Background
Pachmann was born in Odessa, Ukraine as Vladimir Pachmann. His father was a professor at the University of Odessa and a celebrated amateur violinist who had met Beethoven, Weber and other notable composers in Vienna.
Pachmann was born in Odessa, Ukraine as Vladimir Pachmann. His father was a professor at the University of Odessa and a celebrated amateur violinist who had met Beethoven, Weber and other notable composers in Vienna.
The von or later de as a nobiliary particle was most probably added to his name by himself. He then toured throughout Europe and the United States, and was acclaimed as a top player of his era. His programmes consisted almost exclusively of the works of Chopin, with only an occasional movement by Bach, Scarlatti, Mendelssohn or Henselt.
Pachmann was one of the earliest to make recordings of his work, beginning in 1906 with recordings for the Welte-Mignon reproducing piano and in 1907 for the gramophone.
He was also famous for gestures, muttering, and addressing the audience during his performance. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica judiciously characterized it as the "playfulness of his platform manner", while critic James Huneker called him the "Chopinzee", and George Bernard Shaw reported that he "gave his well-known pantomimic performance, with accompaniments by Chopin."
In April 1884 Pachmann married the Australian-born British pianist Maggie Okey (Annie Louisa Margaret Okey, 1865-1952), who was later known as Marguérite de Pachmann.
They did concert tours of Europe together and had three sons - Victor, who died in infancy, Adriano and Leonide (called Lionel). The marriage ended after seven years.
Vladimir de Pachmann died in Rome in 1933, aged 84.