2026/02/21 by Alexander Stefaniak
Arts and Humanities · #Diverse Music Education Insights #Ideology #Musical #Musicology and Musical Analysis #Performing arts #Period (music) #Power (physics) #Spectacle #Theater, Performance, and Music History
paper · doi:10.1093/ml/gcag035
published in Music and Letters (Oxford University Press)
openalex publication_date 2026/02/21 · openalex created_date 2026/07/26 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26
ABSTRACT During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Teresa Carreño joined other pianists in cultivating virtuosity that emphasized sonic and physical power beyond the well-known aesthetic of feminine delicacy. Exploring Carreño illuminates this phenomenon, enriching our knowledge of virtuosity, embodiment, and gender during a complex phase in pianistic history. I argue that Carreño wielded powerhouse virtuosity to establish herself not as a transgressive performer but as an admired virtuoso in the eyes of the classical-music establishment. Drawing on written and musical sources, I analyse how Carreño’s performances functioned as spectacles while firmly aligning her with ideologies central to classical music’s cultural prestige. I explore her concertizing strategies—including repertory selections that enabled displays of pianistic power—as well as how her multifaceted performance persona, gender, appearance, and ethnicity were perceived by critics, operating within a discourse about the physical source of pianistic power itself.