Zuzana Růžičková
The rising tide of modern harpsichordists has caused us to forget somewhat the previous generation, that of the pioneers, in a time when the instrument that had been the king of the Ancien Regime was beginning to return to the stage. Zuzana Růžičková was a member of just this generation, the one that saw the birth and growth of musicians in the ground tilled by a pathfinder like Wanda Landowska and the movement of musicians returning to the roots, which took place in Vienna around Nikolaus Harnoncourt: Rafael Puyana, Ruggero Gerlin, Christiane Jaccottet, Gustav Leonhardt or Robert Veyron-Lacroix.
After the Holocaust, in which she lost 17 members of her family while still a young girl, Zuzana Růžičková set to work after the war, music exorcising the atrocities which she had witnessed. In 1947 she won the Munich Competition, at which she met the Swiss harpsichordist Marguerite Roesgen-Champion, who invited her to work with her in Paris. It was the start of a long romance between the Czech harpsichordist and France, which would affectionately dub her "The grand dame of the harpsichord" and where she would go to record for the ERATO label between 1964 and 1975, one of the first complete collections of Bach for harpsichord. Apart from the love that she felt for his music, she said that she grappled with Bach in order to overcome her fear and hatred against the Germany that had made her suffer so much. This recording would receive several major awards.
In 1961, Zuzana Růžičková and conductor Vaclav Neumann founded the Prague Chamber Soloists, in a town where baroque music was already much in favour. The harpsichordist's repertoire is not only limited to the baroque period, Bach, Purcell, Scarlatti, whom she adores, but also runs to the music of her own times: the music of her compatriot Bohuslav Martinu, Béla Bartok, Manuel de Falla, Francis Poulenc, whose Concert Champêtre she plays magnificently, as she does the works of her husband, composer Viktor Kabanis.
Moving from the Pleyel harpsichord to ancient or reconstructed harpsichords, Zuzana Růžičková has made numerous solo recordings, chamber music records, and records in dialogue with Joseph Suk, Pierre Rampal and the Prague Chamber Soloists. From the start of her career, Zuzana Růžičková has also dedicated herself to teaching, in her native country in Prague and Bratislava, but also giving masterclasses in Europe and Japan, where she recorded several albums of Purcell and Bach. © FH / Qobuz
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Poulenc, martinů: harpsichord concertos
Zuzana Růžičková, Kurt Sanderling, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Chamber Soloists
Classical - Released by Supraphon a.s. on Jan 14, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Harpsichord Music in 16th - 18th Century. Couperin: Pieces de clavecin
Classical - Released by Supraphon a.s. on Apr 17, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonatas BWV 1020, 1022, 1027-1029
Classical - Released by Praga Digitals on Jan 1, 1996
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Harpsichord Music in 16th - 18th Century. Scarlatti: Pieces de clavecin
Classical - Released by Supraphon a.s. on Sep 13, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Czech Baroque Harpsichord Works
Classical - Released by SUPRAPHON a.s. on Jan 11, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hans Krása: Complete Chamber Music
Kocian Quartet, Zuzana Růžičková
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on Sep 1, 1997
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach: Works for Cello & Harpsichord (Live)
Janos Starker, Zuzana Růžičková
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on May 5, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Händel: Harpsichord Works
Classical - Released by Supraphon a.s. on Apr 5, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Concertos for 2 - 3 - 4 Harpsichords and Strings, BWV 1060-5
Zuzana Růžičková, David Roblou, Janos Sebestyen, Giedre Luksaite-Mrazkova, Petr Skvor, Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra
Classical - Released by Supraphon a.s. on Jul 23, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Goldberg´s Variations
Classical - Released by Supraphon a.s. on Mar 28, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach: Flute Sonata in E Minor, BWV 1034 (Digitally Remastered)
Juraj Alexander, Zuzana Růžičková, Milos Jurkovic
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on Nov 6, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier
Classical - Released by Supraphon a.s. on Jan 1, 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Harpsichord Concertos (BWV 1052 & BWV 1053)
Zuzana Růžičková, György Lehel, Chamber orchestra
Classical - Released by Supraphon a.s. on Feb 28, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, Böhm, Lübeck, Scheidt, Pachelbel, Sweelinck and Buxtehude: Harpsichord Works
Classical - Released by Supraphon a.s. on Oct 13, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Konzerte für drei und vier Cembali und Streichorchester
Staatskapelle Dresden, Hans Pischner, Isolde Ahlgrimm, Zuzana Růžičková, Robert Veyron-Lacroix, Kurt Redel
Classical - Released by Eterna on Jan 1, 1977
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Harpsichord Music from England, Spain and Portugal
Classical - Released by Supraphon a.s. on Jun 15, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Scarlatti: Harpsichord Sonatas
Classical - Released by Supraphon a.s. on Jul 15, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
D. Scarlatti: Harpsichord Sonatas
Classical - Released by Orfeo on Jan 1, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Konzerte nach verschiedenen Meistern
Classical - Released by Supraphon a.s. on Jan 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Sonata for Flute and Harpsichord - Hindemith, Haydn, Messiaen: Sonatas for Flute and Piano
Zuzana Růžičková, Zdeněk Bruderhans, Pavel Stepan
Classical - Released by Supraphon a.s. on Jan 17, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J. S. Bach: Dobře temperovaný klavír I (BWV 846-869)
Classical - Released by Český rozhlas on Jun 25, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo