Study Abroad
This chapter examines the experience of U.S. music students in late nineteenth-century Vienna as well as the musical scene at that time. In the 1870s and 1880s, Viennese audiences attended the premieres of works by Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner, Richard Wagner, and Giuseppe Verdi. They also flocked to piano recitals by Rafael Joseffy, Anton Rubinstein, Hans von Bülow, and Franz Liszt. The chapter considers Fanny Blumenfeld's living conditions, her struggles with health problems, and her studies with Theodor Leschetizky, which culminated in successful performances before Viennese critics that provided her with the European stamp of approval that was almost always necessary for success in the United States. It also recounts her first meeting with her future husband, Sigmund Zeisler.