Who Was A Major Female Figure For French Music During The Period Of Salons?

Who was a major female figure for French music during the period of salons, in particular, Boulevard Saint – Germain and Baden Baden? Discuss in detail their background and its impact on composers of that time

Traditionally, the idea of a ‘salon’ is a gathering of people in a place hosted by an iconic member of society, comprising of conversation to engage and educate the keen attendees. This later reflected in music salons; a place where not only conversation but also music was held, showcasing the new compositions of talented upcoming composers in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. One of the most influential women in music and in society at that time to many great composers was Pauline Viardot.
Pauline Viardot – Garcia, born July 1821 was
After her first performance in Brussels the critic of the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung wrote: "Mademoiselle Pauline Garcia obtained in her first concert a remarkable success and was greeted with acclaim on her second appearance. Her ability is already very obvious (she is 17 years old), and her intonation is true and pure. We have not heard her sing any of her own songs yet but we believe that she is a talented composer." (Davies, p. 25)
Viardot had pursued her training to become a concert pianist before making a career out of her voice. She studied under Franz Liszt for many years. Viardot had met Clara Schumann (Wieck at the time) through Robert Schumann, and throughout their friendship they had performed many times together, including duets and vocal and piano pieces. Pauline valued Clara as a talented pianist, and Clara called Pauline "the most gifted woman I have ever known." (Fitzlyon, p.380)
Pauline’s family came into money from her success in Russia, which enabled the Garcia’s to buy a castle near Paris. The top of the building was converted into a theatre known as ‘Théatre des Pommes de Terre’ (theatre of potatoes) because they accepted one potato as entry into the theatre. (Fitzlyon, p.306) This became a second home to many of the well known composers that were later associated with Pauline’s Salon, Boulevard Saint –
2 “Aime – Moi” (op. 33 no. 2 for the Chopin Mazurka). As a vocalist this was of great interest to me. After researching and comparing, the uncanny resemblance of the transcription to the original piano score was immense. Her use of the rubato was that of Chopin’s intentions, and she of course portrayed her two strongest elements in the vocal line; her ability to sing almost anything and her extreme advanced compositional techniques. Listening to many versions of this transcription one stood out immediately. Katarzyna Dondalska is a Polish born Soprano whose range is tremendously large. From the opening 50 seconds of the recording after all the research on Viardot, you could close your eyes and imagine her there, singing. Dondalska’s extraordinary talent is similar of that of Viardot. Her lightness and depth moves into one and her soaring high notes are a delightful surprise after hearing her smooth lower register. During this example of the music her talent is portrayed in her ascending runs and the way in which she displays the trills. This is advanced technical skill that would have been shown through Viardot. Although one can only imagine Viardot’s performance of this Mazurka, from reading about her vocal abilities one can only compare this to the example of Dondalska’s