D'Albert, Eugen |
| PIANIST, COMPOSER (SCOTLAND) |
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BORN 10 Apr 1864, Glasgow - DIED 3 Mar 1932, Riga BIRTH NAME D'Albert, Eugène Francois Charles CAUSE OF DEATH heart failure GRAVE LOCATION Morcote (near Lake Lugano), Ticino: Cimitero Santa Maria del Sasso |
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Eugen d'Albert was the son of an English mother and a 55 years old German father with French and Italian blood. He won a scholarship to study in Austria when he was seventeen years old. In Vienna he met Brahms and Liszt. His liking of German culture and music caused him to emigrate to Germany. There he studied with Franz Liszt and started a career as a concert pianist. Gradually his focus shifted from performing to composing and in total he wrote 21 operas. In 1898 he wrote his comical opera "Die Abreise". His most successful work was "Tiefland" that was first performed in Prague in 1903. In 1907 he became the director of the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. He was also musical director in Weimar. In 1914 he moved to Zürich and he became a Switt citizen. D'Albert married six times. His first wife was the actress Louise Salingré (1853-1917). They married in 1884 and settled in Weimar in 1886. In 1886 their won Wolfgang was born. In 1889 she fell mentally ill and was taken to an asylum in Bavaria. In 1892 he married his second wife, Teresa Carreño. She was a composer, pianist and singer from Venezuela and he had met her in Berlin in 1891. They lived in Coswig and had two children. After their divorce in 1895 he married the opera singer Hermine Finck in the same year. She accompanied him on his concert tours and he wrote songs for her. She also performed the main part in his opera "Gernot". After a failed concert tour to the USA in 1904 he started an affair the actress Ida Fulda, the widow of the poet Ludwig Fulda. His son Wolfgang was in love with her as well. In 1911 he divorced Hermine and married Ida. After two years they broke up as well. Hermine expected him to return to her, but instead of that he married the pianist Fritzi Jauner in 1913. With Fritzi he had two children. In 1921 the young Hilde Fels became his sixth wife. This marriage soon failed as well when he fell under the influence of the occultist Margit Labouchère. His last mistress was Virginia Zanetti. To be able to marry her he travelled to Riga to obtain a divorce. In Germany only six legal divorces were allowed at the time. In Riga the press attacked him because of his private life. Before he obtained his divorce he died in Riga. He was buried at Morcote near Lugano. Related persons • was teacher of Djavidan Hanum • was a friend of Humperdinck, Engelbert • was pupil of Liszt, Franz • knew Radecke, Robert • was a friend of Strauss, Richard |
| Images |
 The grave of Eugen D'Albert at the Cimitero Santa Maria del Sasso in Morcote, Ticino. Picture by Androom (15 Feb 2019) |
