Ilona Eibenschütz (1873–1967)

Ilona Eibenschütz
Photography oft he collectionManskopf, UB Frankfurt
https://sammlungen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/

Ilona Eibenschütz, born in Budapest, was already celebrated as a prodigy at the age of six. She gave concerts in Scandinavia, Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary. Between 1886 and 1890, she studied with Clara Schumann and subsequently developed into a renowned interpreter, mainly of the works of Brahms. The composer himself was enthusiastic about her. In 1894, she performed his Piano Pieces, Op. 119, and many of his chamber music works for the first time in London.

She was a lively and agile personality but played with little body movement and great calmness. Ilona Eibenschütz withdrew from the concert stage at an early stage, married and then settled in Britain. She made her first disc recordings in 1903; even 50 years later, there were still some private recordings and spoken memories of Johannes Brahms.

(J.M.N., translated by Th.H.)

Cf. https://mugi.hfmt-hamburg.de/

See also: Ilona Eibenschütz talks and plays: Reminiscences of Brahms (1952) 
m.youtube.com/

Cf. an extensive tribute to Ilona Eibenschütz of 2019: Die Schülerin - Die Meisterin. Ilona Eibenschütz und Clara Schumann. Zeitzeugnisse einer Frauenkarriere um 1900, edited by Ingrid Bodsch, executed by Kazuko Ozawa and Matthias Wendt, publisher StadtMuseum Bonn, 2019.