Janotha, (Maria Cecylia) Natalia
- Zofia Chechlińska
Extract
(b Warsaw, June 8, 1856; d The Hague, June 9, 1932). Polish pianist and composer. Her father, Julian Janotha, taught her in Warsaw; later she studied under Rudorff and Bargiel in Berlin, and also with Brahms, Clara Schumann, Franz Weber and Marcelina Czartoryska. She made her début at the age of 12 in Warsaw, and in 1874 played at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. She performed with great success at the Prussian and English courts, and also won the recognition of the ruling houses of Italy and Spain; in 1885 she was appointed court pianist in Berlin. For many years she lived in London, but was deported in 1916 (under suspicion of being an enemy alien) and settled in The Hague, performing only occasionally (as accompanist to the dancer Angèle Gydour).
Janotha gave concerts throughout Europe and was regarded as one of the finest pianists of her time. She was particularly known as an interpreter of Chopin. Personal contacts with Chopin’s relations provided her with ready access to materials he had left: she published for the first time his Fugue in A minor (Leipzig, ...
