Big news broke yesterday with the word that several early recordings by the legendary teacher and pianist Adele Marcus (1906-95) were available to hear in mp3 format on her former student Jeffrey Biegel's website.
In the obituary written for her by Bernard Holland, Marcus was called "teacher to two generations of outstanding pianists." Most of us know her through the echo of a significant list of former students: Byron Janis, Jeffrey Biegel, Santiago Rodriguez, Jeffrey Swann, Neil Sedaka, and many, many others.
We also know her through a book of interviews published by Paganiniana in 1979 called "Great Pianists Speak with Adele Marcus." Now for the first time we can get to know her playing directly.
She was born in Kansas City, Missouri to Jacob B., and Rebecca Marcus who immigrated from Russia in 1886. She was born into a large family; she was the thirteenth child. The 1920 census finds the family living at 906 East 25th Street in Los Angeles, near Griffiths street, on a location that is now a parking lot.
Her older sister Rosamund (b. 1900) was also a pianist and the two frequently performed together. An article from Clavier magazine in 1976 indicates that the two were able to pay for their own lessons and even bought a small grand piano with the proceeds of their private concerts.
Marcus dropped out of high school after her freshman year and moved to New York to study with Josef Lhévinne at what was then called the Julliard Graduate School. She also studied musical composition with Rubin Goldmark.
In 1928, in only the fourth year that the competition had existed, she won the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation Award, and was able to give her New York debut in Town Hall in February 1929.
The unnamed review from February 26th in the New York Times called it "the most promising debut of the season." She played the Liszt sonata in B minor, "and short works of Brahms, Chopin, Scriabine and Albeniz" along with the French Suite in G major, which she played "with notable warmth and color."
The review described her playing: "Her tone is warm, her style fluent and stamped with the authority which reveals a sound technical foundation."
Then the unexpected: "She began an encore, but after a few bars suddenly stopped playing and left the stage. She explained later that she had risen from a sickbed to fulfill her engagement and had felt herself on the verge of collapse after completing her arduous program."
She studied with Schnabel in Europe and then began touring. She became Lhévinne's assistant for seven years and joined the faculty of Julliard in 1954 where she taught until her retirement in 1990.
"Fluency and charm were present to an unusual degree in the superior playing heard from Adele Marcus at her piano recital in Town Hall last night," read another NYT review from 1937. "Miss Marcus could make her work sparkle and glitter..."
Now we can hear it sparkle and glitter for ourselves.
