Books
Immerse yourself in the books dedicated to Lise Cristiani: biography, research and narratives that bring to life the exceptional journey of this pioneering cellist.
Lise Cristiani
Waldemar Kamer and René de Vries
Published with the support of Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française.
- The first biography.
Paris, Bleu nuit publisher, 2025
[2nd edition February 2026].
Cello, A Journey Through Silence to Sound
Kate Kennedy
- A very personal book by a cellist who was prevented from playing due to illness, in which she describes the lives of four cellists whose destinies were destroyed. Unfortunately for Lise Cristiani, the book contains inaccurate quotations and interpretations of the documents found by Katharina Deserno.
London, Bloomsbury, 2024.
Cellistinnen: Transformationen von Weiblichkeitsbildern in der Instrumentalkunst
Katharina Deserno
- A 500-page thesis in musicology and philosophy, based on Herculean research. The first “Spurensuche” [search for traces] of the remaining documents of/about Lise Cristiani, published in the appendix, with a transcription and translation of Alexandre Barbier's 1860 article. Even if the new documents change the situation, it remains a fundamental book, a pioneering work.
[Women Cellists: Transformations of Images of Femininity in the instrumental Arts],
Cologne and Weimar, Böhlau Verlag, 2018.
Met een cello door Siberië, het avontuurlijke leven van Lise Cristiani (1827-1853) en haar Stradivariuscello (1700-heden)
René de Vries
- The first book on Lise Cristiani, an account of a journey to Siberia in search of her traces. As these were still very scarce, Lise's biography is often romanticised. In close collaboration with Waldemar Kamer, René de Vries updated the chapters on Russia and the travels of the Stradivarius ‘Le Cristiani’ for the first biography of Lise Cristiani, published in 2025.
[With a cello through Siberia, the adventurous life of Lise Cristiani (1827–1853) and her Stradivarius cello (1700–present)],
Delft, Uitgeverij Elmar, 2014.
Quellentexte zur Geschichte der Instrumentalistin im 19. Jahrhundert
Freia Hoffmann & Volker Timmermann
- The first compilation of press articles from the period, with an introduction presenting the discussions and issues by instrument. Lise Cristiani fills the entire Cello section all by herself!
[Primary sources on the history of female instrumentalists in the 19th century],
Hildesheim, Georg Olms Verlag, 2013
Reiseberichte von Musikerinnen des 19. Jahrhunderts: Quellentexte, Biographien und Kommentare
Freia Hoffmann
- Presentation and transcription of eleven travelogues by female musicians, including that of Lise Cristiani published in Le Tour du Monde in 1863, already raising the question of the authenticity of certain passages that are still frequently quoted. They are clearly not by Lise! Other passages are also forgeries. (See the Sources douteuses section in Traces).
[Travelogues by female musicians of the 19th century: primary sources, biographies and commentary], Hildesheim, Georg Olms Verlag, 2011.
