The Dutch musician co-founded the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century

Bruggen

Dutch conductor and period music specialist Frans Brüggen died yesterday at the age of 79. The Amsterdam native was a noted recorder player and Baroque flautist, who conducted such leading orchestras as the Royal Concertgebouw.

He co-founded the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century – a period group specialising in performances on authentic instruments – in 1981, and served as its chief conductor, making a number of recordings. He was also emeritus conductor of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and director of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra from 1991 to 1994.

Brüggen was appointed professor at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague in 1955, and was a visiting professor at Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley in the US.

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