Nannette Streicher, a woman previously believed to be a mother figure for and a ‘fine pianist’, has had her true talents diminished by music scholars( eruditos) and was actually the one building young Ludwig’s – a journalist for the argues.
Here’s how the story goes. Beethoven first met Nannette Streicher, when he was a boy of 16, returning from his trip to Vienna in 1787 to see .
Nannette was the daughter of a renowned piano and organ builder, Johann Andreas Stein. The family lived in Augsburg, where Beethoven stopped on his return to Bonn.
Nannette was herself a highly talented pianist, and – as Ludwig had just done – had played for Mozart in Vienna. Mozart wrote to his father in 1777 describing her as a very talented pianist who might one day become a great pianist.
Soon, Nannette picked up many of her father’s skills and gained a reputation as an expert craftswoman in her own right.
Two years after her father’s death, she married a man named Johann Andreas Streicher in 1794.
The couple immediately moved to Vienna, where they established a piano factory in the Landstrasse suburb of the city. The Streichers made many pianos for Beethoven, who was highly complimentary about them.
Here’s where New York Times journalist Patricia Morrisroe jumps in. Nannette is remembered in the history books as the wife of ‘acclaimed piano builder, Johann Andreas Streicher’. But she was actually the one who owned the piano factory, and employed her husband, a pianist and teacher.
“Many Beethoven scholars, perhaps finding it inconceivable that an 18th-century woman could build a piano, have turned Andreas into the manufacturer and Nannette into his shadowy helpmate,” Morrisroe says.
The Streichers’ house became a centre for musical events, which took place on Monday mornings and were frequented by Vienna’s leading musicians. It is beyond doubt that Beethoven will have performed there on many occasions.
On top of her musical craft, Nannette also acted as a kind of surrogate mother to Beethoven.
She was always on hand to look after him during his frequent bouts of illness, and Beethoven turned to her regularly for advice on domestic matters – particularly after he had become guardian of his nephew, Karl.
Nanette and her husband died in the same year after 39 years of marriage. They are buried together in the musicians’ quarter of the Zentralfriedhof – main cemetery – south of Vienna. Their grave is facing Beethoven’s
Todo parecía apuntar a que al casarse Nanette con su marido ,que era pianista, tendría que abandonar la vida musical activa, como le pasaba a todas las mujeres de su época, pero no fue así.
En Viena, se convirtió en toda una empresaria al dirigir el negocio de pianos de su padre. Al principio compartió el cargo con su hermano, pero pronto quedó ella a la cabeza de todo y lo llegó a convertir en una de las fábricas de pianos más importantes de la época.
Pero Nanette no se dedicó exclusivamente a la fabricación de pianos. También continuó con su faceta de pianista, e incluso realizaba duetos con su marido. Tanto éxito alcanzaron que incluso llenaban su propio salón de conciertos, donde como novedad, permitían a pianistas jóvenes que se diesen a conocer.
Nanette continued her role as a pianist and a maker of pianos.
Gracias a esta popularidad, el matrimonio también se convirtió en uno de los fundadores de la Sociedad Amigos de la Música de Viena, con el fin de fomentar la música en todos sus ámbitos.
