These are not by any means the complete recordings of Wanda Landowska; the great Polish-born harpsichordist enthusiastically embraced the new technology of recording well before World War II. Born in 1879 into a Jewish family, she made numerous recordings before fleeing Europe with little more than her Pleyel harpsichord and settling in Connecticut with her student and life companion, Denise Restout. These recordings were all made in the U.S. for the RCA label, when Landowska was 70 years old or more. Earlier Landowska ...
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These are not by any means the complete recordings of Wanda Landowska; the great Polish-born harpsichordist enthusiastically embraced the new technology of recording well before World War II. Born in 1879 into a Jewish family, she made numerous recordings before fleeing Europe with little more than her Pleyel harpsichord and settling in Connecticut with her student and life companion, Denise Restout. These recordings were all made in the U.S. for the RCA label, when Landowska was 70 years old or more. Earlier Landowska recordings are necessary to fill out a representative collection, but there is much to recommend this large set. In a way, Landowska was one of the originators of the entire historical-performance movement; she was the first person to insist that Bach's non-organ keyboard works should be played on the harpsichord. Yet her Bach performances bore little resemblance to what soon after her death would be considered authentic performances; her Pleyel harpsichord was a loud, complicated thing,...
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