Luisa Cognetti was born in Naples on 20 July 1857, the daughter of upper middle-class parents, and grew up in a stimulating cultural environment. Her father, Salvatore, was a lawyer and journalist, and her brother, Gofffredo, a playwright. She began attending Liszt's piano classes in Rome in November 1876 and gave her first concert on 23 January 1877. This event marked the start of a career that would take her all over Europe but which ended in 1891 when she married Carlo Michon. Only after her husband's death in 1921 did she take up teaching for a number of years. She died in Livorno on 7 July 1952. She left accounts of her time with Liszt and of her career as a pianist in her unpublished memoirs, which were compiled by one of her nieces. These memoirs make interesting reading for what they tell us about Liszt and for their lively description of the musical world that Luisa Cognetti inhabitated. But their greatest merit lies in their account of the daily round of a nineteenth-century concert pianist and of the early history of concert life in Italy, which was still associated with an aristocratic, "private" milieu. Thanks to these memoirs and other documents, we are able to reconstruct Luisa Cognetti's career and repertory within the context of the concert life of the period and the role of the women at that time.

Nata a Napoli il 20 luglio 1857 in una famiglia della buona borghesia, Luisa Cognetti crebbe in un ambiente culturalmente stimolante: il padre Salvatore fu avvocato e giornalista, il fratello Goffredo un commediografo di qualche successo. Nel novembre 1876 cominciò a frequentare le lezioni di Liszt a Roma e il 23 gennaio 1877 diede il suo primo concerto, iniziando una carriera che la porterà ad esibirsi in quasi tutta l’Europa. Il matrimonio con Carlo Michon nel 1891 segna l’abbandono dell’attività concertistica. Solamente alla morte del marito, nel 1921, si dedica per qualche tempo all’insegnamento. Muore a Livorno il 7 luglio 1952. Dei suoi rapporti con Liszt e della sua attività concertistica, Cognetti ha lasciato testimonianza in alcune memorie (inedite), raccolte da una nipote. Esse costituiscono una lettura interessante non tanto per l’aneddotica lisztiana e per la vivace descrizione degli ambienti musicali da lei frequentati; il loro maggiore pregio sta nel narrarci la vita quotidiana di una concertista dell’Ottocento, ed insieme la storia nascente del concertismo in Italia, ancora legato ad un circuito aristocratico e “privato”. Attraverso le memorie e altri documenti, verranno ricostruite la carriera e il repertorio di Luisa Cognetti nel contesto del concertismo e della condizione femminile del suo tempo.

Tedesco, A. (2011). Une élève napolitaine: Luisa Cognetti (1857-1952). In M. Haine, N. Dufetel, Reynaud C (a cura di), Les élèves de Liszt: Figures connues et inconnues. Actes du colloque tenu du 19 au 21 juin 2008 au Grand Théatre d'Angers (Université F. Rabelais de Tours - IRPMF, CNRS) (pp. 246-270). Milano : Rugginenti.

Une élève napolitaine: Luisa Cognetti (1857-1952)

TEDESCO, Anna
2011-01-01

Abstract

Luisa Cognetti was born in Naples on 20 July 1857, the daughter of upper middle-class parents, and grew up in a stimulating cultural environment. Her father, Salvatore, was a lawyer and journalist, and her brother, Gofffredo, a playwright. She began attending Liszt's piano classes in Rome in November 1876 and gave her first concert on 23 January 1877. This event marked the start of a career that would take her all over Europe but which ended in 1891 when she married Carlo Michon. Only after her husband's death in 1921 did she take up teaching for a number of years. She died in Livorno on 7 July 1952. She left accounts of her time with Liszt and of her career as a pianist in her unpublished memoirs, which were compiled by one of her nieces. These memoirs make interesting reading for what they tell us about Liszt and for their lively description of the musical world that Luisa Cognetti inhabitated. But their greatest merit lies in their account of the daily round of a nineteenth-century concert pianist and of the early history of concert life in Italy, which was still associated with an aristocratic, "private" milieu. Thanks to these memoirs and other documents, we are able to reconstruct Luisa Cognetti's career and repertory within the context of the concert life of the period and the role of the women at that time.
2011
Settore L-ART/07 - Musicologia E Storia Della Musica
Tedesco, A. (2011). Une élève napolitaine: Luisa Cognetti (1857-1952). In M. Haine, N. Dufetel, Reynaud C (a cura di), Les élèves de Liszt: Figures connues et inconnues. Actes du colloque tenu du 19 au 21 juin 2008 au Grand Théatre d'Angers (Université F. Rabelais de Tours - IRPMF, CNRS) (pp. 246-270). Milano : Rugginenti.
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
TEDESCO_2011_Luisa Cognetti.pdf

Solo gestori archvio

Descrizione: Testo completo
Dimensione 922.73 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
922.73 kB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10447/73913
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact