Pianist Rudolf Jansen has died. He was best known as a singer’s accompanist, and reached the top of the international ranks in that field. Jansen, 84, died Monday in his hometown of Laren.
Jansen accompanied a large number of international singers, including Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Elly Ameling, Robert Holl and Christianne Stotijn. In 2017, he gave his last concert at an evening dedicated to him at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
Born in Arnhem, he studied with him at the Amsterdam Conservatory.. He later became a piano teacher at the same Conservatory and at the Nuremberg and Augsburg Conservatories. He also regularly gave master classes.
He has made numerous LP and CD recordings, including the complete songs of the Dutch composer Alphons Diepenbrock with his wife Christa Pfeiler and Robert Holl. He has also recorded the complete songs of Edvard Grieg with four singers, the complete songs of Webern with the British soprano Dorothy Dorrow, and songs of Brahms with the Dutch bass-baritone Holl.
