Gustav Leonhardt (Conductor, Harpsichord, Organ)

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Gustav Leonhardt (Conductor, Harpsichord, Organ)
Born: May 30, 1928 - Graveland (near Hilversum), Holland
The eminent Dutch organist, harpsichordist, conductor and pedagogue, Gustav (Maria) Leonhardt, studied organ and harpsichord with Eduard Müller at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis from 1947 to 1950. Gustav Leonhardt made his debut in as a harpsichordist in Vienna in 1950. After studying musicology there, he served as professor of harpsichord at the Academy of Music from 1952 to 1955. He was professor of harpsichord at the Amsterdam Conservatory from 1954. He was also active as a church organist there. Gustav Leonhardt made his first recordings of solo harpsichord music by Bach in the early 1950’s. These quickly established his reputation as an outstanding Bach interpreter. In 1954, with his Leonhardt Baroque Ensemble, he collaborated with the English counter-tenor Alfred Deller in recordings of Bach’s Cantata BWV 54 and BWV 170. This early essay in historically aware performance style (HIP) - the ensemble included his wife Marie and Eduard Melkus (violins), Alice Hoffelner (viola), Nikolaus Harnoncourt (cello), and Michel Piguet (oboe) - may be justly considered an important torch-bearer in the new paths soon to be taken in Baroque interpretations. Since then Leonhardt has performed and recorded all the major solo harpsichord music of Bach. He made numerous tours of Europe and North America, mainly appearing as harpsichordist. He also led his own Leonhardt Consort (replacing the Baroque Ensemble) on tours from 1955. An interesting curiosity about Gustav Leonhardt is that he was the main actor in the movie "Diary of Anna Magdalena Bach" (1967), playing and performing and above all personifying Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1971 Gustav Leonhardt and Harnoncourt jointly undertook a project, completed in 1990, to record all Bach’s sacred cantatas. Leonhardt’s performances, in which his Leonhardt Consort provided the orchestral nucleus, are elegantly shaped and often more restrained in expression than those of Harnoncourt. Gustav Leonhardt edited Bach’s Die Kunst der Fuge, pieces by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, and other works.

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Source: Oxford Composer Companion - J.S. Bach (1999); Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20^th Century Classical Musicians (1997) Contributed by Aryeh Oron (April 2001); Dr. Graziano Fronzuto (February 2002)
Gustav Leonhardt: Short Biography \| Recordings of Vocal Works: Part 1 \| Part 2 \| Part 3 \| Part 4 \| Recordings of Non-Vocal Works Discussions of Vocal Recordings: BWV 232 - Leonhardt \| BWV 244 - Leonhardt Reviews of Non-Vocal Recordings: Bach’s Inventions & Sinfonias from Leonhardt \| Leonhardt’s Goldberg on Vanguard Discussions of Non-Vocal Recordings: GV BWV 988 - G. Leonhardt General Discussions: Part 1 \| Part 2 \| Part 3 \| Part 4 \| Part 5 \| Part 6 \| Part 7 \| Part 8 Table of recordings by BWV Number
Links to other Sites
Gustav Leonhardt (Allied Artists) Gustav Leonhardt - Biography (Sony Classical) Gustav Leonhardt (biography) [Portuguese] Discographie de Gustav Leonhardt Gustav Leonhardt [Italian] An interview with Gustav Leonhardt by Jan-Piet Knijff Gustav Leonhardt	Arteduemila: Gustav Leonhardt [Italian] BRAAVO! - Gustav Leonhardt Biographie de Gustav Leonhardt avec gold-music.com [French] AMARCORDES - Artistes - Leonhardt [French] Le Monde.fr : Gustav Leonhardt parachève sa légende [French] Gustav Leonhardt (JRP Dynu) [French]

Short Biographies: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | Explanation | Acronyms

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Last update: ýMay 26, 2008 ý17:22:01