Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1184

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

0.08 linear feet (1 box)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Julia Gibansky Kasanoff papers relating to Teresa Carreño, 1902-1937, Ms. Coll. 1184, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1902-1937 (inclusive)

Creator:

Gibansky Kasanoff, Julia

Form:

Programs (documents), Photographs, and Correspondence

Abstract:

Collection of correspondence, photographs and a recital program relating to pianist Teresa Carreño (1853-1917).

Julia Gibansky Kasanoff was a pianist who studied under and later served as an assistant to Teresa Carreño. Kasanoff was born in Pittsburgh to Polish parents and studied in Berlin, Brussels, Italy, and New York. She taught piano in New York and then, around 1920, returned to Pittsburgh where she continued to teach piano. She performed as a concert pianist, largely in the Northeast.

Teresa Carreño was Venezuelan-born pianist, composer, conductor, and opera singer. She began her study of the piano at the age of six under her father's instruction and when the family emigrated to New York City in 1862, she began lessons with the famous American pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk. By the age of 8, she had made her concert debut at Irving Hall and in 1863 she toured New England and performed at the White House for Abraham Lincoln. In 1866, she moved to Europe where she continued her lessons with Anton Rubinstein and Georges Mathias. She continued touring and also made her debut as an opera singer in 1876. She lived in Paris and London and eventually settled in Berlin where she taught and performed for 30 years. The outbreak of the First World War impelled her to move to New York City in 1916 where she remained until her death in 1917 following a brief illness. She married three times and also had a common law marriage with the brother of her future and final husband. Her daughter from this common-law union, Teresita Carreño Tagliapietra, was also a noted pianist.

This collection consists of correspondence, photographs, and a recital program relating to Venezuelan pianist Teresa Carreño. The correspondence is addressed to pianist Julia Gibansky of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from her teacher Teresa Carreño, with one letter addressed to Julia's mother. The letters are written primarily in Berlin, with one written while "camping at the foot of the Pyramids of Gizeh," and date from 1902 to 1911. The subject matter mainly discusses everyday details as well as Gibansky's studies and talents as a musician. There is also one printed letter from Josef Hoffman, director of the Curtis Institute of Music, to Julia Gibansky, dated 1937, and mentioning her note of appreciation regarding his performance of a Chopin concerto and also mentioning an unnamed pupil of hers who applied for an audition to the Curtis Institute. The collection also includes two photographs: one of Teresa Carreño and another of her daughter Teresita Carreño Tagliapietra, who was also a well-known pianist. There is also a recital program from the Business Woman's Club of New York for a performance of Teresa Carreño's at the Waldorf-Astoria on March 13th, 1917 at which she played works by Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, and Schubert.