Frida Scotta

Frida Scotta (31 March 1871, Copenhagen – 29 April 1948, Ohlstadt) was a Danish violinist who performed under a stage name. She was born Frida Schytte in Copenhagen on 31 March 1871 and married the painter Friedrich August von Kaulbach in 1897, taking his surname to become Frida von Kaulbach.

Scotta trained with Lambert Massart and Henri Berthelier at the Conservatoire de Paris. She went on to have international success as a violinist, taking concert tours through Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Russia, Scandinavia, and the United Kingdom. She received her first formal violin lessons from royal chapel musicians Ferdinand Stockmarr and Valdemar Tofte in 1884.

In 1888, at the age of 17, she took Tofte's recommendation and traveled to Paris to continue her training at the Conservatoire de Paris. She passed the conservatoire's entrance exam and was admitted in 1888. There, she was instructed by Lambert Massart and Henri Berthelier. While studying in Paris, she took trips back to Denmark to perform. In Copenhagen, she was a soloist at a philharmonic concert in 1889, and in the spring of 1890, she toured Denmark with the pianist Helga Thiess. She graduated from the Conservatoire with distinction in 1890.

It had become more common for women to pursue musical careers as violinists in the 1880s, however, Scotta still faced criticism that her male contemporaries did not. Critics noted that her performances were more soulful than sentimental, and that she played with an unusually high tone for a woman. Comparisons were often drawn between her, Teresina Tua, and Arma Senkrah, as all three were popular female concert violinists in Europe. Her youngest daughter, Mathilde, became a musician herself and performed as a singer. Like her mother, Mathilde married a painter, Max Beckmann, who used her as the subject of many of his portraits. Mathilde and Max stayed with Frida at the villa in Ohlstadt frequently during the 1920s and 30s.

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