HALACSY, Irma Von

Irma von Halácsy was the daughter of the physician and botanist Eugen von Halácsy and his wife Maria. Irma von Halácsy received private lessons from Jakob Grün and Sigmund Bachrich from an early age . At the age of ten, she made her debut as a violinist in a composition concert by Wilhelm Kleineck. From 1893 onward, announcements of her concerts appeared regularly in the contemporary press. These were often charity events, such as the one in April 1908 for sick children at the Musikverein or the one in March 1913 for the disabled. In addition to performances in Vienna, Irma von Halácsy undertook concert tours to Brno, Budapest, Berlin, and Leipzig. Around 1900, she was praised in the Viennese press as one of the "most outstanding violin artists", as a "violin virtuoso". From 1904 onwards, she developed her own compositions, which were also performed; for example, a violin concerto in 1906 and a recital of her compositions in the Small Hall of the Musikverein in 1912. After her father's death in 1913, Irma von Halácsy's financial situation deteriorated. She moved with her mother to Mauer, where she founded a music school in the early 1930s. This was a necessity to make ends meet, as she could not support herself financially solely through her compositions and performances. Her oeuvre comprises around 100 works, including six operas, numerous songs with piano, organ, guitar or violin, singspiels, compositions for orchestra, chamber music, solo works for piano and violin, as well as arrangements and adaptations. Only a small portion of these has been published and is available in printed form.