Walery
n.d.
Madame Norman-Neruda, Lady Hallé (1839-1911)

Woodburytype
9.8 x 7 in (248 mm x 178 mm)
 
Paul Frecker
Paul Frecker provides the following comments:
 
"Born Wilhelmina Neruda in 1839, the daughter of Ludwig Neruda, she came from a family long famous for musical talent. Her first husband was Ludwig Norman, a Swedish musician. After his death, she remarried, in 1888, the famous composer and conductor Charles Hallé (1819-1895). When he was knighted later the same year, she became Lady Hallé.
 
Lady Hallé was from 1864 onwards one of the leading solo violinists of the time. She was constantly associated with her second husband on the concert stage until his death in 1895. In 1896 a public subscription was organized on her behalf, under royal patronage. In 1901 Queen Alexandra gave her the title "Violinist to the Queen." She continued to appear occasionally in public, notably in 1907 when she played at the memorial concert for Josef Joachim.
 
A fine classical player and artist, frequently associated with Joachim, Lady Hallé was the first female violinist to be compared favourably with her male contemporaries."
 
Photographed by the society photographer Stanislaus Walery of 164, Regent Street, London. Walery, a Polish count brought up in St. Petersburg, practised in Paris before moving to London to open a studio in Conduit Street in May 1883. He operated from this Regent Street address between 1887 and 1890.
 
LL/12176