Ilse Margaretha Clara Helff-Hibler von Alpenheim (11 February 1927 – 11 April 2026) was an Austrian-Swiss pianist.
Life and career Born in Innsbruck, she was initially trained by her mother Hermine Helff-Hibler von Alpenheim née Brunner, a piano teacher, and made her first public appearance as a soloist at the age of nine in Joseph Haydn's Piano Concerto Hob. XVIII,11. Starting from 1944 she studied with in Kitzbühel and, from 1946 to 1948, with at the Mozarteum at Salzburg. In 1951 she moved to Switzerland.Biographical sources: 1) Ilse von Alpenheim: Als Künstlerin auf Reisen [Script for a three-part programme by Schweizer Radio Studio Bern, broadcast on 26 and 31 January and 16 February 1960]; - 2) Martha Macpherson: "Ilse von Alpenheim: Mehr hören können als die Musik", in Der Bund 1987 / 119, p. 33. - 3) Ilse von Alpenheim: Erinnerungen [MS, Gümligen 2010, unpublished]. - 4) Sibylle Tamin: Ilse von Alpenheim und der Weg zum schönen Klang [Script for a programme on Deutschlandradio Berlin, broadcast on 3 February 2012]. - 5) Claudio Veress: Ilse von Alpenheim: Klavierwerke von Sándor Veress [CD booklet], Müller & Schade, Bern 2017. - 6) Peter Schibli: "Ohne Musik wäre das Leben ein Irrtum", in Lokal-Nachrichten, Anzeiger für Muri-Gümligen und Allmendingen 24 November 2022, p. 8.
In 1955 she met Sándor Veress, a Hungarian composer, with whom she lived for over a decade. She was instrumental in promoting the piano works of Veress.Radio recordings dating from 1960 and 1962 of Veress’s Second Sonata, his Hommage à Paul Klee (together with the composer) and his Piano Concerto are featured on the CD M&S 5093/2, released in 2017 by Müller & Schade, Bern. Between 1962 and 1969 she was in charge of a piano class at the Conservatory of Berne. In 1971, she married the Hungarian-American conductor and composer Antal Doráti, who wrote several works for herAntal Doráti: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra; Variations on a Theme by Bartók for Solo Piano [record sleeve commentary], Vox/Turnabout TV-S 34669 (1977). and with whom she developed an intensive international concert activity.Antal Doráti: Notes of Seven Decades, Detroit 1981, p. 278-80, 295, 332.
Her career took her to four continents where she appeared in recitals and as a soloist with many prominent orchestras. Her chamber music partners included Max Rostal, Henryk Szeryng, Igor Ozim, Walter Grimmer, the Berner Streichquartett the Amadeus Quartet and the Camerata Bern.
Von Alpenheim's repertory focused mainly on the classical and early romantic composers. She recorded all the Haydn piano sonatas, concertini and concerti. The sonatas were issued on CD by the Antal Doráti Centenary Society in 2015. She also made an integral recording of the Songs Without Words by Mendelssohn.Philips 6769 052 (1980). As pianist of the Arion Trio (together with Igor Ozim and Walter Grimmer), she recorded all Mozart's piano trios and the complete works of Schubert for piano and strings.BIS CD-513/514 (1988/1991) and BIS CD-521/524 (1988/1989/1991).
Ilse von Alpenheim died on 11 April 2026 in Muri-Gümligen near Berne at the age of 99.Lokal-Nachrichten, Anzeiger für Muri-Gümligen und Allmendingen Nr. 17 vom 23. April 2026, S. 5.
Weblinks Ilse von Alpenheim: Joseph Haydn, The Piano Sonatas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KTgA1i06xU
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