Topic: Clavichord recordings you like.

[Mandryka]

Well I’m listening through Qobuz, but you can get it here I think

http://www.giovannidececco.com/produzione/new-clavichord-album-bach-venetian-concertos/

(it’s super!)

[Mandryka]

From Gramophone, an anonymous review of van Delft’s partitas,

Proverbially, the clavichord is held to be the most expressive of all keyboard instruments because the player’s contact with the sound source is least mitigated. No tracker, no retracting jack, no single-striking hammer, only the player’s finger on a lever at the opposite end of which a metal tangent makes contact with the string. The clavichord’s quiet sound also makes it the most intimate of keyboards. Expressivity and intimacy are the hallmarks of this new recording of Bach’s Six Partitas by Menno van Delft, professor of harpsichord and clavichord at the Amsterdam Conservatory. He plays a 1784 clavichord by the Thuringian maker Christian Gotthelf Hoffmann, now owned by the Cobbe Collection Trust and which resides at Hatchlands Park, near Guildford in Surrey

As special as it may be, this recording is not about the instrument but about Bach and the light that can be shed by his favourite keyboard on some of his best-known music. From the first measures of the B flat Partita’s Prelude, an unexpected lyricism, a beautifully maintained singing line takes centre stage. I think it’s fair to say that, generally speaking, the speed possible on the harpsichord or piano is unachievable with the clavichord’s simpler mechanism. This means that some of the quicker dances may be slower than we’ve become accustomed to. To van Delft’s great credit, the marginally slower tempo of a Courante or Gigue robs it of none of its character and spirit. We adjust our ears and are delighted by the aptly vivid expression, despite its smaller gestures.

But what of some of the grander, more extrovert movements of the Partitas, the haughty C minor Sinfonia, the cunning A minor Burlesca and Scherzo, the jaunty G major Passepied and Gigue or, indeed, the magnificent D major French Ouverture? Don’t they sacrifice some of their essence in this quieter dynamic and more leisurely pace? Not a bit. The organist, the harpsichordist and the pianist (of whatever vintage instrument) each have their unique, non-transferable articulation strategies. So too the clavichord player. Listening to van Delft’s masterful, always stylish interpretations is an education about what the hand can do, given different tools, in the service of the imagination. And because van Delft is a consummate musician, his Bach is immensely entertaining.

[Que]

From Gramophone, an anonymous review of van Delft’s partitas,

Thanks for posting. 

Q

[Mandryka]

There are some very substantial pieces on this recording of C16 and C17 music played on a refined and colourful 1/4 comma meantone tuned clavichord by Paul Simmonds - Sweelinck’s Fantasia Chromatica, Peter Philips’s Pavana Dolorosa, Andrea Gabrieli’s Passamezzo. Some of the smaller pieces, especially the British music, are subtle, complicated and beautiful,  I think he makes something fresh out of all these things, without collapsing into a sort of anachronistic empfandsimer style.

[Mandryka]

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/WK1k8EYMY6k" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/WK1k8EYMY6k</a>

An interesting recording of the 5th French Suite played by Gerard van Reenen

[Mandryka]

Probably mentioned before (but I didn't see it in the last few pages) - Richard Troeger, one of several recordings of his Bach:

There's another AoF which I've started to enjoy, the instrument is delicate, the disposition of the voices is sometimes imaginative - maybe  helped in this because there are two of them. They also use subtle clavichord effects, especially volume. Anyway, it took me some time to appreciate  because it's recorded at a low volume, which I think is probably truthful. It has become one of my favourites.

[Mandryka]

The deliberateness of the playing is a bit rebarbative, but there's a certain charm if you persist and I can't explain why. Glad to have found it anyway. Colourful instrument which reminds me of Clemencic's.

[Mandryka]

This just doesn't take off poetically, there's just nothing of interest here, apart from the fact that it's on clavichord, but that isn't itself very interesting. The performances are like an unimaginative student's runthough.

This is unfair and I regret saying it, the second partita is not bad at all, maybe with time I’ll come to love the set, maybe some of the partitas are more clavichord friendly than others.

