Feminine charms and honorary masculinization/de-feminization: Gender and the critical reception of the 'virtuose', 1815-1848

This article discusses the work of 19th-century gender norms in the reception of contemporary piano virtuose, led by Clara Wieck Schumann and Marie Moke Pleyel. The discussion reveals telling discrepancies between the reception of the virtuose and their male colleagues, such as Liszt, who were mostly celebrated in hyper-masculine terms, as "heroes", "gods", and the like, while the virtuose were praised mainly on account of their visual appearance rather than virtuosic prowess, rejecting any comparison on an equal footing with the virtuosi. Finally, in a number of reviews, Wieck and Moke were explicitly proclaimed "honorary males" on account of their skills. This shows 19th-century gender norms at work, reserving excellence in any intellectual task to men, even when displayed by women.