Maria Curcio

Maria Curcio

Maria Curcio (27 August 1918[1][2][3] or 1919[4] – 30 March 2009) was an Italian classical pianist who became renowned as a greatly influential and sought-after teacher. Her students included Martha Argerich, Radu Lupu, Dame Mitsuko Uchida, Leon Fleisher and Geoffrey Tozer. She was the last student of Artur Schnabel and she passed on his teachings to her own students.

Biography

Maria Curcio was born in Naples in 1918, to an Italian father and a Jewish-Brazilian mother, also a pianist who had studied with a pupil of Ferruccio Busoni.[2] She was playing by age three, and at age seven was taken to Rome to play for Benito Mussolini, but refused to do so.[1][2][5] She was tutored at home to leave more time for practising, but she did not have a happy childhood, as she was pushed into accepting too many engagements too soon, and there was no time to play or have friends.[4] Ottorino Respighi invited her to give a recital at his house.[2] She was accepted to the Naples Conservatory at age nine, receiving her degree by 14.[6] Her mother arranged for her to study with Alfredo Casella and Carlo Zecchi (a pupil of Artur Schnabel)[2] in Italy, and with Nadia Boulanger in Paris.[1][4] She also studied with Artur Schnabel himself from age 15; he did not normally take young pupils, but his son Karl Ulrich persuaded him to audition her.[1] When he did so, he described her as "one of the greatest talents I have ever met".[4] When Schnabel was on tour, she had lessons with Fritz Busch.[4]

She made her London debut in 1939,[3] but at the outbreak of World War II, she was in Amsterdam, where she had followed Schnabel's secretary Peter Diamand, and where she performed frequently. However, during the German occupation of the Netherlands from 1940, when Jews were banned from playing in public, she turned down all offers of engagements in protest (Diamand was Jewish).[4] Diamand spent some time in a Dutch concentration camp before escaping. They then needed to hide from the Nazis, in attics and other cramped places, with inadequate food.[2] She became a victim of malnutrition and tuberculosis, unable to even walk properly, let alone play.[1] Her performing career was now effectively over. She married Diamand in 1948, but she needed years of therapy to restore her power to her legs, arms and fingers. Wilhelm Furtwängler wanted to record with her, but by the time he died in 1954 she still had not recovered sufficient strength.[1] She did, however, finally return to playing; she collaborated with such artists as Benjamin Britten, Carlo Maria Giulini, Szymon Goldberg, Otto Klemperer, Josef Krips, Pierre Monteux and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.[4] Her last performance was in 1963. She then turned to teaching and giving master classes. She also coached singers at Josef Krips's request when he conducted the Netherlands Opera.[4]

In the meantime, Peter Diamand had been appointed director of the Edinburgh Festival and they had moved to the UK. She served on the jury of the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition in 1966.[1] She was appointed Visiting Professor at the Royal Academy of Music.[1] She played privately with Sir Clifford Curzon, who had introduced her to Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears and their circle in 1947.[1][2] She often played four-hand piano music with Britten.[5]

She and her husband divorced in 1971 after he had a relationship with Marlene Dietrich. She spent her last few years in Porto, Portugal, where she died in March 2009, aged 90.

BBC Scotland made two films about Maria Curcio in the 1980s: Music in Camera: Maria Curcio - Fulfilling a Legacy and Maria Curcio - Piano Teacher.[7] A documentary of her life, Music Beyond Sound, was made by her student Douglas Ashley in 1993.[1] He also wrote a book of the same name.[8][9]

Students

Maria Curcio's students came from many countries, and included:

References


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Maria Curcio — (* 27. August 1918 in Neapel; † 30. März 2009 bei Porto), eine Schülerin des Pianisten Artur Schnabel, war in London und weltweit als Klavierlehrerin tätig. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben und Wirken 2 Schüler …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Maria Curcio — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Curcio. Maria Curcio Naissance 27 août 1920 Naples …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Curcio — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Carlo Curcio (1898–1971), italienischer Historiker Maria Curcio (1918–2009), italienische Pianistin Renato Curcio (* 1941), italienischer Exterrorist Diese Seite ist eine …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Curcio —  Cette page d’homonymie répertorie des personnes partageant un même patronyme italien. . Curcio est un nom de famille d origine italienne notamment porté par : Maria Curcio (1920 – 2009), pianiste italienne ; Maria Crocifissa… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Maria Crocifissa Curcio — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Maria et Curcio. Bienheureuse Maria Crocifissa Curcio Fondatrice de la Congrégation des Carmélites missionnaires de Sainte Thérèse de l’Enfant Jésus Naissance 30  …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Maria — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Maria est un nom propre qui peut désigner : Sommaire 1 Prénom et patronyme 1.1 Variantes linguist …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Nitteti (Curcio) — Para otros usos de este término, véase Nitteti. Cabeza del faraón Amosis II, Altes Museum de Berlín. Nitteti (La Nitteti) fue una ópera fruto del encargo expreso del cantante castrato Farinelli (170 …   Wikipedia Español

  • Rosa Curcio — Maria Crocifissa Curcio Bienheureuse Maria Crocifissa Curcio Fondatrice de la Congrégation des Carmélites missionnaires de Sainte Thérèse de l’Enfant Jésus Naissance 30 janvier 1877 Ispica …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Renato Curcio — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Renato Curcio Nombre …   Wikipedia Español

  • Курчо, Мария — Мария Курчо (итал. Maria Curcio; 27 августа 1918(19180827), Неаполь  30 марта 2009, Порту)  итало британская пианистка, выдающийся музыкальный педагог. Содержание 1 Биография …   Википедия

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