-- A Carreño vs. De Pachmann Mignon Near Dust-up! --

Dateline -- The Musical Courier of February 12, 1908 at page 21, within
his column "Variations" by author Leonard Liebling, anew we are treated
to this recounting following, of an incident of classic, wilder De
Pachmannesquerie...

Begin --

  A typical De Pachmann story is credited by the San Francisco Argonaut
to Teresa Carreño:

  "At the time of this adventure, I had never heard or seen De Pachmann.
I was playing in St. James' Hall, London, and the public was kind enough
to be very enthusiastic.  But my attention was particularly attracted by
a little man, who looked like a Protestant minister, and who stood up in
this chair and shouted and applauded wildly.  Naturally, my curiosity
was excited by such a marked display of enthusiasm, and I asked my
manager, Mr. Vert, who the demonstrative person might be.

  " 'But don't you know?' he answered.  'That is De Pachmann.'

  "It was the height of the London season, and after the concert the
small green room was crowded, for I have many friends there, and Busoni,
Godowsky and Rosenthal were also filling engagements in the city, and
with several other artists of equal eminence, had been kind enough to
attend my recital.  Suddenly there was a commotion at the door and De
Pachmann entered.  Talking in a most excited manner he forced his way to
the center of the room, and falling on his knees before me, declaimed:

  " 'So, madame, on my knees, do I acknowledge your supremacy!  Queen
of pianists!  Most glorious of artists!  Regal woman!"  And turning to
Godowsky, Busoni, Rosenthal, and the rest, he commanded that they too
kneel!

  "Well, it made me sick," Madame Carreño continued, colloquially, but
emphatically.  "Such extravagance was, to say the least, embarrassing,
but though I finally persuaded Mr. De Pachmannn to stand, he continued
to overwhelm me with compliments.  At last, however, Mr. Vert persuaded
him to leave, and though most of my friends had left, and those who
remained were as sick with long repressed merriment as I was with
mortification, we were just beginning to feel comfortable when the door
again opened suddenly and De Pachmann returned, like the music master in
the 'Barber of Seville,' to add one more word of extravagant compliment.

  " 'Your Sixth Rhapsodie!' he cried, 'I have heard it from Liszt
himself, and not even he could play it so!'

  "A year later my daughter, Teresita, met De Pachmann in Berlin.
'I know your mother,' he said, 'A beautiful woman!  But she should not
try to play the piano! ' "

End --

And finally, we arrive at the Mignon aspect of the delicious little
recounting.  Was her Liszt's Sixth that good to impress the little
gnome-pianist so?  Reportedly, no shellac discs were ever to appear to
serve to tip the truth of it, though her Mignon No.365 does one fine job
with proper play-backs.

(Well, cylinder recordings can always turn up, as they did not too long
ago in Russia.  By means of some of those, we now get to hear pianist
Gottfried Galston's wife-to-be-then-not, fellow W-M recordist Sandra
Droucker, play most expertly/impressively, and then laugh like a loon in
heat just after.  Later, she was to leave to the world some additional
fine numbers compliments of Welte's Mignon, though the record has yet to
be clear as to any expressed, similar bemusement there.)

In speaking of Carreño adventures while away from Leipzig and Popper's,
while investigating Teresa herself I stumbled across no-less-than
Teresita, that great lady's daughter, sister to brother Giovanni.  She
turned-out four quite good Mignon record-rolls, so she is securely in
the Mignon Pantheon of Greats and Near-greats no question but too, there
would seem to have been a streak of adventurism to this younger Carreño,
as I detect hiding within this passage following en Espagnole:

"En un juicio sumario la Carreño es condenada a muerte.  Tres largos
meses pasa Teresita Carreño en el cadalso a la espera del paredón de
fusilamiento, mientras que su padre y padrastro, los hermanos Giovanni
y Arturo Tagliapietra apelan a la nacionalidad norteamericana de la
chica ante las autoridades estadounidenses."

Yes! When I see "juicio" as paired with "Teresita," I get interested
"pronto."

The article starts out with "Much has been written about the activities
of the famous pianist, singer and composer, Venezuelan Teresa Carreño
... " and progressively becomes too complicated for my non-Spanish
language prowess but, I do detect some seeming juiciness apromising
further in.  For any interested in risking it, and finding out more,
the entire article from which the extract was taken could be found here:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/10210265255684236/ 

Also, it features an actual photo-likeness of the Greater strolling with
the Lesser plus, a fine cabinet card portrait of the lovely and alluring
Teresita a solo.

Also, Carreño Herself composed a very nice waltz for sweet adventuring
Teresita, which here can be heard as nicely played:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6GuVJDv3w8 

More must be found-out about Teresita but, information on her is as
scarce as it is copious for her mother.  Mentioned son Giovanni factors
into the Carreño general equation as well, so some will have to be dug
up on the fellow as well.  (Unfortunately, Welte did not nail him by
means of the Mignon!)

In searching through the various trade and fan weeklys and monthlys
of that time, I perceive within thousands of such treasures, all just
waiting to be brought out-and-forth, these for their new and just
illuminating unto The Grand Assemblage of Guardian Mignonites of the
World (i.e. their collectors) and, as well, all other of their like
counterparts -- Ampico, Duo-Art, Artrio-Angelus, Art Echo, "The Celco
Reproducing Medium", Hupfeld's DEA, Philips' DUCA and, Popper's
mysterious Stella -- of which no living human being, apparently, has
ever seen or found an example, et cetera.

Jim Miller
Las Vegas, Nevada

 [ Teresita Carreño: A Venezuelan spy in front of the firing squad?
 [ by Luis Heraclio Medina C.;  Tuesday, December 27, 2016
 [ "In a summary trial, [Teresita] Carreño is sentenced to death.
 [ Three long months pass; Teresita Carreño on the scaffold waiting
 [ for the firing squad, while her father and stepfather, the
 [ brothers Giovanni and Arturo Tagliapietra, appeal to the girl's
 [ American citizenship before the U.S. authorities."
 [ Ref. https://www.facebook.com/notes/10210265255684236/