASSICAL COMPOSERS

CHAMBER MUSIC

GUEST PAGES

LINKS

PRIVACY




Or go to the Great Women Pianists Play page



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