Magda Tagliaferro

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Magdalena Maria Yvonne Tagliaferro (19 January 1893 – September 9, 1986) was a Brazilian-born pianist of French extraction. Born in Petropolis, Brazil, she studied under Antonin Marmontel and Alfred Cortot. She developed a reputation for striving towards the realization of the musical ideals exemplified by Cortot: a perfect union of clarity and tenderness, inner strength and emotion, and classical balance in shaping the works being interpreted.

Tagliaferro's expertise at the piano in French repertoire led Gabriel Fauré to request that she tour with him frequently, and she performed many of his compositions. Throughout her long career, her recital engagements took her to the musical centers of more than 30 countries in Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia. She was also very active as a soloist performing with celebrated orchestras. Tagliaferro appeared with the elite of 20th century conductors, among them Weingartner, Dobroven, Monteux, Furtwängler, Knappertsbusch, Paray, d'Indy, Inghelbrecht, Ionescu-Galati and Georgescu. Other solo artists, such as Cortot, Thibaud, Enescu, and Casals, performed with her in joint recitals. Composers sought her for premieres of their works, sometimes specifically intending that Tagliaferro be the first artist to perform the piece. She, in turn, applied herself to performing new works by composers such as Hahn, Rivier, Pierné, and Villa-Lobos.