Elly Ney (1882-1968) was the world’s most famous German pianist. Still, opinions about her continue to contrast widely even today. Born the daughter of a sergeant in Dusseldorf, she at first studied at the Cologne Conservatory, then with Leschetitzky and von Sauer in Vienna.

When she first appeared as a soloist in 1904, it initiated a sensational career, first in Europe, and from 1921 on in the US, where Ney enriched the concert life between New York and Hollywood for ten years. Elly Ney became the founder and director of the Beethovenfest in Bonn, settled again in Germany in 1933, became a professor at the Salzburg Mozarteum and throughout it all unquestionably profited from the Nazi’s cultural politics. After her performance ban ended in 1952, she resumed her concert activities. In her artistic sense of mission, she relied entirely on the power of pure art. She did not look for or use effects, “only restrained expression” (Karl Schumann, music critic).