About Sigismond Thalberg
Sigismond Thalberg (8 January 1812 – 27 April 1871) was an Austrian composer and one of the most distinguished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century. == Family == Thalberg was born in Pâquis near Geneva on 8 January 1812. Thalberg asserted that he was an illegitimate son of Moritz, Prince of Dietrichstein and his mistress Maria Julia Bydeskuty von Ipp, from a family of Hungarian lower nobility. In 1820, Julia married Baron Alexander Ludwig Wetzlar von Plankenstern (from an ennobled Jewish Viennese family). According to Thalberg's birth certificate, he was the son of Joseph Thalberg and Fortunée Stein, both from Frankfurt-am-Main. == Early life == Little is known about Thalberg's childhood and early youth. It is possible that his mother had brought him to Vienna at the age of 10 (the same year in which the 10-year-old Franz Liszt arrived there with his parents). According to Thalberg's own account, he attended the first performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony on 7 May 1824, in the Kärntnerthortheater. There is no evidence as to Thalberg's early teachers. Baroness von Wetzlar, his putative mother, who, according to Wurzbach, was occupied with his education during his childhood and early youth, was a brilliant amateur pianist.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.