Maria Roger-Miclos
[b]Maria Roger-Miclos[/b] (1 May 1860, Toulouse — 19 May 1951, Paris) was a prolific French pianist and music educator; several notable composers commissioned original works for her, including [i]Africa[/i], Op. 89 fantasia by [a=Camille Saint-Saëns]. In September 1905, Roger-Miclos made a series of gramophone 78 RPM records for the Italian label [l=Fonotipia]. She taught at the [url=https://discogs.com/label/1014340]Paris Conservatory[/url] for many years and was one of the first female professors when Marie joined the faculty. Name variations: [i]Aimée-Marie Roger-Miclos, Marie Roger-Miclos, Mme. Roger-Miclos-Battaille[/i]. Marie-Aimée grew up in Southern France, educated at the [url=https://discogs.com/label/404805]Conservatoire de Toulouse[/url] in her hometown and later at the [url=https://discogs.com/label/1014340]Conservatoire de Paris[/url], where she studied with Louise Aglaé Massart (1827—1887) and [a=Henri Herz]. In 1890, Roger-Miclos debuted as a concert pianist in London, touring extensively across England, France, and German-speaking countries between 1893 and 1897. Maria traveled overseas in 1902 for the complete season of solo recitals in the United States and Canada. She endorsed [b][i][url=https://discogs.com/artist/3553870]Pleyel et Cie[/url][/i][/b] pianos, sponsored at some point by Auguste Wolff (1821—1887), a successor of [a=Camille Pleyel] (1788—1855), the son of the company's founder, [a=Ignaz Pleyel] (1757—1831). Besides her broad virtuoso repertoire by [url=https://discogs.com/artist/623293]Mendelssohn[/url], [url=https://discogs.com/artist/226461]Liszt[/url], and [url=https://discogs.com/artist/192325]Chopin[/url], Marie-Aimée had several compositions dedicated to her, including "[i]À l'aventure[/i]: Chanson pour piano," Op. 65, by Joseph O'Kelly (1828—1885), who worked for Wolff at Pleyel, and most notably, [i]Africa[/i] concertante fantasia written by [url=https://discogs.com/artist/456926]Saint-Saëns[/url] during his stay in Egypt and premiered by Roger-Miclos in October 1891 at Concerts du Châtelet in Paris under [a=Édouard Colonne]'s baton.
