Obituary: Nicanor Zabaleta

Nicanor Zabaleta, harpist: born San Sebastian 7 January 1907; married 1952 Graciela Torres (one son, one daughter); died Puerto Rico 31 March 1993.

WITHIN 10 days of the Dutch harpist Phia Berghout's death the world has lost Nicanor Zabaleta, the best-known harpist of their generation.

Zabaleta was born in 1907 of Basque parents in San Sebastian, northern Spain. He came from an artistic background and music was very much part of family life. At the age of eight he spotted a harp in the window of an antique shop and expressed a wish to play the instrument. He had his first lessons from the harpist of the local symphony orchestra; later he took lessons in Madrid Conservatoire and when he was 12 he went to Paris to study with the great Marcel Tournier.

At the age of 20, on completing his studies, Zabaleta gave two important solo recitals in Paris. However, he did not see himself as a soloist and so returned to Madrid, where he supported himself as an orchestral musician playing in theatre, opera and symphony orchestras. In 1934 he left an increasingly troubled Europe for the Americas, where he established himself as a soloist.

In 1951 he returned to Europe. He gave a number of highly acclaimed recitals that year, attracting the attention of leading conductors. He was soon signed up by Deutsche Grammophon and began a distinguished recording career. From his base in San Sebastian he toured the world, giving recitals and appearing as soloist with leading orchestras. In later years he gave master-classes and was a regular jury and committee member of the International Harp Competition in Israel, though he never taught on a regular basis.

Throughout his professional life he researched the harp repertoire, making important discoveries of unknown or forgotten music. He adapted works by JS Bach for the harp. This is somewhat contradictory because his general stance was to oppose transcriptions: like Phia Berghout, he believed that the original harp repertoire was large enough. Meanwhile contemporary composers wrote works for him - Ginastera, Krenek, Milhaud, Tailleferre and Villa-Lobos among others.

In 1979 Zabaleta celebrated with Deutsche Grammophon the sale of a million discs. He recorded all the principal works in the repertoire from the 17th and 18th centuries and Spanish music of all periods as well as the big concertos. Zabaleta's clarity, intelligence and intimacy of approach have made him a household name and an example to young generations of harpists. He made his last appearance in this country in 1991 at the World Harp Festival in Cardiff. Zabaleta was regarded by many as the greatest harpist this century.

(Photograph omitted)