Amalia Epstein

Amalia [Julius] Epstein geb. Mauthner.

Marriages

1. 1854 Numerative 333, Stadttempel, Mauthner Amalia & Rawack, Leopold.
2. 1865, Numerative 458, Stadttempel, Rawak geb. Mauthner, Amalie & Epstein, Julius.

• Dau. Hedwig, 1867 Num. 3437 Wien Julius/Mauthner Amalia.
• Son Richard, 1869 Num. 5507 Wien Julius/Mauthner Amalia.

Amalie Mauthner was a concert pianist and piano teacher. The Sophie Drinker Institute, "a free research institute that specializes in musicological women's and gender studies," says that Amalia was born in 1832 in Pest (now Budapest), died 1916 in Vienna. She was a pianist and piano teacher. Amalie Mauthner was the daughter of Zachariah Mauthner and his wife Theresa née Veith (?). She was trained in Vienna by piano teacher and composer Anton Halm (1789-1872).

Amalia's first public appearance took place when she was about 12 years old. Following one of her first concerts, a Vienna correspondent says the "Sunday papers" must realize that "in Amalie Mauthner one of the best types of pianists is developing" (Sunday papers, 1844, p 68). Just a year after her debut, the young artist also played concerts in Pest (1845), Wieselburg (1845), Karlovy Vary (1846) and Bratislava (1847). Programs included works by Hummel, Chopin, Thalberg, Dohler, Halm, Weber, Liszt, Leopold von Meyer and Émile Prudent.

In 1853 Amalie Mauthner was in Vienna, where she met the rich merchant Leopold Rawack (1819-1873), whom she married shortly thereafter. For this connection, writes the Austrian explorer Karl Scherzer, "All the world congratulated the charming, highly educated, but impecunious Miss Mauthner when they heard that she was going to marry a rich merchant from the gold mining district of Australia" (Journal of Dr. Karl Scherzer). Three years after the marriage, a daughter was born, who died at the age of two years. In August of 1858, the couple moved to Sydney, Australia.

Amalie Rawack-Mauthner hosted numerous concerts in Australia due to the bankruptcy of her husband's company; he could not pay their living expenses. "Instead of leading the country in gold, a carefree, happy family life, the long-suffering young woman was forced to surrender to an intense, sorrowful activity. The graceful artist was quickly became known and popular in Australia. The concerts, which the artist herself organized, were among the most visited of the season" (Scherzer, pp. 65f.).

Family ties apparently made it easier for her to establish himself as a pianist in Sydney. Amalie and her husband joined, for the duration of their stay, the Philharmonic Society, on whose board Ludwig Rawack served. Shortly after their arrival Amalia gave a Philharmonic Society concert to honor the officers and scientists of the Imperial frigate "Novara", which had circumnavigated the world. Amalie Rawack-Mauthner played Theodor Döhlers Fantasia and Variations on a Cavatina from the opera Anna Bolena by Gaetano Donizetti op 17. A review in an Australian newspaper stated, "The rich harmony Introduction, the pleasing theme, ingenious, elegant fantasy, everything was played with the same championship, with incomparable virtuosity. Hardly the ear can in harmonious chaos of mighty chords, find lovely melodies, sparkling runs, shattering trills and daring jumps a resting place, and yet we see the wonderfully clear transparency that characterizes the play of our artist, the most calming and satisfying. The last chord died away, and an endless applause of the more lively proclaimed himself because you had listened breathlessly, the celebrated artist rewarded" (quoted in Hochstetter, pp. 320f.). The pianist obtained additional attention from this performance by presenting a waltz she wrote for the occasion, "Novara Sounds." It is the only surviving work of Amalie Rawack-Mauthner.

Until 1859-60, Amalia played numerous other concerts in Sydney, frequently in the Prince of Wales Theatre and the School of Arts. Many featured works by Liszt, Thalberg, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Dohler. As a correspondent of the "Sydney Morning Herald" noted, "never before in this colony have wonderful productions of Liszt and Thalberg been performed with so much taste, correctness and brilliancy on the pianoforte "(The Sydney Morning Herald July 7, 1858).

