Olga Rudge: Encyclopedia II - Olga Rudge - Career

Olga Rudge - Career

Rudge had her first contact with the poet Ezra Pound in 1920 while he was a music critic. He reviewed the concert Rudge gave at the Aeolian Hall in November 1920, admiring the "delicate firmness of her fiddling", but he criticised the "piano whack" of her accompanist Renata Borgatti.^[3] Rudge does not seem to have taken much notice of Pound's review as she continued her association with Borgatti and pursuing her interest in modern Italian music, giving concerts with Borgatti and Pizzetti at the Sala Bach in Rome in 1921, and joining Renata Borgatti again at the Salle Pleyel in 1922.

One of her first meetings with Pound took place in 1923 in Paris at the salon of Natalie Barney. Pound later recalled "her delicate and unemphatic reserve".^[4] At this time Pound was attempting to develop his own musical interests, composing an opera while simultaneously advancing the work of the American composer George Antheil. Antheil and Rudge were to enjoy a long professional collaboration dating from this period, which also marked the commencement of Rudge and Pound's more amorous relationship. Rudge was now an established and successful soloist living in a luxurious apartment on Paris's ultra respectable "right bank". She had nothing to gain by an association with a bohemian eccentric poet such as Pound,^[5] who was definitely "left bank" in his views and works. This willingness to flout convention and thus risk her reputation was to be the trademark of her long affair with Pound.

In December 1923, Rudge and Antheil gave a concert at the Salle du Conservatoire which included not only works by Mozart, Bach, and Antheil, but also Ezra Pound's "Sujet pour violin". For his work to be performed by a notable soloist was exactly the publicity Pound, the aspiring composer, required. In 1924, Rudge and Antheil performed "Musique Americaine" at the Salle Pleyel. This concert also included Pound's work and Antheil's "Deuxieme Sonate", which the composer had dedicated to Rudge. From 1923 onwards, Pound's letters to Rudge advise her on her career. He strongly recommended her to pay more attention to her patrons (something he himeself never failed to do) and chided her for her lack of interest in the press comments concerning her concerts.^[6]

By 1924, Pound and his wife, the former Mary Shakespear, had moved from Paris to Rapallo, Italy. Rudge, now in the full throes of her enduring love affair with Pound, visited him several times. From this time Pound seems to have divided his time equally between Rudge and his wife, a situation which was to continue until the Second World War. In the Spring of 1925, Rudge was forced to pull out of a planned concert tour of the United States as she was pregnant with Pound's child. Pound's and Rudge's daughter, Mary, was born at the "Sanatoria della Citta Bressanone" in June 1925. Keen to avoid the stigma an illegitimate child would be on Rudge's career, the parents boarded the baby with a peasant farmer and his family in the village of Gais. The stigma of an affair with a married man mattered less to her, and the couple's association continued unabated. Rudge resumed her career with a concert at the Salle Pleyel in 1926, where she played in the premiere of Pound's new opera, Paroles de Villon. Her association with Antheil continued with concerts in the capital cities of Europe, and at this time she began to specialise in the works of Mozart. She was now one of the most celebrated solo violinists of the era, playing before the Heads of State and political leaders of Europe.

In 1928, Rudge's father gave her a small house in Venice, situated in the "Calle Querini". Named "The Hidden Nest", it was to be her Venetian home for the remainder of her life. There, she began to develop her maternal instincts, bringing her daughter Mary for occasional visits. It was to be the beginning of a difficult and complex relationship between mother and daughter. Mary's existence was a closely guarded secret: Pound did not disclose it even to his own father until 1930. Pound often stayed with Rudge when their daughter visited Venice. However, the couple were more often keen to be alone together, and Rudge rented a house near that of Pound and his wife at Rapallo, where the couple were able to conduct their affair unhindered by his wife or their child.

The 1930s were the years of a global depression which affected the music industry as well as every other form of industry. The patrons who had previously supported both concerts, halls, and performers were now themselves often in financial difficulties. To make ends meet, Rudge worked in 1933 as a secretary to Accademia Musicale in Siena. However, she simultaneously continued her musical career, performing in the annual Concerti Tigulliani program organized by Pound at Rapallo. At this time Rudge and Pound became key figures in the revival of interest in the works of Antonio Vivaldi. The Concerti Tigulliani program of 1936 was devoted to Vivaldi, especially his lesser known works. In preparation for these concerts, Rudge studied many of Vivialdi's original scores kept in Turin. She attempted to organize a Vivaldi Society in Venice, but this proved unsuccessful. However, in 1938 she founded the "Centro di Studi Vivaldiani" at the "Accademia Chigiana", devoted to Vivaldi's work.

Rudge and Pound were both keen readers of mystery and detective novels: this was the era of Agatha Christie, whose books sold in vast numbers, making her a fortune. With a potential fortune in mind, Pound and Rudge began to write one of their own together in the 1930s. Entitled "The Blue Spill", it centred on the escapades of a detective in Surrey. The book was never completed.^[7]

Nearer the advent of World War II, Rudge limited her travel outside of Italy, last playing in London in 1935. Pound was by this time vehemently pro-Mussolini, actively broadcasting his views on Radio Rome. In this he was actively supported by Rudge. In 1941, she considered accompanying Pound back to America for the duration of the war. Pound however changed his mind, and Rudge remained with him in Italy. This decision not to return to America at that moment and declare his loyalty was ultimately to prove one of Pound's greatest mistakes.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Career", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki