Aasta Elisabeth Reiss (June 14, 1902 – March 8, 1970) was a Norwegian pianist and cabaret performer. She was the daughter of the lawyer, composer, and musicologist

Georg Reiss Georg Michael Dødelein Reiss (August 12, 1861 – January 25, 1914) was a Norwegian lawyer, composer, and musicologist. In 1913 he became the first Norwegian to receive a doctorate on a music theory subject. Career Reiss was trained as a lawyer ...

and the sister of the actor

Thorleif Reiss Thorleif Dymling Reiss (May 22, 1898 – April 14, 1988) was a Norwegian actor. Career Reiss made his debut at the National Theater in Oslo in 1918. From 1931 to 1939, he was employed at the Carl Johan Theater, where he also served as co-dire ...

Classical pianist

Elisabeth Reiss took early lessons from an influential piano teacher of her time,

Nils Larsen Nils Larsen (19 June 1900 – 29 September 1976) was a Norwegian sea captain. Larsen is perhaps most associated with the Norvegia expeditions of Antarctica. Larsen was born in Sandar, and became a noted whaler, captaining a number of whali ...

, who taught her for free because of her great talent. He gave her the following graduation certificate in 1919:

Miss Elisabeth Reiss has been my student for over three years. In 1916, she could barely play a Mozart sonata. In 1917 she publicly played Mozart's D major Concerto (the ''Coronation Concerto''), and in 1918—also publicly—
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major. This illustrates her progress and her ability to work. She is an absolutely excellent
Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...
player, and she has distinct abilities and a keen sense of modern music and its refined sound effects. For example, compositions by
Reger Reger is a German surname, derived from the Middle High German ''reiger'', meaning "heron", likely referring to a tall thin person.''Dictionary of American Family Names''"Reger Family History" Oxford University Press, 2013. Retrieved on 16 January ...
and others. She is versatile and not just "gifted at the piano"—and I would describe her as a radiant talent.

She made her piano debut in 1917 in the Great Hall at Gamle Logen with Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 5 in D major concerto ( K. 175) with the National Theater's orchestra, conducted by Gustav Fredrik Lange, and the following year she performed

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major with a full orchestra. In 1920 she received a scholarship for studies in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and

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, and back in Norway she took classes with

Bokken Lasson Caroline "Bokken" Lasson (7 January 1871 – 3 August 1970) was a Norwegian concert and cabaret singer. She is known for starting the Oslo cabaret Chat Noir in 1912, and also for introducing the children's song "Tuppen og Lillemor" to the Nor ...

in the cabaret style, while she continued to give piano concerts to very good reviews, especially for her performances of works by Max Reger, Maurice Ravel, and Claude Debussy. After a concert in 1928 with the

Oslo Philharmonic The Oslo Philharmonic (Oslo-Filharmonien) is a Norwegian symphony orchestra based in Oslo, Norway. The orchestra traces its roots to the Philharmonic Society founded in 1847 and the Christiania Musical Association co-founded by Edvard Grieg in 18 ...

, with

Odd Grüner-Hegge Odd Ragnar Grüner-Hegge (September 23, 1899 – May 11, 1973) was a Norwegian conductor and composer. He was the longest-serving conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic, and he was the conductor at the Norwegian National Opera in the 1960s. Family ...

debuting as conductor,

Harald Sæverud Harald Sigurd Johan Sæverud (17 April 1897 – 27 March 1992) was a Norwegian composer. He is most known for his music to Henrik Ibsen's ''Peer Gynt'', '' Rondo Amoroso'', and the ''Ballad of Revolt'' ( no, Kjempeviseslåtten). Sæverud ...

wrote the following about Reiss in ''

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 milli ...

'':

It was in the best understanding with the composer that the young lady led the way in this interplay between brilliant melodies and cheerful rhythms, well supported by the orchestra and conductor.

Cabaret artist

Elisabeth Reiss developed her own style, and in 1937 she surprised audiences by debuting for the second time, this time with her own solo cabaret act. The theater director

Bjørn Bjørnson Bjørn Bjørnson (15 November 1859 – 14 May 1942) was a Norwegian stage actor and theatre director. Biography He was born in Christiania, the son of author Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and his wife Karoline Bjørnson. In 1876, he was admitte ...

wrote immediately afterward in the Oslo press:

I feel compelled to publicly comment on the artistic event that I experienced the other evening. What Elisabeth Reiss showed us in her art, the improvisation, the responsiveness, which received an outstanding interpretation through her, represents a completely new genre on stage in the Scandinavian countries.

Reiss herself wrote a number of the highly satirical texts for the show, based on current situations and social debate. In this sense, her lyrics provide good images of the times. Other contributors to the texts included

Johan Borgen Johan Collett Müller Borgen (28 April 1902 – 16 October 1979) was a Norwegian writer, journalist and critic. His best-known work is the novel ''Lillelord'' for which he was awarded the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature in 1955. He was ...

Vilhelm Dybwad Vilhelm Dybwad (12 February 1863 – 16 March 1950) was a Norwegian barrister and writer. He wrote comedies, revues and songs. In his later years he wrote several memoir books from his life as a lawyer. Personal life Dybwad was born in Chri ...

André Bjerke Jarl André Bjerke (30 January 1918 – 10 January 1985) was a Norwegian writer and poet. He wrote a wide range of material: poems (both for children and adults), mystery novels (four of them under the pseudonym Bernhard Borge), essays, and arti ...

Inger Hagerup Inger Hagerup (née Halsør; 12 April 1905, in Bergen – 6 February 1985, in Fredrikstad) was a Norwegian writer, playwright and poet. She is considered one of the greatest Norwegian poets of the 20th century. Life and career Inger Johanne Ha ...

, Alf Hartmann,

, and Piet Hein. Hein gave Elisabeth Reiss the following well-known Kumbel grook as an item for her performance in 1952:

''Den som kun tar spøk for spøk''
''og alvor kun alvorlig''
''han og hun har faktisk fattet''
''begge dele dårlig.'' Those who take jokes only as jokes
And seriousness only as serious
He and she have an understanding
Of both that is spurious.

Among composers, she received contributions from figures such as

Pauline Hall Pauline Hall (born Pauline Fredrika Schmidgall;Browne, Walter and Frederick Arnold Austin. Who's who on the stage: the dramatic reference book and biographical dictionary of the theatre, Volume 1' (1906), p. 120. February 26, 1860 – December ...

, Kåre Siem, and Finn Ludt. The performances were carried out at a high pace, with comedy and constant role changes. Reiss was both inspired by and had a lot in common with

Victor Borge Børge Rosenbaum (3 January 1909 – 23 December 2000), known professionally as Victor Borge ( ), was a Danish-American comedian, conductor, and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in the North America and Europe. His ...

, and she became one of the forerunners of today's

stand-up style In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

References

External links

Elisabeth Reiss
at Sceneweb {{DEFAULTSORT:Reiss, Elisabeth 1902 births 1970 deaths Norwegian classical pianists 20th-century Norwegian actresses Actresses from Oslo