Antonietta Rudge

Rudge was born in 1885, in São Paulo, to Anna Emília da Silva Telles and João Henrique Rudge. She was a descendant of the English settler John Rudge, from Stroud, who came to Brazil in the early 19th century.[1]

Rudge demonstrated a talent for playing the piano since she was four years old. Her parents hired her a private teacher, the Frenchman Gabriel Giraudon. She debuted in a public piano concert in 1892, at age seven, at the Casa Levy hall.[2]

She performed at São Paulo clubs, such as Clube Internacional and Clube Germânia, playing works by Beethoven. That time, Rudge was a pupil of Luigi Chiaffarelli. Rudge's repertoire also included Mozart's concertos, Chopin's sonatas and nocturnes, Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, Schumann, and Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody no.6.[2][1]

Family tomb of Antonietta Rudge at Cemitério da Consolação in São Paulo (2022)

In 1907, Rudge started a two-year European tour, playing in England, Germany and France. Her performances were acclaimed, garnering her praise from artists like Isidor Philipp and Charles Widor.[3] She toured Europe again in 1911.

Back to Brazil, she did concerts in Brazilian capitals. In a concert in Rio de Janeiro in 1918, Rudge and Guiomar Novaes were praised by Arthur Rubinstein, who called them "brilliant".[4]

Rudge played less frequently in public, dedicating herself to musical education. In 1927 she founded the Musical Conservatory in Santos.[2]

In the 1930s and 1940s she recorded some 78rpm discs with performances of Wagner's Liebestod and Chopin's Barcarolle. Those recordings were reissued in 2000 in a CD.[2]

Rudge died on 14 July 1974. Her body is buried at the Cemitério da Consolação.[5]

In 1905, Antonietta Rudge married Charles Miller, known for introducing the game of football (soccer) to Brazil with whom she had two children.[1] They divorced in 1925, and she started a relationship with Modernist poet Menotti del Picchia.[2][1]