Much of the music is in her head, she said, but unlike “Cinderella,” which she wrote at 10 - it debuted in Vienna in December 2016 and played to a sold-out house at the Opera San Jose in California the following year - finding a story line this time has required more effort. Recently, she has struggled with the plot for an opera that was commissioned by the Salzburg State Theater. “Musically speaking, I think that Vienna’s always been my home.” “I lived in England, but I grew up on the music of Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Haydn,” she said. After spending months in 2016 in Vienna for rehearsals of her opera, “Cinderella,” the family decided last year to move, so the girls could learn German and Alma could indulge in the wide range of musical opportunities the city offered. Deutscher has been embraced and celebrated for years. They are selective with her performance schedule, which last year included concerts in China, Germany and Switzerland, as well as several in Austria, where Ms. Deutscher has managed to keep one foot in the academic world, writing books on his specialty, linguistics. Having realized that no school would be able to meet Alma’s special needs as a budding musician and composer, her mother began home schooling her and her sister Helen, now 11. Deutscher said, there are so many people who want to work with his daughter that he spends a lot of his time fending them off. “They would say to call back in 10 years - that was those who were being polite,” he said.Īs Alma’s renown spread, the Deutschers gave up their teaching jobs and moved to Dorking, in Surrey, and devoted themselves to managing her schedule. Deutscher tried to find a teacher willing to work with a preschool composer, but most turned him down. Recognizing his daughter’s extraordinary abilities, Mr. At 4 she would sit for hours at the piano, working out melodies she said were songs from the imaginary world she called Transylvanian. She received her first violin at age 3, and left her first teacher on the instrument begging to take a break after more than an hour. A battle over the estate of her late husband has soured the reality. Princess Rita: A Texas rancher’s daughter landed a dream role as a Roman princess.His goal? Ridding the capital of the scourge of plastic bags. Cleaning Up Senegal: Dressed head to toe in plastic, Modou Fall is a familiar sight in Dakar.A focus on housing, her own modest lifestyle and a hard childhood have helped her popularity. A Marxist Mayor: A Communist politician in Graz, Austria, wants to redistribute wealth.His recovery is a marvel of medicine, chance and his own spirit. Reclaiming His Voice: While on a rescue mission in Ukraine, an aspiring opera singer was shot in the lungs.Going Gray : The prominent news anchor Lisa LaFlamme was unceremoniously dismissed not long after she stopped dyeing her hair - setting off debates across Canada.Deutscher’s case, that means defying her critics and the commentary that rages in online debates over her insistence that “ music should be beautiful.”Įxplore The Times’s Saturday Profiles They are shaping the world around them. She may be one of the most gifted musical talents of her generation, lauded by Zubin Mehta and Simon Rattle, but she is also a teenager testing the bounds of her freedom and pushing back against expectations. Deutscher subtly, but clearly, rolls her eyes at the mention of Mozart, a comparison she rejects. Sitting on a sofa in the living room of her family’s home in Vienna, dominated by a baby grand piano, Ms. Which, as a matter of fact, isn’t all that long ago, because Alma Deutscher, who has been called by some “a new Mozart,” is 14. Next month, she will record a retrospective album with Sony of piano melodies she composed going back to when she was just 4 years old. In December, she will make her debut at Carnegie Hall, where she will play the solo violin and piano in her two concertos, while the orchestra will play selections from her opera and her most recent work, a Viennese waltz. VIENNA - Alma Deutscher has not yet become a household name, but it seems only a matter of time.Īn accomplished pianist and violinist, she is also a composer, having written concertos for piano and violin and an opera.
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