Ruzhichkova, Zuzana

Zuzana Ruzhichkova was born in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, in 1927. Her mother professed Orthodox Judaism , her father was an atheist . Ruzhichkova herself considered herself not particularly religious. The family owned a store, and my father worked for four years as a department manager at a Ginzburg store in Chicago in the 1920s. Despite a successful career in the United States, his father returned to Czechoslovakia, which only recently became independent from the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. Thanks to her father Zuzana learned English. She recalled childhood as something “very sweet” and “full of parental love”. After becoming ill with tuberculosis, at the age of nine she began taking piano lessons as a reward for her recovery. Her piano teacher Maria Provennikova ( Marie Provaníková ) introduced Zuzana to works by Bach and invited her to choose the harpsichord. Provennika was so impressed with the girl's talent that she wrote a letter to a French-Polish musician Vande Landowska asking her to take Zuzana as a student at her music school ( École de Musique ) in the Paris suburb of Saint-Le -la-Forêt ^[3] as soon as she finishes compulsory schooling. In the end, the girl could not continue her studies with Wanda Landowska due to the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia and the implementation of the Nuremberg racial laws .

The Nazis began the occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1938. In 1941, the Gestapo began organizing transports to move the Pilsen Jews to Terezin , a garrison town built at the end of the 18th century. The first prisoners were given the task of transforming the fortress and the surrounding walls of the city into a concentration camp , known as Theresienstadt (German name Teresina). In Pilsen, Gestap men used Jewish children, including 13-year-old Zuzana Ruzickova, to deliver “invitations” to other members of the Jewish community of Pilsen, informing them of the date when they would be deported to the camp. Ruzhichkova described her childhood experience: “It was terrible, the delivery of notifications. We have seen life at its worst. It was a nightmare ... ”In January 1942, three weeks after receiving an“ invitation ”from the Gestapo, Zuzana and her family were forcibly relocated from Pilsen to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. The family was loaded onto a train to Terezin. Upon arrival at the concentration camp, Zuzana met Freddy Hirsch ( de ), a 25-year-old German Jew. Hirsch took responsibility for the care of the children of the camp by organizing events and lessons for them. They were reserved two barracks for "orphanages".

Despite the extreme conditions in which Zuzana fell during the war, her love for music did not fade. In the Theresienstadt concentration camp, she managed to take harmony lessons from prisoner Gideon Klein. Before her transportation to Auschwitz, Ruzhichkova wrote notes of Bach's works on paper by hand so as not to part with it ^[2] . While working in Hamburg, she accidentally heard Chopin on the radio and fainted. One of the first people Zuzana Ruzhichkova encountered after her return to Pilsen was her first piano teacher, Maria Provennikova. Zuzana recalled that when Maria saw the condition of her hands after four years of concentration camps, she burst into tears. These four years caused not only physical, but also psychological damage, they also caused a significant delay in its development as a musician. In order to be accepted into the music school, Ruzickova had to undergo a series of examinations. She began training first, in classes with children, in order to restore her previous skills, and she managed to advance several months from the third grade to the level of the required eighth step. At first, she again had to learn to play the piano from Bogdan Gözlhofer ^[3] , and in 1947 she was already able to enter the Academy of Music Arts in Prague . Despite rapid progress, one of her professors at the exam was discouraged by her condition. Nevertheless, Ruzhichkova entered the Academy and decided to specialize in harpsichord and early music. In 1950, she was already able to secure her status at the Academy and began teaching piano to composers. One of her students was the future husband, the Czech composer Victor Calabis.

After the February events in Czechoslovakia in 1948, Ruzhichkova was pressured by the Czechoslovak Communist Party (CPC) to force her to join the communist movement. However, she refused to join the Communist Party. As a student in Prague, she appeared before the committee when it became known that Ruzhichkova was reading the works of Sigmund Freud , which were prohibited. As a faculty member at the Academy of Performing Arts, she became the subject of constant checks, which evaluated her both professionally and politically. As a Jew, she was also vulnerable to persecution under the communist government. An example of anti-Semitism in communist Czechoslovakia are the demonstration trials of 1952 , in which 14 members of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia were the subject of a public trial aimed at clearing the government of dissidents. 11 of the 14 accused were Jews. The situation was so dangerous that Ruzhichkova tried to convince Victor Calabis not to marry her. Nevertheless, they were married in December 1952.

In 1956, Zuzana Ruzhichkova won the ARD International Music Competition in Munich ^[2] and was offered a scholarship from a jury member of the Marguerite Roesgen-Champion , which opens up prospects for continuing her musical studies in music in Paris. Victor Calabis was also invited to study in Paris, but the couple were not allowed to travel abroad together to keep them from escaping to the West. Victor went to Paris alone, but Zuzana remained in Czechoslovakia.

Despite the fact that she could not go to Paris, her victory at the International Music Competition led to further invitations to perform throughout Europe. And since she was a highly paid artist, the government allowed her to travel, but withheld all the foreign currency that the artist earned. Talent and success made it valuable for the state, but, being non-partisan, it still remained under suspicion of the communist government. She was not allowed to teach music to Czech students. In addition, her participation in the Czech Philharmonic was limited due to her Jewish origin.

The pressure was relaxed a bit after Stalin’s death and government policy easing. Ruzhichkova became freer and sometimes traveled with her husband. However, they did not try to stay in the West, as they were afraid for the fate of their relatives living in Czechoslovakia. For the first time, Zuzana Ruzhichkova was able to record music, which allowed her to become famous and strengthened her connection with Bach's music. This coincided with the revival of interest in Baroque music in Western Europe. In 1965, Ruzhichkova signed a contract to record the complete works of Bach.

In January 2003, Zuzana Ruzickova celebrated the 50th anniversary of concert activity at the Rudolfinum in Prague ^[4] . Has ceased to speak publicly since 2004 after the illness and death of her husband. Since 2006, she has become actively involved in various musical events and committees dedicated to the preservation of early music and aimed at discovering young musical talents. She was President of the Victor Calabis and Zuzana Ruzickova Foundation , Vice President of the Prague Spring International Committee , and a member of the advisory councils of the Czech Chamber Music Society and the Concertino Prague International Competition . She took an active part in the “Terezinsky Initiative”, with the help of which the commemorative memorial was financed ^[2] . Zuzana Ruzhichkova also became the heroine of the upcoming documentary film about her life and music, which will be called “Zuzana: Music is life”, and its premiere is planned in early 2017. It is considered the "first lady of the harpsichord" ^{[5] [6]} and one of the world's leading harpsichordists ^{[7] [8]} . In 2016, the complete works of Bach in her performance were republished ^[9] . Recorded about 100 albums.