Marie Pleyel (born Marie-Félicité-Denise Moke; 4 July or 4 September 1811 – 30 March 1875) was a Belgian concert pianist.

Early life

With a father from

Torhout Torhout (; french: Thourout; vls, Toeroet) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Torhout proper, the villages of Wijnendale and Sint-Henricus, and the hamlet of De Dri ...

in Flemish-speaking Belgium who was a language teacher, and a German mother who ran a lingerie shop in the 9th ''arrondissement'', Pleyel was born in Paris and was trilingual. She studied the piano with

Henri Herz Henri Herz (6 January 1803 – 5 January 1888) was a virtuoso pianist, composer and piano manufacturer, Austrian by birth and French by nationality and domicile. He was a professor in the Paris Conservatoire for more than thirty years. Among his ...

, Moscheles, and Kalkbrenner. She gave her first formal recital at the age of eight, amazing the public with her young virtuosity. The famous critic

François Joseph Fétis François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, Kin ...

wrote that he had heard all the famous pianists, but that none conveyed to him a sentiment of perfection like Madame Pleyel (''"...mais je déclare qu'aucun d'eux ne m'a donné, comme Madame Pleyel, le sentiment de perfection."'').

Marriage and later career

Berlioz was desperately in love with Pleyel, and in 1830 they became engaged. While he was in Italy, she broke off the engagement to marry

Camille Pleyel Joseph Étienne Camille Pleyel (December 18, 1788 – May 4, 1855) was a French virtuoso pianist, publisher, and owner of Pleyel et Cie. He also ran a concert hall, the Salle Pleyel, where Frédéric Chopin played the first and last of his ...

, son of Ignaz Pleyel, and heir to the piano manufacturing business. Pleyel was one of the most admired pianists of the 1830s. In 1848, she became chair of the piano department of the Brussels Conservatoire. She died in

Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Saint-Josse-ten-Noode () or Sint-Joost-ten-Node (), often simply called Saint-Josse or Sint-Joost, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the Ci ...

, near Brussels.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pleyel, Marie 1811 births 1875 deaths 19th-century Belgian women musicians Belgian classical pianists Belgian women musicians Burials at Laeken Cemetery Musicians from Paris Academic staff of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels Women music educators 19th-century women pianists