The Myth of the "Violin Fairy" Teresina Tua in the American Press

In conjunction with this presentation, the following concerts will be performed by pianist Giacomo Fuga and violinist Sergio Lamberto, who will play on Teresina’s original Stradivari “Mond” violin.
Thursday, October 11 at 4:30pmUniversity of Chicago
Fulton Hall, 5845 W Ellis Ave, Chicago
Free and open to the public
 
Friday, October 12 at 7:30 pmThe Music Conservatory of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University
Ganz Hall430 S Michigan Ave  
Free and open to the public
 
Saturday, October 13 at 7:30 pmSt. John Cantius Church
825 N Carpenter St, Chicago  
For tickets or more information, please click here 
 
Sunday, October 14 at 7:30 pm Northwestern University   
Carol and David McClintock Choral and Recital Room70 Arts Circle Drive, EvanstonFree and open to the public
 
Program: 
-Edvard Grieg, Sonata No. 3 Op. 45 in C minor (written by the Norwegian composer in honor of Teresina's talent, following her visit to his home in Bergen)  
-Healey Willan, Sonata No. 1 in E minor HWC 100 (in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Canadian composer's death)
- Sandro Fuga, Sonata No. 3 (composed in honor of Italian music and music from Turin from the 1900s)

Teresina Tua (Maria Felicita Tua) was an Italian violinist born in Turin on April 23, 1866.  Her first instruction was received from her father, Antonio Tua, who was an amateur violinist, and under whom she learned so rapidly that she appeared in public when she was only seven years old. During her first tour she played in Nice (France), and there gained the interest of Madam Rosen, a wealthy Russian, who was instrumental in sending her to Paris, where she studied at the Conservatoire under Massart and in 1880 received a first prize.
In 1881 she made a tour through France, Spain, Italy and Austria and appeared at the Crystal Palace in London in May 5, 1883. It has been said that in Europe, everywhere she played, she created a sensation.  For a time, she was called the “violin fairy” for her angelic face and good looks. Grieg met the twenty-year-old Italian violinist Teresina Tua and claimed that a new composition for violin would be because of her (the Sonata n.3). The great Norwegian composer had recently built a new house, Troldhaugen (Norwegian for “Troll Hill”), so he called Tua “the little fiddle-fairy on my troll-hill.” Tua also played for Verdi in Genoa, for Wagner in Nice, for Liszt in Rome (who promised her a violin concert) and played with Brahms in a private concerto at his home in Wien. In 1885 she toured all Russia with Sergei Rachmaninoff by a special train placed at her disposal by the Tsar. She played in America during 1887 with great success and received rave reviews in the press. After she returned to Europe, Tua seemed to gradually lose interest in concertizing further but devoted some of her time to teaching. About 1891 she was married to Count Giuseppe Ippolito Franchi-Vernay della Valletta (a distinguished Italian critic) and retired from the stage, although she was frequently heard in concerts in Italy. In 1895 she made a successful tour of Europe and in 1897 played in concert in St. James' Hall, London, where was enthusiastically received. When Count Franchi-Vernay died in 1911, two years after she married another aristocrat, Count Emilio Angelo Quadrio who died in 1933. In 1940, Teresina Tua entered a convent in Rome and gave her violin Stradivari (“Mond”, 1709) up to the Turin National Conservatory.  She was 74 years old.  Tua died on October 29, 1956, at age 90, largely forgotten.