Piano virtuoso Vladimir de Pachmann (1848-1933) is remembered today more often than not for the comic and sometimes bizarre on-stage behaviour that earned him the epithet "Chopinzee." Yet during his years as a performer, Pachmann was regarded as one of the four or five greatest pianists in the world, and as the outstanding exponent of Chopin. Mark Mitchell's richly detailed biography-the first to be published-reconciles the personality with the playing by offering a thorough account of the pianist's life as well as a complete reappraisal of his musicianship. Beginning with Pachmann's childhood in Odessa, Mitchell follows the process by which the youngest of 13 children evolved into one of the finest-and most colorful-artists in the history of the piano, one who was able to fill London's Albert Hall for a recital. Particular emphasis is laid on the two principal relationships of Pachmann's life: with the pianist Marguerite Okey, to whom he was married for a decade, and with Francesco Pallottelli, the waiter-turned-impresario under whose influence he eventually settled in Fascist-era Italy.
Tracing an arc from Beethoven - an acquaintance of Pachmann's father - to Pierre Boulez - a pupil of Pachmann's son - Mitchell's biography urges a reassessment of a musician whose life and legacy have been too long in eclipse. Also of interest Virtuosi: A Defense and a (Sometimes Erotic) Celebration of Great Pianists Mark Mitchell 0-253-33757-7 HB GBP18.95
- ISBN10 0253341698
- ISBN13 9780253341693
- Publish Date 1 October 2002
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 11 July 2009
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Indiana University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 248
- Language English