Zuzana Růžičková

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Zuzana Růžičková (born January 14, 1927 in Pilsen ; † September 27, 2017 in Prague ) was a Czech harpsichordist and professor at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague .

life and career

Zuzana Růžičková was born in Czechoslovakia in 1927 into a Jewish family. She showed musical talent early on, with which she impressed Günther Ramin as a child . At the time of the occupation by Nazi Germany , she and her family were deported to Theresienstadt in 1942 , and later to Auschwitz , where she had to do forced labor in Neuengamme and was finally sent to the Bergen-Belsen camp . Of her family, only she and her mother survived this time - according to her own statement thanks to Fredy Hirsch . Her father and grandparents died in Theresienstadt.

After the liberation she studied music in Plzeň and from 1947 to 1951 at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (piano with Albín Šíma and František Rauch , harpsichord with Oldřich Kredba). In 1951 she made her first public appearance as a harpsichordist. After the war she continued her career, which was almost prevented by the Nazis, with a strength that, according to her own statements, she owes to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach . “Bach then showed me that there is something that transcends us. Suddenly one is certain: well, little human being, you are completely devastated. But there is something above you, an order. "

She was the very first to record Bach's entire piano works on the harpsichord. Winning the ARD music competition in Munich in 1956 was the starting point for an international solo career. In 1962 she founded the Prague Chamber Soloists together with Václav Neumann . They were allowed to travel to non-socialist foreign countries because the state took in foreign currency through their appearances; 80% of their fees were to be paid. She appeared regularly with chamber music partners such as Josef Suk , Aurèle Nicolet , Pierre Fournier and Jean-Pierre Rampal . She led master classes in Zurich, Stuttgart, Budapest and Tokyo, for example. In Czechoslovakia, however, she was not allowed to teach the harpsichord as a subject because, according to the prevailing ideology, the harpsichord was considered a "feudal and religious instrument". From 1978 to 1982 she taught as a visiting professor at the Bratislava Music Academy . In 1990 she received a professorship at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

Růžičková's repertoire ranged from the English virginalists to modern times. The focus was on Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1975 she recorded his complete works for harpsichord for the French label Erato. This complete recording was released in 2016 as a remastering of the original tapes on Warner Classics . As a soloist, she took part in numerous Bach festivals, including in Stuttgart and Oregon.

In 1952, Zuzana Růžičková married the Czech composer Viktor Kalabis (1923-2006), who wrote several works for her.

Honors

Among the numerous prizes and honors she has received include: a. the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the French Ministry of Culture (2003) and the Medal of Merit of the Czech State for Lifetime Achievement (2003).

literature

  • Silke Bernd: Zuzana Růžičková . In: Life paths of female musicians in the “Third Reich” and in exile (= Music in the “Third Reich” and in exile , vol. 8). Published by the Exile Music Working Group at the Musicological Institute of the University of Hamburg . Von Bockel, Neumünster 2000, ISBN 3-932696-37-9 , pp. 365-385.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Zuzana Ruzickova: Harpsichordist and Holocaust survivor dies at 90.BBC News, September 27, 2017, accessed on September 27, 2017 (English).
  2. ↑ a b c d e Reinhard Brembeck: Glück der Musik. How to master life with Johann Sebastian Bach - a visit to the harpsichordist Zuzana Růžičková . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung of January 7, 2016, p. 16.
  3. ↑ Interview with Zuzana Růžičková. In: ZDF History: A German Hero: Fredy Hirsch and the Children of the Holocaust, broadcast April 9, 2020. ZDF media library. Retrieved April 15, 2020
  4. ^ A b Rebecca Jones: The "miraculous" life of Zuzana Ruzickova . In: BBC Magazine , December 19, 2016, accessed February 7, 2016.
  5. ^ Reinhard Brembeck: On the death of Zuzana Růžičková . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung of September 29, 2017, p. 12.
personal data
SURNAME Růžičková, Zuzana
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ruzickova, Zuzanna
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czech harpsichordist
DATE OF BIRTH January 14, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Plzeň
DATE OF DEATH 27th September 2017
Place of death Prague