Sigismond Thalberg

Sigismond Thalberg (8 January 1812 – 27 April 1871) was a composer and one of the most famous virtuoso pianists of the 19th century.

Sigismond Thalberg was born in Pâquis near Geneva, Switzerland, on 8 January 1812. According to legend, he was the illegitimate son of Prince Moritz Dietrichstein and Baroness Maria Julia Wetzlar von Plankenstern. However, according to his birth certificate, he was the son of Joseph Thalberg and Fortunée Stein who were both from Frankfurt-am-Main.

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.

There is no evidence as to Thalberg's early teachers. Baroness von Wetzlar, his 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 of 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. Thalberg's first public performance in London was on 17 May 1826. In Vienna on 6 April 1827 he played the first movement, and on 6 May 1827 the Adagio and the Rondo of Hummel's concerto in B Minor. After this, Thalberg performed regularly in Vienna. His repertoire was mainly classical, including concertos by Hummel and Beethoven. He also performed chamber music. In the year 1828 his Op. 1, a fantasy on melodies from Carl Maria von Weber's Euryanthe, was published.

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. 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 op.5 and a fantasy of his own. Two days before, Clara had played the first solo of the 2nd Concerto of John Field to him, and, together with him, the first movement of a four handed Sonata of Hummel. Her diary, edited by her father Friedrich Wieck, notes Thalberg as "very accomplished". His playing was clear and precise, also very strong and expressive.

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