Well time for a revisit! I’ve been listening to the 4th again.

This instrument he uses has slightly disparate registers, and as a result  the voice in the bass gets a face which is distinct from the voices in the upper registers. And if you listen (and you have to stretch your ears a bit  because it’s a clavichord!) you notice something interesting - the voices are rather independent, what I mean that we’re close to a  Rübsam style of non-chordal, horizontal playing. I see this as a great revelation in this music.

The performances are dancing - I mean there’s a strong pulse.

What it has made me realise is how interesting a recording of some of the partitas could be on a piano with non homogeneous registers. I intend to listen again to some piano performances, though having said that modern instruments tend to be designed with homogeneity in mind. I have Genzoh Takehisa’s CDs, and this performance by Robert Hill seems outstanding to me, now I can finally see why Rübsam put him on the side of the angels.  I’m not sure who else may be worth exploring.

<a href="https://youtube.com/v/cxGbVmttOjQ" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://youtube.com/v/cxGbVmttOjQ</a>

[milk]

Well time for a revisit! I’ve been listening to the 4th again.

This instrument he uses has slightly disparate registers, and as a result  the voice in the bass gets a face which is distinct from the voices in the upper registers. And if you listen (and you have to stretch your ears a bit  because it’s a clavichord!) you notice something interesting - the voices are rather independent, what I mean that we’re close to a  Rübsam style of non-chordal, horizontal playing. I see this as a great revelation in this music.

The performances are dancing - I mean there’s a strong pulse.

What it has made me realise is how interesting a recording of some of the partitas could be on a piano with non homogeneous registers. I intend to listen again to some piano performances, though having said that modern instruments tend to be designed with homogeneity in mind. I have Genzoh Takehisa’s CDs, and this performance by Robert Hill seems outstanding to me, now I can finally see why Rübsam put him on the side of the angels.  I’m not sure who else may be worth exploring.

<a href="https://youtube.com/v/cxGbVmttOjQ" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://youtube.com/v/cxGbVmttOjQ</a>

I guess it's great to have these free on youtube. Still, I wonder why he doesn't make studio recordings recently?

[Mandryka]

I don’t think there’s any money in making studio recordings these days.

[milk]

I don’t think there’s any money in making studio recordings these days.

Does anybody buy anything anymore? I mean besides discount junk, bulk cheese and apps?

[Mandryka]

Colin Tilney uses a clavichord which is certainly differentiated in all the registers, but is nevertheless extremely coherent, and I couldn’t help wondering if a more irregular instrument would have revealed more drama through counterpoint. Egarr’s harpsichord recording suggests to me that this could be really interesting.

That being said he exhibits here very well the magic trick he can pull off of making a very straight and prima facie artless performance sound really expressive. How does he do that?!!!!! Evidently the artlessness is only prima facie.

Tempos which allow the listener to reflect on the gestures, clean articulation, no sense of virtuoso swagger, no intrusive embellishment. These are all traits which I’ve come to expect from Tilney, and this is no exception. I think it’s a very rewarding recording.

[Mandryka]

If justification were needed, Mozart owned clavichords, but in fact it’s unnecessary. This is a great CD, a real encounter between instrument and musician giving rise to some unmatched performances of standard music - K 310/311/545/ ah vous dirai-je maman.

The instrument is percussive and has contrasting low, mid and high timbres, the result is music which sounds more punchy and more texturally interesting than you’d ever have imagined. It’s those contrasting registers which especially seem to give this the edge over fortepiano recordings I recall, and modern piano just can’t compete in the same game, they have to create their own approach.

A hard CD to buy, I had to contact Peter Waldner who then put me on to someone else and then there was a whole kerfuffle . . . but it worked in the end I’m pleased to say.

[Mandryka]

Very nice thing here which I’ve just discovered, it’s hard to find details of what she’s playing online though one review says that much of the music is by Turlough O'Carolan, a harp composer from the c17. Good stuff, polyphonic, melodic and Claire Keville has an attractive instrument well recorded. I note that she’s got a harpsichord CD too, and that she seems to be a pretty active musician in Ireland.