Once Prominent Composer Celebrated in Baden-Baden

Baden-Baden is hosting a series of cultural events this year to celebrate
the 150th birthday of composer Luisa Adolpha Le Beau.  A gifted pianist
who rose to prominence in Munich in the 1870s, Le Beau was often cited at
the time as "one of the most famous German women composers." She withdrew
from the international music scene in mid-life, but continued to compose
until her death in Baden-Baden in 1927.  Le Beau was modest about her
accomplishments throughout her life.  "If my works are worthy enough to
survive me," she wrote in her 1910 autobiography, "then they will." Born
in Rastatt on April 25, 1850, Le Beau struggled to establish her musical
reputation against considerable odds.  She learned to play the piano from
her father, a Rastatt official, and with her parents' support, she began
studying with composer Joseph Rheinberger in Munich in 1874.  But unlike
Clara Schumann, who participated in her training, she had no family
connections in the music world, and she lost much of her stature after
she broke with Rheinberger to follow her own aesthetic inclinations.  She
spent her last 24 years composing and teaching piano in Baden-Baden, where
her students fondly renamed her "La Belle." Le Beau's work is enjoying a
revival today in part through the efforts of pianist Maria Bergmann, who
discovered some of her scores in the basement of a former student and
made them accessible to the public.  During Baden-Baden's anniversary
celebration, musicians will perform a wide range of Le Beau compositions,
including orchestral pieces, chamber music, operatic works, and oratorios.

Anna Kruener