Somer, Hilde (1922–1979)
Somer, Hilde (1922–1979)
Austrian pianist known for her performances of modern works and her innovative concert techniques. Born in Vienna, Austria, on February 11, 1922; died in Freeport, the Bahamas, on December 24, 1979.
Hilde Somer was born in Vienna in 1922 and studied with her mother, a talented musician. Her family fled the Nazis in 1938 and, once settled in the United States, Somer continued her musical education with Rudolf Serkin at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She also took private lessons from Claudio Arrau. Specializing in modern piano music, Somer succeeded brilliantly with the largely neglected Latin American repertoire. She brought such extraordinary compositions as Juan José Castro's Sonatina española to the attention of the musical public. She also commissioned a number of piano concertos from contemporary composers, including John Corigliano, Jr. (1968) and Antonio Tauriello (1968), and made several acclaimed recordings of music by the Argentinean composer Alberto Ginastera (1973). In 1978, always eager to experiment with new concepts in music, she performed a "Spatial Concerto" by Henry Brant. Intrigued by the music of the Russian composer Aleksandr Scriabin, Somer once gave a "light works" recital at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in New York City that used colored images projected on a screen to create a psychedelic effect, in keeping with the composer's theories of a new artistic synthesis of sounds and colors.
John Haag , Athens, Georgia