Maria Theresia von Paradis

Daughter of Joseph Anton von Paradis, Imperial Secretary of Commerce and Court Councillor, Maria Theresia von Paradis was born in Vienna in 1759 and named after the Empress. She lost her sight in childhood, but her musical talent was so strong that she studied composition with Antonio Salieri, among others. She toured widely from 1783 with her mother and librettist, Johann Riedinger. In Paris in March 1784, Le Journal de Paris commented: “...one must have heard her to form an idea of the touch, the precision, the fluency and vividness of her playing.” In Salzburg, she met the Mozart family. Wolfgang Amadeus wrote a piano concerto for her, probably K456 in B-Flat Major. From the late 1780s, she devoted herself to composition, using a “composition board” aid invented by Riedinger. Her works have often been misidentified, sometimes mixed up with those of Pietro Domenico Paradisi, while the famous “Sicilienne” was actually composed by the 20th-century violinist Samuel Dushkin. Lost works include cantatas, operas, and piano concertos, but her piano Fantasias and over a dozen songs reveal the streamlined expressiveness of a poised 18th-century sensibility.