Sad news: Death of a harpsichord legend

Sad news: Death of a harpsichord legend

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norman lebrecht

May 29, 2017

The Paris-based Polish harpsichordist Elisabeth Chojnacka has died, aged 78.

After graduation from the Chopin academy in 1962, she moved to Paris where she established a niche at the heart of the modernist movement. More than 80 composers wrote for her instrument, among them Ligeti, Xenakis, Nyman and Gorecki.

She was phenomenal.

Comments

  • Delphine1962 says:

    I am deeply saddened to hear this; Elisabeth Chojnacka was an extraordinary musician and her recordings – particularly the ground-breaking ones of Ligeti (Hungarian Rock and the wonderful, wonderful Continuum) will always live in memory: I always felt that Chojnacka had a direct hand in the inception of these wonderful compositions and thus in the reinvigoration (if that were needed) of what the harpsichord could do in the hands of such a consummate performer.

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