Elizabeth de la Porte
Elizabeth de la Porte has long been recognised as a harpsichordist of unusual talent and personality. At the time of her original London appearances The Daily Telegraph described her as ‘a mind that contemplates and acts imaginatively on intimate stylistic knowledge’ - and her playing achieves a happy synthesis of authenticity and imagination. Then, as now, meticulous scholarship is not for her the goal, but rather the starting point from which to encompass the expressive scope of the music - its drama, brilliance or poetry.
Elizabeth’s deepest affinities were and are for J S Bach and Francois Çouperin, affinities that go back to her childhood in Johannesburg. When she won the University of South Africa’s Overseas Scholarship it was on the strength of her playing of Bach’s C minor Partita. This led her to the Vienna Academy and the Royal College of Music, London, and to private teaching from Jane Clark and Rafael Puyana.
During the 1970s Elizabeth appeared in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as the United Kingdom and her native South Africa. She made appearances on BBC television. She played all Bach’s French Suites at a special series at St John’s, Smith Square, London and she set something of a record for the 1970s by selling out the Purcell Room for an all Çouperin recital. For her concluding appearances of that period, in Vienna, Geneva and London, she concentrated on Bach’s six Partitas.
Elizabeth is married to a doctor and has three children, and amongst her current teaching commitments she finds the RCM Juniors particularly rewarding. She lives in Faversham in East Kent.