Karl Scherzer reports that Amalie Rawack-Mauthner always intended to return to Vienna as soon as the financial situation allowed. Apart from her concert performances -- which did not produce enough income to fund a return trip in addition to living expenses -- she opened an additional source of income by teaching: "The most prestigious and richest families in Sydney's regarded it as a special favor and weighed it up with gold their children by Mrs R .... to have to train to facing Clavierspielern "(Scherzer, p 65f.).

Divorcing her husband, Amalie Rawack-Mauthner returned in 1860 to Vienna. Here she met pianist Julius Epstein (1832-1918). In April 1862, she performed in his Sunday matinee, and played along with her host Mozart's Sonata in D major, K. 448. There followed more joint appearances. In 1865 the artist couple married. On 26 Jan. 1869 son Richard was born (d. 1919 or 1921), also a pianist who later gained fame. After 1862 only a few references to concerts by Amalie Epstein exist. That she still performed regularly is mentioned in the magazine "The Concert Hall," 1870, in which the pianist is described as giving "a brilliant concert appearance," "without which a Viennese Concert season would not be complete" (The Tonhalle, 1870, p 293).

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From Graeme Skinner's Austral Harmony: Music and musicians in early colonial Australia

RAVAC (RAWACK), Leopold, violinist, merchant

• Born 1819
• Arrived (1) Adelaide, by April 1846; departed Sydney, 3 September 1846 (per Emerald Isle, for Calcutta)
• Arrived (2) Sydney, 22 October 1852 (per Formosa, from Southampton, 7 August)
• Died Darlinghurst, 12th January 1873, aged 54 years

RAWACK, Madame Amalia (Amalie MAUTHNER)

• Pianist (pupil of Thalberg and Liszt)
• Born Pest (Budapest), 1832
• Arrived Sydney, by April 1858
• Departed Sydney, 6 February 1861 (per Duncan Dunbar, for London)
• Died Vienna, 1916

Summary (Leopold): On the basis of the 1873 testimony below, I am assuming for the moment that the violinist Leopold Ravac who toured in 1846 is the Leopold Rawack who returned to set up a business with his brother in 1852. Ravac had played in Hong Kong in May 1845 ([Advertisement], The Friend of China and Hong Kong Gazette (28 May 1845), 796) and in February 1846 in Singapore ([Advertisement] & “MR. RAVAC’S ENTERTAINMENT”, The Straits Times (21 February 1846), 2: http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article/straitstimes18460221.2.3....; http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article.aspx?articleid=straitstim...), in both places with an associate artist named Fiebig. However, he arrived in Adelaide in April 1846 to team up with pianist Julius Imberg, who had himself arrived from Bremen in January. In Sydney he founda new associate in Stephen Marsh, and the two left for Calcutta in September. Marsh reported to friends in Sydney that they quarelled and separated, though both went on to London. Leopold Rawack was later on the organising committee of the Sydney University Musical Festival in July 1859.

Summary (Amalie Rawack; after Bergman/Babbe): Amalie was daughter of Zacharias Mauthner and pupil of pianist-composer Anton Halm (1789-1872). In 1853 in Vienna, she met Leopold Rawack (1819-1873), and they married shortly after and moved to Australia. “All the world congratulated the charming, high educated, but impecunious Miss Mauthner when they heard that she was going to marry a rich merchant from the gold mining district of Australia" (Journal of Dr. Karl Scherzer). She came to notice in Sydney playing for the Philharmonic Society in 1858 and at a concert in 1859 to honor the officers of the Austrian frigate Novara, in Sydney during its circumnavigation of the world. According to Scherzer, Amalie intended from first arrival in Australia to return to Vienna as soon as finances allowed. Among was probably responsible for introducing a number of important major European instrumental works, as for instance in Sydney in May 1858, when, with "a gentleman amateur" violinist (probably her husband Leopold) and cellist Edward Deane, she gave the first partial local performance of Mendelssohn's D-minor Trio, Op.49 (minus the first movement). Apart from the concert performances, she was successful teaching: "The most prestigious and richest families in Sydney's regarded it as a special favor and weighed it in gold to have their children trained as pianists by Mrs. R.” (Scherzer, 65f.). She separated from/? divorced Leopold, and returned to Vienna in 1861. There in 1865 she married the pianist Julius Epstein (1832-1918). Though it was not published until 1862, after she had left Australia, Edward Boulanger dedicated his Impromptu Polka to Amelia.

(1873): SIR. With the remaiks of your critic on the performance of the Musical Union yesterday evening, I think everyone present will agree; he is, however, in error, in stating that “stringed quartettes are an entirely new feature in concerts here”. I heard very good performances by the Deanes and othees thirty years ago in Sydney; later by a quartette, of which the late Mr. Rawack was the leader, and quartettes of the Chamber Concerts given by Mr. and Mrs. Herman. Many persons spent very pleasant evenings it the residence of a well-known musical chemist here, where Beethoven and Mozart ruled the hour, through the interpretations of musicians of ability on stringed instruments. I remain, sir, yourss, &c, MUSIC OF OLD TIMES. June 1.”

References: [Advertisement], South Australian Register (15 April 1846), 1: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article73841958; “LOCAL INTELLIGENCE”, South Australian Register (22 April 1846), 3: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27452680; “LOCAL INTELLIGENCE”, South Australian Register (25 April 1846), 3: http://nla.gov.au/nla.newsarticle27452691; “MUSIC”, The Australian (26 May 1846), 3: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37157344; “THE CONCERT”, The Courier (17 June 1846), 2: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2945453; “MR. RAVAC’S Concert”, The Sydney Morning Herald (14 August 1846), 2: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12889156; “MUSICIANS”, The Sydney Morning Herald (31 August 1846), 2: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12895668; “MR. MARSH’S CONCERT”, The Sydney Morning Herald (2 September 1846), 2: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12899675; [Advertisement], The Australian (5 September 1846), 2: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37157162; “SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE”, Sydney Chronicle (5 September 1846), 3: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31748788; “MR. MARSH”, The Sydney Morning Herald (7 May 1847), 2: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12895311; “MULTUM IN PARVO”, The Sydney Morning Herald (9 August 1848), 2: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12906111; “SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE”, The Sydney Morning Herald (22 October 1852), 1s: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12940960; “INSOLVENCY OF RAWAK AND COMPANY”, The Sydney Morning Herald (1 August 1856), 4: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12985514; “MADAME RAWACK’S CONCERT”, The Sydney Morning Herald (10 April 1858), 4: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13008587; “MADAME AMALIA RAWACK”, The Sydney Morning Herald (12 May 1858), 5: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13009958; “MADAME AMALIA RAWACK'S CONCERT”, The Sydney Morning Herald (19 May 1858), 7: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13010201; “MUSIC AND THE DRAMA”, The Sydney Morning Herald (10 August 1858), 11: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13011976; “Die ‘Novara’ unde die Deutschen in Australien”, Magazin für die Literatur des Auslandes (17 March 1859), 129: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=a0g8AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA129; “MUSIC AND THE DRAMA”, The Sydney Morning Herald (13 May 1859), 9: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13024895; “DEPARTURES”, Empire (19 February 1861), 3: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60489169; “THE EXPLOSION IN BRIDGE STREET”, The Sydney Morning Herald (12 March 1866), 2: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13127793; “INSOLVENCY COURT”, The Sydney Morning Herald (18 January 1867), 2: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13141167; “CENTRAL POLICE COURT”, Empire (2 June 1870), 3: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63107729; “DEATHS”, Empire (14 January 1873), 1: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63226156; “Musical and Dramatic Review”, Australian Town and Country Journal (21 June 1873), 21: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70479196; “STRINGED QUARTETS. TO THE EDITOR”, The Sydney Morning Herald (4 June 1877), 5: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13394935