On today’s date in 1830, eleven-year-old Clara Wieck (later, Clara Schumann) gave her debut solo piano concert at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, sparking a career lasting more than sixty-years as both a distinguished performer and gifted composer.

We celebrate Wieck’s remarkable achievements with a portrait from her younger years published in the Parisian journal, Musica, and two enthusiastic reviews of her debut. The first was published by the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung [AMZ] and the second was a translated and condensed version of the original AMZ report, published in the London journal The Harmonicon.

Musica, Vol. 6 No. 59 (August 1907): 126.

A Young Clara Wieck (later, Clara Schumann)

Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, Vol. 32 No. 46 (17 November 1830): 752-753.

The Harmonicon, Vol. 9 No. 2 (February 1831): 47.

RIPM search tip: A search for “Clara Wieck” in both RIPM’s Retrospective Index and e-Library of Music Periodicals reveals that her name appears in 800 records. A search for “Clara Schumann” … 6,600 records!