Adele Stöcker

The violin player Adele Bloesch-Stöcker was born in Gummersbach (Germany) in 1875. She was a successful soloist amongst others in Leipzig and Berlin. She played together with Max Reger and interpreted his solo sonata for violin. From 1903 on she performed repeatedly under Fritz Brun in Bern and settled down in Bern in 1908 when she married the librarian of the city of Bern. Portraits of this time show an elegiac-beautiful young woman. In 1920 she founded the Bern chamber orchestra. In 1928 she took charge of the musical part of the swiss exhibition for women work (SAFFA). Already in her early years she was not able to perform due to a rheumatic disease. In 1935 and 1936 she conducted her late romantic violin concert in Burgdorf and Bern. The solo violin player was Marguerite Siebenthal, who still lives in Gstaad. She reported that this piece had to be played “with heart”. Adele Bloesch-Stöcker wrote down her memories on Max Reger when she was 98 years old. (Zürich: Bollmann 1973): His genius was depicted as lovingly, his consum of alcohol was depicted as dramatically. She died in the age of 103 in Winterthur where the manuscript of her violinconcert was found again. Patricia Kopatchinskaja played this violin concert on the 50 th anniversary of the Bern chamber orchestra´s new foundation on 29.10.2002.