Original in University of Edinburgh Archives Online Identifier: Coll-1711/5/4

Joseph Joachim and Nellie Melba, Guigoni & Bossi, Milan, 1897

Sold by Schubertiade:

“Signed Photograph of Joachim and Melba from the Donizetti Centenary

Extraordinary photograph of the legendary violinist and the Australian Soprano, signed by both in ink and dated 1897. Albumen photograph by Guigoni & Bossi of Milan, mounting remnanta and losses to verso and around the edges, mostly on the mount only and easily matted out of sight. 22 x 17 cm.

In 1897 Melba and Joachim performed together at the Donizetti centenary celebrations at Bergamo and it is likely that the present photograph was signed on that occasion. ‘Over the years he had applauded her success from afar, occasionally meeting her in London…In Bergamo, with boyish ardor, he fell in love with her….Chaperoned by their retinues, the two celebrities saw the sights together…they also view manuscripts of Donizetti’s music copied by a young and impoverished Richard Wagner….It was an emotional moment, probably the only time the two enjoyed a true reciprocity of feeling. Charmed and intrigued as she was by Joachim’s attentions, there was no disguising the thirty-year age difference and the fact that this bulky body and bearded face reflected every month of his sixty-six years. Although she liked him, flirted with him, and smiled when he called her his Nelmel, there is no evidence that her feelings matched his.’ (Ann Blainey, “Marvelous Melba: The Extraordinary Life of a Great Diva,” p. 178) (10679)”

See also: Joseph Joachim, Guigoni & Bossi, Milano, 1897

Ferdinand Schmutzer: Joseph Joachim Playing, from Behind (ca. 1904)

Austrian National Library Bildarchiv
Inventory Number LSCH 0009-C

The Illustrated London News, April 25, 1863, pp. 465-466.

Seated, L-R: Arthur Sullivan, Arabella Goddard, Charles Hallé, Prosper Sainton.
Standing, L-R: Lindsay Sloper, Louis Ries, H. Webb, Joseph Joachim, Arthur Chappell, Julius Benedict.

THE MONDAY EVENING POPULAR CONCERTS: THE INSTRUMENTALISTS

THE MONDAY POPULAR CONCERTS.

The above Engraving contains the portraits of the instrumental performers who have mainly contributed by their talents to the success of the above admirable and truly popular entertainments. Our musical readers will easily recognise the individuals who compose the group. First, there is Mr. Arthur Chappell, of the eminent firm of Chappell and Co., New Bond-street, the founder and director of the concerts, whose judicious management has rendered them so prosperous. The performers are: — M. Sainton, who, though a native of France, may, through his residence among us of more than twenty years, be almost claimed as one of our own artists; Herr Joachim, now Kapellmeister to the King of Hanover, who, though still a young man, is one of the greatest Continental violinists of the day; Signor Piatti, the finest performer on the violoncello who has been heard in England since the days of the celebrated Robert Lindley; Mdme. Arabella Goddard (Mrs. J. W. Davison), a young and charming lady, who has no superior among the great female pianists of the day; Mr. Charles Halle, a pianist of the highest order, and for many years director of the Manchester Concerts; Mr. Benedict, a favourite pupil of Weber, who, during a residence in England of more than a quarter of a century, has distinguished himself in the highest branches of his art, especially in the musical drama—his operas of “The Gipsy’s Warning” and “The Lily of Killarney” having acquired a European celebrity; Mr. Lindsay Sloper, a musician of high reputation, both as a composer of genius and as an excellent performer on the pianoforte; Herr Louis Ries, and Mr. Webb— the one a violinist, the other a tenor-player—gentlemen who do not come before the public as solo performers, but who are well known in our musical world as quartet-players of the utmost finish and refinement, and whose talents have greatly contributed to the excellence of the Monday Popular Concerts.

Portrait of Joseph Joachim (1899)

Carl Ernst Forberg (1844-1915)
Copper etching on parchment
55.5 x 42.8 cm
signed in pencil

© 2016 Please acknowledge the source: Joseph Joachim — Biography and Research: http://www.josephjoachim.com

Joseph Joachim by H. Hering, Photographer to the Queen
137, Regent Street, London

Photo 1, verso

The picture on the wall is of Antonio Stradivari:

Joseph Joachim (1904)

John Singer Sargent
American, 1856-1925
Oil on canvas. 87.6 x 73.0 (34 1/2 x 28 3/4 in.).
©Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frank P. Wood 1928 901

Art Gallery of Ontario