Esther Nielsen Vagning (1905–1986) was a Danish pianist who made an impressive début in the

Tivoli Concert Hall Tivoli Concert Hall ( da, Tivolis Koncertsal) is a 1,660-capacity concert hall at Tivoli (Copenhagen), Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark. The building, which was designed by Frits Schlegel and Hans Hansen (architect), Hans Hansen, was built be ...

in 1928 playing Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto. Over more than 50 years, she performed widely in Denmark and abroad, both as a soloist and accompanist. She also taught at the

Royal Danish Academy of Music The Royal Danish Academy of Music, or Royal Danish Conservatory of Music ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium), in Copenhagen is the oldest professional institution of musical education in Denmark as well as the largest, with approxima ...

Biography

Born on 28 June 1905 in

Strib :''Strib is also the nickname of the Minneapolis Star Tribune'' Strib is a town in Region of Southern Denmark, Denmark, with a population of 4,872 (1 January 2022).Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as of ...

, Esther Vagning was the daughter of the carpenter Ebbe Nielsen (1860-1953) and Mette Nielsen (1862-1942). In her early childhood, the family including seven children moved to nearby

Middelfart Middelfart is a town in central Denmark, with a population of 16,277 . The town is the municipal seat of Middelfart Municipality on the island of Funen ( da, Fyn). Etymology The name Middelfart, first recorded as "Mæthælfar" in Valdemar's Cen ...

. Vagning started to play the piano when she was three, taking lessons from Mary Tauber, a competent teacher in Nørre Åby. In her early teens, she started to accompany silent films in the local cinema. She went on to play with several competent Funen musicians, including the violinists Peder Møller, Leo Hansen and Niels Simon Christiansen, and the opera singer Else Schøtt. When she was 17, she received private lessons from Agnes Adler in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. She completed her studies in

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

with the Spaniard Santiago Riera and in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

under

Edwin Fischer Edwin Fischer (6 October 1886 – 24 January 1960) was a Swiss classical pianist and conductor. He is regarded as one of the great interpreters of J.S. Bach and Mozart in the twentieth century. Biography Fischer was born in Basel and studied ...

. Vagning made her début playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 at the so-called "Young Evening" in the Tivoli Concert Hall in 1928, after rehearsing for only 20 minutes with the orchestra. She became increasingly popular, performing in 1,289 concerts over the next 25 years, of which 49 were abroad, not just in Scandinavia but also in England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland. She also played as a soloist and accompanist on the radio, including from 1936 to 1944 for the radio choir. She frequently performed in a trio with the violinist

Henry Holst Henry Holst (25 July 1899 – 19 October 1991) was a Danish violinist. In his early career he was leader of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Wilhelm Furtwängler. From the 1930s to the mid-1950s he was based in England, as a soloist and teach ...

and the cellist Erling Bløndal Bengtsson. From 1940, she often played in the ''Kammermusikforeningen'' (Chamber Music Society), becoming an honorary member at their 90th anniversary in 1958. Vagning taught at the Royal Danish Academy of Music from 1960 to 1975 where she trained many notable pianists, including Jutta Rohard, Merete Westergaard, Elisabeth Westenholz and Dorthe Kirkeskov. She continued to perform at concerts, performing at the 50th-anniversary concert in 1979. Even after moving to an old people's home, she continued to play for the residents. Esther Vagning died on 31 December 1986 in Copenhagen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vagning, Esther 1905 births 1986 deaths People from Middelfart Municipality Danish pianists Danish women pianists 20th-century pianists Women classical pianists 20th-century women pianists