Amalie Joachim

Amalie Joachim (née Schneeweiss) (10 May 1839 – 3 February 1899) was an Austrian-German contralto, working in opera and concert and as voice teacher. She was the wife of the violinist Joseph Joachim, and a friend of Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms, with whom she made international tours.

Born Amalie Marie Schneeweiss in Marburg an der Drau, Austrian Empire, she was the daughter of Franz Max Schneeweiss and his wife Eleonore, née Lindes. The family moved to Graz in the early 1850s. She appeared on stage from age 14, under the stage name Amalie Weiss. She later worked in Vienna at the Kärntnertortheater. In April 1862, she was engaged by the Opernhaus Hannover, where she had appeared as a guest several times. There, she met the concert master Joseph Joachim, whom she married on 10 June 1863 in the Schlosskirche. The couple had six children.

With her marriage, she retired from the stage, but she still performed as a concert singer, often together with her husband and Clara Schumann, a friend. They toured extensively, up to London. She participated in choral performances of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin up to 1870, and became one of their honorary members.

Johannes Brahms dedicated his Two Songs for Voice, Viola and Piano (Op. 91) to Amalie and her husband, which they could perform together. He wrote one song for their wedding and the baptism of their first son, who was named Johannes after Brahms, and the other decades later with the intention to help the couple's troubled marriage.

Amalie was also a voice teacher and, on the recommendation of Johannes Brahms, Marie Fillunger studied under her at the Hochschule in Berlin in 1874.

The marriage was dissolved after 21 years, after the jealous Joachim had accused her of adultery. Brahms defended her position. She performed more often after the divorce, to make money. Her focus was on Lied and oratorio. She was often accompanied by the pianist Hans Schmidt [de]. In 1885 and 1886 she toured with Laura Rappoldi from Dresden. On 1 February 1888, she premiered in Berlin at a Liederabend (recital) in Berlin the second song of Fünf Lieder, Op. 105 by Johannes Brahms. She founded a school of singing (Gesangsschule) in Berlin.

She died in 1899 in Berlin after surgery and was buried on the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Cemetery. Her grave had the status Ehrengrab (Honorary grave) until 2015.