Ania Dorfmann (9 July 189921 April 1984) was a Russian-American pianist and teacher, who taught at the Juilliard School in New York for many years and was the first of only a very few women pianists to play or record under Arturo Toscanini.
Career Ania Dorfmann was born in Odessa, Russia (now in Ukraine) in 1899, the daughter of a merchant. She gave her first concert at the age of 11. Around this time she accompanied the even younger Jascha Heifetz.holdridgerecords.com In 1916-17 she studied in Paris with Isidor Philipp at the Conservatoire de Paris,Juilliard School then returned to Russia to find it in the midst of revolution. She returned to France in 1920, commenced her professional career in Belgium,The News and Courier, 23 October 1953 and played throughout Europe and Britain for the next 15 years, under such conductors as Willem Mengelberg, Sir Thomas Beecham and Sir Henry Wood.Naxos She made her home in London during this time. Among the artists she appeared with in Britain were John McCormackGlasgow Herald, 22 September 1932McCormack Society and Heddle Nash.Dartington Hall Trust
She made her New York debut in 1936 at the Town Hall, and played there again in 1938 and 1939. She was the first female pianist ever engaged as a soloist by Arturo Toscanini,Some sources say Ania Dorfmann was the only woman pianist who ever played under Toscanini, but Maria Carreras played Beethoven's Triple Concerto under him with the New York Philharmonic (Michel Piastro, violin and Alfred Wallenstein, cello) more than once in the 1932/33 season and Dame Myra Hess played Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 under him on 24 November 1946. (Frank, pp. 86-87) under whom she played Beethoven's Choral Fantasy with his NBC Symphony Orchestra on 2 December 1939, the only time Toscanini ever programmed that work.Mortimer H Frank, Arturo Toscanini: The NBC Years, pp. 122-123 They later played all the Beethoven piano concertos,radiogoldindex and recorded the First Concerto in 1945 (there is also a recording of a live performance from 1939). She settled in the United States in 1938, touring and recording. Her agent at that time was David Rubin.New York Times, 10 May 2003 Her appearances included concerts under Serge Koussevitzky.Boston Symphony Orchestra concert programs, Season 63, 1943-1944
In 1947 Ania Dorfmann worked intensively with the actress Barbara Stanwyck, who was making the film The Other Love, in which she played a concert pianist.IMdB: The Other Love Although Ania Dorfmann played the piano music heard on screen, she had Stanwyck practise for three hours a day to make her actions match the music.TCM: The Other Love
In 1956 (some sources say 1966) she joined the piano faculty of the Juilliard School, where she remained for most of the rest of her life. Ania Dorfmann's students included Lev Natochenny,D magazine Alexander Peskanov, Solveig Funseth, Minuetta Kessler,The Boston Composers Project: A Bibliography of Contemporary Music Raymond Jackson,cbschurch Suezenne Fordham,Fordham Roman Markowicz, Robert Shannon,New World Records and Marian Migdal.National Taiwan Normal University
She retired in June 1983 and died on 21 April 1984, aged 84.New York Times, 23 April 1984
Personal life She was the wife of Vladimir Dorfmann, a Russian businessman she met in Paris. Their daughter, Natacha Ullman (1929-1986), was a writer who used the pen name Natacha Stewart; she was the author of "Evil Eye and Other Stories", and a frequent contributor to The New Yorker. Natacha had two sons, Nicolas and Alex Ullman.New York Times, 19 April 1986
Recordings Ania Dorfmann made a number of recordings primarily for RCA Victor, some of the most notable of which were: Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 8 (Pathétique), Piano Sonata No. 14 (Moonlight)ebay Beethoven: Triple Concerto, Michel Piastro, violin and Joseph Schuster, cello, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini, live recordingAmazonUniversity of Maryland Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, NBC SO, Toscanini (2 recordings; one live recording from 1939 and a studio recording from 1945)classics today Beethoven, Choral Fantasy, NBC SO, Toscanini, Carnegie Hall, December 1939, live recordingGeneral Pause Chopin: Tarantellecd universe Chopin: Waltzesclassical notes: Frederic Chopin Waltzes Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor, Robin Hood Dell Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 10 Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor London Symphony Orchestra, Walter Goehr Robin Hood Dell Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf Mendelssohn, Songs Without Words (complete) Menotti: Ricercare and Toccata Ravel: Sonatine Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 9 Schumann: Fantasiestücke, Op. 12 Schumann: Album for the Young, Op. 68, excerptsMiami University Libraries Johann Strauss II, arr Tausig: Valse-Caprice No. 2 "Man lebt nur einmal" (1938; only the second recording of this work, Sergei Rachmaninoff having first recorded it in 1927)Classics Online Tchaikovsky: Album pour enfants, Op. 39, excerpts Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, excerpts
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