Lisa Barbier Cristiani (December 24, 1827 – October 24, 1853), also known as Lise Cristiani or Elise Cristiani, was a French
cellist
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...
and performer known for being one of the earliest recorded instances of a woman becoming a professional in the field.
Childhood
Born in Paris, it is believed that Cristiani was of Italian descent, though little more is known of her early years.
She did eventually become a cello apprentice to
Edouard Benazet and had her concert debut on February 14, 1845 at the
Salle des Concerts Herz
The Salle des Concerts Herz, usually referred to simply as the Salle Herz, was a former concert hall in Paris, located at 48, rue de la Victoire. It was built in 1838 by the French pianist-composer Henri Herz.
The hall was used for public performa ...
.
Professional life
Cristiani was one of the earliest professional female musical performers of her era and began playing numerous concerts in her late teenage years. The early tours she conducted included stops at
Vienna
en, Viennese
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,
Linz
Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846.
In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...
,
Ratisbon
Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...
,
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...
, and
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
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, postal ...
. The last in Hamburg resulted in such a popular fervor for her that her portrait (''shown above'') became a highly sought after item.
[ Her level of play caught the attention of and the support of ]composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...
in 1845 during a concert in Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
. A piece for the cello in Mendelssohn's series ''Songs Without Words
''Songs Without Words'' (') is a series of short lyrical piano works by the Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn written between 1829 and 1845. His sister, Fanny Mendelssohn, and other composers also wrote pieces in the same genre.
Music
The ...
'' was dedicated to her the same year, though would not be publicly revealed until a posthumous publication after Mendelssohn's death.[
After this time period, Cristiani began a musical tour of Europe that resulted in further fame and her eventual travel to Russia where she played for a number of concerts.][ During this time period, the King of Denmark Frederick VII awarded her the title of Chamber Virtuosa.][
Several years later, in 1852, while visiting the home of historian Nikolai Markevitch in Kiev, she met fellow cellist ]Adrien-François Servais
Adrien-François Servais (6 June 180726 November 1866) was one of the most influential cellists of the nineteenth century. He was born and died in Halle, Belgium. He is one of the founders of the Modern Cellistic Schools of Paris and Madrid, whic ...
. The three of them spent some time in the city practising their music with each other and Cristiani's association with Servais only heightened her fame in the region.[
]
Death
Not long after, in the fall of 1853, she began a new trek across the Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
n wilderness to the Kamchatka Peninsula
The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and we ...
for another tour in the region, being the first European to give public concerts in the remote cities of the North Asian continent.[ Her original plan was to finish in Kamchatka and then head to the ]Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
for another concert tour.[ Before that, she performed in the small town of ]Tobolsk
Tobolsk (russian: Тобо́льск) is a town in Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh rivers. Founded in 1590, Tobolsk is the second-oldest Russian settlement east of the Ural Mountains in Asian Russia, and i ...
, but resulted soon after with a case of cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
and had to stay in the village where she died on October 24, 1853.[
]
Influence on cello design and use
Because of how the cello is played, with the large frame between one's legs, the women's fashion of the era of dresses made playing the instrument directly impossible. The alternative, having the frame in a side saddle
Sidesaddle riding is a form of equestrianism that uses a type of saddle which allows female riders to sit aside rather than astride an equine. Sitting aside dates back to antiquity and developed in European countries in the Middle Ages as a way ...
position, makes the act of play difficult. So it was not until the development of the endpin
The endpin is the component of a cello or double bass that makes contact with the floor to support the instrument's weight. It is made of metal, carbon fiber, or, occasionally, wood, and is typically extensible from the bottom of the instrument, s ...
to lift the frame off the floor that play by women became more common. It has been claimed in various publications that Cristiani may have been a primary early popularizer of the endpin and led to its increased use in Europe and the rise of a new wave of female cellists in the decades after her death.
Cristiani was also well known for the uniqueness of her cello, a 1700 Stradivarius
A Stradivarius is one of the violins, violas, cellos and other string instruments built by members of the Italian family Stradivari, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), during the 17th and 18th centuries. They are co ...
with her name carved into the side. Due to this engraving, the instrument eventually became known specifically as the "Cristiani", along with a general style of Stradivari cello inheriting the name. After her death, the 1700 Stradivarius cello that she played was later obtained by Hugo Becker
Hugo Becker (born Jean Otto Eric Hugo Becker, 13 February 1863, died 30 July 1941) was a prominent German cellist, cello teacher, and composer. He studied at a young age with Alfredo Piatti, and later Friedrich Grützmacher in Dresden.
Biograp ...
.[ It was then bought in 2005 to be returned to the original place of its concert debut in Cremona and displayed at the Walter Stauffer Musicological Foundation of Cremona, before being moved to the Museo del Violino of Cremona.]
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cristiani, Lisa
1827 births
1853 deaths
19th-century French musicians
French women classical cellists
Musicians from Paris
19th-century classical musicians