Sigismond Thalberg (8 January 1812 – 27 April 1871) was an Austrian composer and one of the most distinguished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century.
Family Thalberg was born in Pâquis near Geneva on 8 January 1812. Thalberg asserted that he was an illegitimate son of Moritz, Prince of Dietrichstein and his mistress Maria Julia Bydeskuty von Ipp, from a family of Hungarian lower nobility. In 1820, Julia married Baron Alexander Ludwig (from an ennobled Jewish Viennese family). According to Thalberg's birth certificate, he was the son of Joseph Thalberg and Fortunée Stein, both from Frankfurt-am-Main.Walker 1987, p. 232
Early life Little is known about Thalberg's childhood and early youth. It is possible that his mother had brought him to Vienna at the age of 10 (the same year in which the 10-year-old Franz Liszt arrived there with his parents). According to Thalberg's own account, he attended the first performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony on 7 May 1824, in the Kärntnerthortheater.Thayer 1908, p. 92
There is no evidence as to Thalberg's early teachers. Baroness von Wetzlar, his putative mother, who, according to Wurzbach, was occupied with his education during his childhood and early youth, was a brilliant amateur pianist. It may be, therefore, that she gave him his first instruction at the piano.
In spring 1826, Thalberg studied with Ignaz Moscheles in London. Moscheles, according to a letter to Felix Mendelssohn dated 14 August 1836, had the impression that Thalberg had already reached a level at which no further help would be needed in order to become a great artist.Mendelssohn 1888, p. 139 Thalberg's first public performance in London was on 17 May 1826.Hominick 1991, p. 8 In Vienna, 6 April 1827, he played the first movement of Hummel's Piano Concerto No. 3 in B minor, later playing the Adagio and the Rondo on 6 May 1827.Deutsch, Otto Erich: Schubert: Die Dokumente seines Lebens, Bärenreiter Kassel etc. 1964, pp. 421, 430. After this, Thalberg performed regularly in Vienna. His repertoire was mainly classical, including concertos by Hummel, Mozart, and Beethoven. He also performed chamber music. In the year 1827, his Op. 1, a fantasy and variations on melodies from Carl Maria von Weber's Euryanthe, was published by Tobias Haslinger.
In 1830, Thalberg met Mendelssohn and Frédéric Chopin in Vienna. Their letters show their opinion that Thalberg's main strength was his astonishing technical skills.Chopin 1816–1831, Vol. 1, p. 243; Mendelssohn 1984, p. 118f Further information can be found in the diary of the 10-year-old Clara Wieck. She had heard Thalberg on 14 May 1830 at a concert which he gave in the theatre of Leipzig. He had played his own Piano Concerto in F minor, Op. 5 and a fantasy that he had also composed. Two days before, Clara had played the first solo of John Field's Piano Concerto No. 2 to Thalberg, and, together with him, the first movement of Hummel's Sonata for Piano 4-Hands, Op. 51. Her diary, edited by her father Friedrich Wieck, notes Thalberg as "very accomplished". His playing was clear and precise, also being very strong and expressive.Wieck 1827–1840, p. 56
In the early 1830s, Thalberg studied counterpoint under the theorist Simon Sechter. As a result, passages of canon and fugue can be found in some of Thalberg's fantasies of this time. An example is his Grande fantaisie et variations sur 'Norma, Op. 12, which contains a march-theme and variations (one of them a canon), and a fugue on a lyrical theme. The fantasy was published in 1834 and became very popular; but on publication, it was criticised by some—for example, by Robert Schumann.Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 2 (1835), p. 178
Thalberg successfully changed his composing style, reducing the counterpoint. Several works in his new style, among them the 2 Airs russes variés, Op. 17, were even enthusiastically praised by Schumann.Schumann's review of Thalberg's Op. 17 can be found in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik of 19 August 1836, p. 69
Early virtuoso career
In November 1835, Thalberg arrived in Paris. He performed on 16 November 1835 at a private concert of the Austrian ambassador Count Rudolph Apponyi. On 24 January 1836, he took part in a concert of the "Society of the Paris Conservatoire concerts", playing his Grande fantaisie, Op. 22. Thalberg was praised by many of the most prominent artists, among them Rossini and Meyerbeer.
Chopin didn't share his fellow artists' enthusiasm. After hearing Thalberg play in Vienna, Chopin wrote:He plays splendidly, but he's not my man. He's younger than I and pleases the ladies—makes potpourris on La Muette—produces his piano and forte with the pedal, not the hand—takes tenths as I do octaves and wears diamond shirt studs.
His début at the Conservatoire concert was in the Revue et gazette musicale of 31 January 1836, enthusiastically reviewed by Hector Berlioz.p. 38f Le Ménestrel of 13 March 1836 wrote:Moscheles, Kalkbrenner, Chopin, Liszt and Herz are and will always be for me great artists, but Thalberg is the creator of a new art which I do not know how to compare to anything that existed before him . . . Thalberg is not only the premier pianist of the world, he is also an extremely distinguished composer.Quoted after the translation in Hominick 1991, p. 9On 16 April 1836, Thalberg gave his first solo concert in Paris, and the success was again sensational. According to Apponyi's diary, Thalberg made a profit of 10,000 francs (say 5000 bottles of fine Burgundy wine of €12 or US$13 a bottle in 2024 money), a sum that no virtuoso had gained before from a single concert.Apponyi 1913–1914, Vol. 3, p. 231
Liszt had heard of Thalberg's successes during the winter 1835–36 in Geneva, in spring 1836 in Lyon, and in Paris. In his letter to Marie d'Agoult of 29 April 1836, he compared himself to the exiled Napoleon.Liszt; d'Agoult 1933, Vol. 1, p. 147ff In a review of 8 January 1837, in the Revue et Gazette musicale, Liszt controversially denigrated Thalberg's compositions.For contemporary reactions to Liszt's review, see Gooley 2004, p. 52
After Thalberg returned to Paris in the beginning of February 1837, a rivalry developed between him and Liszt. On 4 February, Thalberg heard Liszt play in concert for the first time in his life. Thalberg was stupefied. While Liszt then gave over a dozen concerts, Thalberg gave only one concert on 12 March 1837 in the Paris Conservatoire, and a further concert on 2 April 1837. In addition, on 31 March 1837, both Liszt and Thalberg played at a benefit concert to raise money for Italian refugees.Liszt played the first movement of Hummel's Septet and his own Niobe fantasy; Thalberg played his Moïse fantasy.
