Hommage à ZUZANA RŮŽIČKOVÁ / harpsichord

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SU 4117-2      2 CD                         

Release date: January 2012

Hommage à Zuzana Růžičková / harpsichord

J. S. Bach – Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, BWV 903, French Suite No. 5 in G major, BWV 816, Concerto for Harpsichord No. 9 in G major, Op. 4 No. 1, BWV 980
Domenico Scarlatti – Sonatas (selection)*
Manuel de Falla – Concerto for Harpsichord, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Violin and Cello *
Viktor Kalabis – Sei invenzioni canonici per cembalo, Op. 20 *
Francis Poulenc – Concert champêtre – Concerto for Harpsichord and Orchestra *
Jan Rychlík – Hommaggi gravicembalistici for Harpsichord *
Bohuslav Martinů – Concerto for Harpsichord and Small Orchestra, H 246
* First time on CD

Zuzana Růžičková – harpsichord, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra / Kurt Sanderling, Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra / Václav Neumann et al.

Zuzana Růžičková, an exceptional personality upon whom the critics conferred the title "First Lady of the Harpsichord", continued the pioneering efforts Wanda Landowska had made to get the harpsichord recognised as an independent concert instrument. The path she took was co-determined by her lifelong relationship to Bach, whose complete works for harpsichord she has recorded, and along it she was also accompanied by a number of friends she regularly met: Karel Ančerl, Gideon Klein, Sviatoslav Richter, Josef Suk. She hasn't, however, remained merely a Bach specialist: in addition to early music, she has recorded all the classic modern harpsichord works, including Poulenc's Concert champêtre and her beloved Bohuslav Martinů's Concerto for Harpsichord, awareness of which she helped to raise all over the world. A number of pieces have been written directly for Zuzana Růžičková, among them compositions by Jan Rychlík and the remarkable Sei invenzioni canonici per cembalo by Viktor Kalabis, whom the harpsichordist was married to for over half a century. This representative selection from Zuzana Růžičková’s highly acclaimed discography is Supraphon’s way of marking her 85th birthday.

The overwhelming majority of these recordings are appearing on CD for the very first time.