Ruggero Gerlin was born in Venice on 5 January 1899 and obtained the master diploma in piano performance from the Milan Conservatory. In 1920 he began harpsichord studies with Wanda Landowska in Paris and continued to work with her until 1940, often as her concert partner in music for two keyboard instruments. After returning to Italy in 1941, he became professor of harpsichord at the San Pietro a Majella Conservatory in Naples. In 1947 he established the annual summer masterclasses at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. Huguette Dreyfus, Anne-Marie Beckensteiner, Kenneth Gilbert and Blandine Verlet were among his students. Gerlin was active as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe and made many recordings, most often performing on a Pleyel harpsichord. These recordings span a period of more than 50 years and include the first complete editions of solo works by François Couperin, Louis Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau. He also edited works by Giovanni Battista Grazioli, Alessandro Scarlatti and Benedetto Marcello for I Classici Musicali Italiani. Gerlin died in Paris on 17 June 1983.
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