Constanze Geiger von Ruttensteinaus romantic

Constanze Geiger von Ruttenstein (* 16 October 1835 in Vienna, Austrian Empire; † 24 August 1890 in Dieppe, France), was an Austrian pianist, child actress, theatre actress, composer and singer (soprano).

Life

Konstanze Geiger, the daughter of the composer Joseph Geiger and the court modiste Theresia Geiger née Rziha (1804-1865), had inherited her father’s musical talent, which became apparent at an early age. After receiving piano lessons from him, J.W. Tomaschek and Simon Sechter, she successfully tried her hand as a concert pianist at the age of six. At the age of 13, she took to the stage in 1848. She never accepted a permanent engagement, but only made short or longer guest appearances.

The ‘Elisabethen-Vermählungsmarsch’, composed by Constanze Geiger at the age of just 18, was first heard on 21 April 1854 on the arrival of Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria, the future Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary, in Nußdorf on the way to her wedding, which took place two days later in Vienna.

On 23 April 1862, she married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and with this morganatic marriage was raised to the rank of baroness. After the wedding, she retired from the stage completely and lived with her family at Radmeric Castle. However, her compositions for chamber and church music continued to be performed. After the death of her husband, she moved to Paris.

Konstanze Geiger was buried in the Montmartre cemetery.

Her Ferdinandus Waltz will be performed at the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Concert in 2025, the first work by a woman to be performed at the traditional New Year’s Concert in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein.

Source Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constanze_Geiger