Nicanor Zabaleta
Nicanor Zabaleta was one of the foremost harpists of the twentieth century, as important to the advancement of the harp as Segovia was to the guitar. At the age of seven, Zabaleta's father, an amateur musician, bought him a harp from an antique shop. The young Nicanor soon began taking lessons from Vincenta Tormo de Calvo, who was on the Madrid Conservatory faculty, and with Luisa Menarguez. At 17, he began studies in Paris; among his teachers there were Marcel Tournier and Jacqueline Borot. He made his official concert debut in the French capital in 1926. After a brief stint in the military, he traveled to the United States, where he made his North American debut in 1934 and remained a resident for the next two decades. Two years later, he began concert tours of Cuba and Mexico, where he achieved enough critical acclaim to command substantial fees for his concert appearances. His association with Australian-born American composer/critic Peggy Glanville-Hicks, who was active in organizing concerts of contemporary music in the 1940s and 1950s, further advanced his career in the United States. At a 1950 concert in Puerto Rico, Zabaleta met his future wife Graziela, and they were married two years later. They relocated to Spain and Zabaleta thereafter began touring the major cities of Europe, including Paris, Amsterdam, London, Munich, Copenhagen, and Zurich. Joaquín Rodrigo arranged his Concierto de Aranjuez as the Concierto Serenata for him in 1952, and Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera composed a concerto (1956-64) for him, which Zabaleta premiered with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1965. Nearly 30 other composers from throughout Europe and the Americas wrote works for him, as well. But his repertory was often more traditional and included works by Bach, Handel, Mozart, Debussy, and Ravel. Along with giving numerous solo and orchestral concerts, Zabaleta made many recordings, mostly in the 1960s and the decades following. It is estimated that he sold as many as three million records. His later concerts included critical successes at the Theatre Champs Élysées in Paris on March 21, 1981, and in San Jose, CA, on March 12 and 13, where he played concertos by Mozart and Villa-Lobos. His final concert, on June 16, 1992, in Madrid, was given when he was already in seriously declining health.
© TiVo
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Discography
11 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Nicanor Zabaleta - Himmlische Harfe
Nicanor Zabaleta, Paul Kuentz Chamber Orchestra, Paul Kuentz
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boieldieu / Saint-Saëns / Tailleferre / Ravel: Harp Concertos
Nicanor Zabaleta, Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Ernst Märzendorfer, Orchestre National de France, Jean Martinon
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jul 1, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Flute & Harp Concerto / Reinecke: Harp Concerto / Rodrigo: Concerto-Serenade
Karlheinz Zoeller, Nicanor Zabaleta, Berliner Philharmoniker, Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Ernst Märzendorfer
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach / Handel: Harp Concertos
Nicanor Zabaleta, Paul Kuentz Chamber Orchestra, Paul Kuentz
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Spanish Harp Music
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Concertos for Flute, Flute and Harp, Bassoon
Wolfgang Schulz, Nicanor Zabaleta, Karl Böhm
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Art of Nicanor Zabaleta
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Aug 22, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Five Hundred Years of the Harp
Folk - Released by Everest Records on Jan 15, 1978
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Flute Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Flute & Harp Concerto K. 299
Karlheinz Zoeller, Nicanor Zabaleta, Berliner Philharmoniker, Ernst Märzendorfer, English Chamber Orchestra, Bernhard Klee
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 39-40 – Debussy: Danses, L. 103
Wiener Symphoniker, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ferenc Fricsay, Nicanor Zabaleta
Classical - Released by Archipel on Mar 30, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Zabaleta Plays Spanish Classics For The Harp
Classical - Released by Period Records on Mar 10, 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo