Magdeleine Brard

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Magdeleine Brard circa 1919.jpg

Magdeleine Brard (born August 7, 1903 in Pontivy , † June 3, 1998 in Nice ), also known as Magda Brard , was a French pianist. In the 1930s she was in a relationship with Benito Mussolini and, under his auspices, ran a music school in Turin .

youth

Magda Marie Anna Brard was born in Pontivy , Brittany. She was the daughter of Alfred Brard, businessman and politician. Her brother Roger Brard (1907–1977) became an admiral in the navy and president of the Société Mathématique de France . She studied under the direction of Alfred Cortot at the Conservatoire de Paris and won a first prize.

Musical career

Magdeleine Brard completed a tour of the United States sponsored by the Department of Culture in 1919. At 15, she was the youngest piano soloist to ever appear at the Metropolitan Opera .

In the spring of 1922 she gave 20 concerts in France and returned to the United States in the fall for more concerts. During her stay in 1922, she volunteered in a research program at the Cleveland School of Character Diagnosis, a clinic that studies the personalities of highly gifted people. In the 1920s she recorded piano works by Liszt, Chopin, Schumann, Skrjabin, Chabrier, Arenski, Massenet, Fauré, and Saint-Saëns on piano roles and played in 1925 at the Hippodrome State Theater in Gainsville, Florida.

During her first pregnancy in 1926, she played for Benito Mussolini in Villa Torlonia , Mussolini's residence at the time. The following year they were lovers. Mussolini asked her to refrain from further concerts and forbade the Italian press to report on the events at which she appeared. Rumors spread that she was a French spy, which weakened Mussolini's confidence in her.

She founded the Accademia della musica music school in Turin in 1933 , which she directed from 1933 to 1943. In 1945 she was arrested but released after the intervention of French diplomats. She returned to Paris after the war. She later taught Italian in a private language school and gave private piano lessons in Nice.

Private life

Magdeleine Brard married Edmondo Michele Borgo, a wealthy Italian businessman, in 1920. The couple divorced in 1936. She had three children: Reginaldo (born 1926), son of Edmondo Borgo; Vanna (born 1932), who could be Benito Mussolini's biological daughter, and Micaela (born 1942), daughter of the Swiss businessman Enrico Wild († 1955), whom Brard married in 1945. Magdeleine Brard died in Nice in 1998 at the age of 94.

credentials

  1. ↑ Roger E. Brard . In: National Academy of Engineering, website . Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  2. ↑ FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL A PIANO PRODIGY. - Camperdown Chronicle (Vic.: 1877-1954) - 2 Aug 1919 ( en ) In: Trove . Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  3. ↑ Magdeleine Brard . In: Pianocorder Library . Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  4. ↑ Arensky: Valse op. 36, no.7, E-flat major / . In: Stanford Libraries . Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  5. ^ Massenet: Elegie: concert transcription / . In: Stanford Libraries . Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  6. ^ Fauré: First nocturne in E-flat minor, op.33, no.1 / . In: Stanford Libraries . Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  7. ↑ Bar Censures Togliatti . In: The New York Times , October 26, 1945, p. 7. 
  8. ↑ Mussolini: Una figlia segreta dalla pianista Magda Brard (2) ( it ) In: ADNKronos . November 23, 2000. Retrieved December 12, 2019.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Brard, Magdeleine
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Brard, Magda
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French pianist
DATE OF BIRTH August 7, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Pontivy
DATE OF DEATH June 3, 1998
Place of death Nice