alicemorini

Erika Morini is at right. See

On the left is Mrs. Wm. Wolski, a.k.a. Alice Wolski, née Morini (*Nov. 1898 in Vienna, according to a 1921 passport application, 18 Nov. 1902 according to her death certificate). She was the sister and piano accompanist of violinist Erica Morini (* Jan. 5, 1905 Vienna, † Nov. 1, 1995 New York). Cf. www.musiklexikon.ac.at/ml/musik_M/Morini_Familie.xml Both Alice (then 19) and her sister Erika (then 16) arrived with their musician father Oscar Morini on the ship "Rotterdam" in New York on January 19, 1921 (New York, Passenger and Crew Lists, T715, Roll 2912). On the passenger lists, by the way, Alice claims to be a bit older (22) and Erika a bit younger (only 14), probably so that Erika seems even more of a wunderkind. They then started a successful 60-stop American tour with a concert in Carnegie Hall in New York. In June or early July 1921, Alice Morini married violinist William Wolski (born May 19, 1898 in Brooklyn, New York) in Vienna (Musical Courier, July 7, 1921, page 30: babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.097536262;view=1up;seq=36). In ca. 1928, she and her husband settled in San Francisco, where William Wolski played the violin with the San Francisco Symphony from 1930-1953 and both of them were members of the San Francisco Trio, together with cellist Boris Blinder (www.stokowski.org/San_Francisco_Symphony_Musicians_List.h...). William Wolski died in San Francisco on June 3, 1986, Alice Morini-Wolski in the same city on Dec. 9, 1993. (Alice's birth date on her death certificate is listed as 18 Nov 1902, not Nov. 1898, but her mother's name is correctly given as Weisman, i.e., Malka Weissmann). Between 1921 and 1923, Erica and Alice made several recordings for the Victor label in New York (adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/talent/detail/54184/).

Thanks to both swanq and xiphophilos for finding the details about this musical duo!

Mrs. Wm. Wolski, a.k.a. Alice Wolski, née Morini (*1896 Vienna), sister and sometime piano accompanist of violinist Erica Morini (1905-1995). The name Alice Wolski can be read mirror-inverted at the bottom of the picture. Cf. also