Virtuoso: The Olga Samaroff Story.

Virtuoso: The Olga Samaroff Story. Virtuoso: The Olga Samaroff Story, by Sylvan and Donna S. Kline.Vivace I Productions, 2010. www.olgasamaroff.com; 60 minutes, $29.95. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Virtuoso: The Olga Samaroff Story traces the fascinating andinspiring journey of Texas-born Lucy Jane Hickenlooper, who defiesEuropean prejudices against both American musicians and women embarkedon concert careers, changes her name to Olga Samaroff and becomes aninternationally renowned concert artist and teacher. Author Donna Klinehas based the DVD on her book by the same name. Photos, interviews,letters and recordings and an expressive narration by Frederica yonStade provide a window into the cultural context of the late-19th andearly-20th centuries, while telling the personal story of an immenselytalented, ambitious and charismatic woman. Samaroff is part of ourlegacy of great virtuosi and revered teachers, and her story will be ofinterest to pianists. Piano studies began in 1883 at home with her grandmother. At 16 shetraveled to Paris, becoming the first American woman to be admitted tostudy at the Paris Conservatoire. Samaroff was soon frustrated with theeccentricities and prejudices of her teacher there (these are vividlydescribed by Samaroff student, Juilliard Professor emeritus, JosephBloch) and left Paris to study in Berlin. In 1904 she settled in NewYork, having run away from a terrible marriage. She became even moredetermined to pursue a concert career. Samaroff hired the New YorkSymphony, rented Carnegie Hall and in January 1905, gave her Americandebut. Her reputation as a remarkable virtuoso grew; before long she wasperforming with important musicians from Europe and America. We watch her continue to innovate: she is the first Americanpianist to perform all 32 Beethoven Sonatas in concert; first femalemusic critic for a New York daily newspaper; first to televise a seriesof lectures on music and among the first pianists to make recordings. The story of Samaroff's friendship and marriage to the greatconductor Leopold Stokowski is intriguing; actively promoting hiscareer, she even opened the door to his first position as a conductor.Their daughter, Sonya Stokowski Thorbecke, provides special memories. When Samaroff and Stokowski divorce, she expands her careeropportunities, in 1924 becoming the first American-born faculty memberat the Juilliard School of Music. Students flock to their beloved"Madam." I especially appreciated the interviews with many ofher students. Among them are pianists Jerome Lowenthal, Maurice Hinson,Solveg Madsen, Martin Canin and Margaret Saunders Ott. We learn that shealso helped launch the careers of Rosalyn Tureck, Eugene List, AlexisWeissenberg, Joseph Battista and William Kapell. The excellent performances, including many by Samaroff, are listedat the end of the DVD. I would have liked to have the performer'sname to somehow occur as the music was playing, rather than at the endof the film. However, that reservation aside, I found the Olga SamaroffStory informative, engaging and beautifully produced.--Reviewed byPhyllis Alpert Lehrer, NCTM, Westminster Choir College of RiderUniversity