In May 1837, Thalberg gave a concert in London, following which The Athenaeum gave an enthusiastic review.20 May 1837, p. 37 Such enthusiasm followed Thalberg throughout the following years. His Fantasia on Rossini's 'Moses, Op. 33 became one of the most famous concert pieces of the 19th century, and was still praised by Berlioz in his Mémoires (1870). The fantasy was published at the end of March 1839; in May 1839, Clara Schumann studied and was delighted by it.See her letter to Schumann: Schumann, Clara and Robert 1987, Vol. 2, p. 522 In 1848, the fantasy was played by Liszt's daughter Blandine.See the letter by Anna Liszt (Liszt's mother) to Liszt from 20 June 1848, in: Liszt 2000a, p. 441
European tours
First steps After Thalberg's stay in London in May 1837, he made a first, short tour, giving concerts in several towns in Great Britain, but he became ill and soon returned to Vienna. In spring 1838, he gave concerts in Paris again. A note in the Revue et Gazette musicale of 4 March 1838p. 104 shows that Thalberg's fame had in the meantime grown. He was now called "the most famous of our composers". Thalberg left Paris on 18 April 1838, travelling to Vienna, the very same day that Liszt gave there a charity concert for the benefit of the victims of a flood in Hungary. Thalberg invited Liszt for dinner, and the two great pianists dined together on the 28th with Prince Moritz Dietrichstein, who told Liszt that he was delighted to have "Castor and Pollux" together in his home. During the evening, Thalberg remarked to Liszt with admirable candour: "In comparison with you, I have never enjoyed more than a succes d'estime in Vienna". They dined again the next day, after Liszt's concert on 29 April 1838. Liszt and Thalberg were both dinner guests of Metternich.See Liszt's letter to Marie d'Agoult of 30 April 1838, in: Liszt-d'Agoult: , S.216; also see Liszt's letter to Lambert Massart of 3 June 1838, in: Vier: L'artiste – le clerc, p.45. During Liszt's stay in Vienna, Thalberg did not perform at all.See: Liszt's own account in: Legány: Unbekannte Presse und Briefe, p.57.
In October 1838, Thalberg became acquainted with Schumann. According to Schumann's diary, Thalberg played from memory études by Chopin, Joseph Christoph Kessler, and Ferdinand Hiller. He also played with great skill and inspiration works by Beethoven, Schubert, and Dussek, as well as sight-reading Schumann's Kreisleriana, Op. 16.See: Schumann: Tagebücher II, p.78f; also see: Schumann: Briefwechsel I, p.274. On 27 November 1838, Thalberg took part in a charity concert, playing his new Fantasia on Rossini's 'La Donna del Lago''', Op. 40 ("The Lady of the Lake" after Walter Scott). At one of his own "Farewell concerts" on 1 December 1838, he played three of his 12 Etudes, Op. 26; his Op. 33 (Moses); and his Fantasia on Beethoven's 7th Symphony, Op. 39.See: Schumann: Tagebücher II, p.490f, n.305. As a result, in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik of 8 March 1839,p. 77f an enthusiastic review by Schumann of the second book (likely Nos. 6–12) of Thalberg's Op. 26 appeared, concluding "He is a God when sitting at the piano."
First extended tour After Thalberg's "Farewell concert" in Vienna, he began his first extended European tour. On 19 and 21 December 1838, he gave two concerts in Dresden, and he performed twice at the Court. Receiving honours from the King of Saxony, he told him, "Wait until you have heard Liszt!"See, for example, Marie d'Agoult's letter to Henri Lehmann of 26 September 1839, in: Joubert: , p.35. In Leipzig, he gave a concert on 28 December 1838, attended by Mendelssohn, who, on the following day, in a letter to his sister Fanny, gave an enthusiastic account.Mendelssohn: Briefwechsel mit Fanny, p.294f. Mendelssohn became a friend and admirer of Thalberg.
After a second concert in Leipzig on 30 December 1838, Thalberg travelled to Berlin to give a series of concerts there. Via Danzig, Mitau, and other places, he performed at St. Petersburg, receiving excellent reviews. From St. Petersburg, he went on a steamboat to London, where he gave further concerts. He then journeyed to Brussels to meet his violinist friend Charles de Bériot. There, he gave several private performances.
After Brussels, Thalberg arrived in the Rhineland, where he gave a series of concerts with Bériot. He returned to London at the beginning of February 1840, and then travelled from London to Paris together with Baroness Wetzlar, his mother, awaiting the arrival of Liszt.
Interlude Thalberg had already announced in December 1838—during his stay in Leipzig—that he would take time off at the end of his tour, and did not perform at any concert during his stay in spring 1840 in Paris.