General Harpsichord and Clavichord Thread

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Is there any fan of Duphly on the thread??
My fav are below.

[bioluminescentsquid]

Duphly is nice

The 2nd CD you posted is cool in that it's played on the "Lefebreve" harpsichord that Skowroneck built for Leonhardt after a bet that Skowroneck could produce a "fake" antique harpsichord that would fool experts.

Some other Duphly I like (Sadly, I don't listen to him enough -- sometimes, his works sound too "classical" to me, or just get overshadowed by people like Forqueray or Royer)

Elisabeth Joye's version on alpha is excellent - great harpsichord (The anonymous early-18th century one in Assas that Scott Ross and Jean Rondeau recorded on), and sensitive rubato. Somewhat dark, melancholy, in mood.

Rousset's I haven't listened in detail, but it seems pretty typical Rousset: muscular and full of force. Worth a listen.

Gluxam's Duphly is excellent - much less brooding and rather more balanced than the former two. The agogics are delicate, beautiful, and in the best of tastes.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXiIBoR4wks

The Duphly on Baumont's Quentin De La Tour Musical Portraits, and Skip Sempe's A French Collection is also excellent.

Edit: I forgot Leonhardt - doh!

[Que]

What about Jean-Patrice Brosse? 

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Q

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Both Joye and Brosse are very good.
Arguably, the Rousset recording could be the best performance, but that reverb sound is nuisance at best.
Surprisingly, to me, Joseph Payne's recording sounds good.
I like the old recording with solid, fat sound.

[asin]B00004SWFI[/asin]

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Duphly is nice

The 2nd CD you posted is cool in that it's played on the "Lefebreve" harpsichord that Skowroneck built for Leonhardt after a bet that Skowroneck could produce a "fake" antique harpsichord that would fool experts.

Some other Duphly I like (Sadly, I don't listen to him enough -- sometimes, his works sound too "classical" to me, or just get overshadowed by people like Forqueray or Royer)

Elisabeth Joye's version on alpha is excellent - great harpsichord (The anonymous early-18th century one in Assas that Scott Ross and Jean Rondeau recorded on), and sensitive rubato. Somewhat dark, melancholy, in mood.

Rousset's I haven't listened in detail, but it seems pretty typical Rousset: muscular and full of force. Worth a listen.

Gluxam's Duphly is excellent - much less brooding and rather more balanced than the former two. The agogics are delicate, beautiful, and in the best of tastes.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXiIBoR4wks

The Duphly on Baumont's Quentin De La Tour Musical Portraits, and Skip Sempe's A French Collection is also excellent.

Edit: I forgot Leonhardt - doh!

Yes, Gluxam sounds elaborate if subtle .

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Any opinions on the Huguette Dreyfus set of F. Couperin's harpsichord works? This LP set has been sitting on my shelf--unlistened to--for decades.

[Que]

Both Joye and Brosse are very good.
Arguably, the Rousset recording could be the best performance, but that reverb sound is nuisance at best.

I agree, though the acoustics haven't bothered me much:

Me too!! Though I already have the complete Duphly (4 books, on 3 discs) by Jean-Patrice Brosse (Pierre Vérany/Arion).
Those are solid, sensitive and idiomatic performances, but Rousset always takes things to another level or in a different direction. And, like with his awesome Louis Couperin set, he seems to go for a selection instead of "complete". So the two seem complementary to each other.

Q

I already had some Duphly discs by Jean-Patrice Brosse, so I am familiar with the music. Rousset does a cross-section of Duphly's oeuvre.
Playing is, as usual with Rousset, elegant, virtuosic, brilliant and dazzling....but fortunately Rousset's style is for some time now not longer over-the-top and out-of-breath. This is perfectly balanced. 

All good news, but there is a catch here....this recording is out of print....   I would recommend tracking a copy down soon...

Q

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I am also really interested in José António Carlos de Seixas.

I haven't heard the recording you mention, but I have a recording performed by Anne Robert (released 1993).

I have volume 1, but can't find the cover artwork for this OOP recording. Here is Vol.2:

Robert sounds OK, but I prefer the Naxos recordings. Tin Pan Alley vs. Cool elegance.

[bioluminescentsquid]

Found samples of a recording of Duphly that sounds quite promising: that is, if you can find it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LTODfOkgik

[bioluminescentsquid]

Leonhardt's Forqueray from the 70's. Strangely, it reminds me more of Koopman's Forqueray than Leonhardt's own "Bliss and pain of the Baroque" (Both I like).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOCN4eXkr1g

[Mandryka]

Leonhardt's Forqueray from the 70's. Strangely, it reminds me more of Koopman's Forqueray than Leonhardt's own "Bliss and pain of the Baroque" (Both I like).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOCN4eXkr1g

Yes. He released Forqueray recordings in 1973, 1991 and 2005 and they're all quite different, as if they are like markers of his own development.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Thank you very much. I am in the middle of a travel, but certainly will check it out.

Found samples of a recording of Duphly that sounds quite promising: that is, if you can find it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LTODfOkgik

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Found samples of a recording of Duphly that sounds quite promising: that is, if you can find it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LTODfOkgik

I checked it out on YT and I remember I listened her works a few years ago. She is a fine player and the instrument sounded very good. But her performance lacks liveliness and vividness.

[bioluminescentsquid]

I checked it out on YT and I remember I listened her works a few years ago. She is a fine player and the instrument sounded very good. But her performance lacks liveliness and vividness.

Interesting. For me, it might not be the most flamboyant Duphly (probably Rousset), but there's a sense of restraint and sensitivity that I really enjoy. Of course, the relatively lackluster La Forqueray aside.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Interesting. For me, it might not be the most flamboyant Duphly (probably Rousset), but there's a sense of restraint and sensitivity that I really enjoy. Of course, the relatively lackluster La Forqueray aside.

Please compare her La Vanlo and Belombre with the same by Belder, Roussett, and Aya. Her performance does not convey the cuteness of the compositions.

[Mandryka]

Just curious - how do you think of Chambonnières? I've been so focused on Louis Couperin that I haven't heard much of Chambonnières. Any outstanding recordings?

Have you heard Paola Erdas play Chambonnières? It reminds me a bit of Langelle's second.

And maybe even more urgent than that is a magnificent D'Anglebert CD which I'd completely forgotten about, by Kenneth Gilbert and consisting of Lully transcriptions. Brigitte Tramier also made a good disc of this music. Of course you have to be in the mood for this sort of stuff.

[bioluminescentsquid]

Have you heard Paola Erdas play Chambonnières? It reminds me a bit of Langelle's second.

And maybe even more urgent than that is a magnificent D'Anglebert CD which I'd completely forgotten about, by Kenneth Gilbert and consisting of Lully transcriptions. Brigitte Tramier also made a good disc of this music. Of course you have to be in the mood for this sort of stuff.

Nope, need to find out more about this Erdas guy (I remember being very impressed by his Valente). I'm familiar with the Gilbert Lully: I'm always in the mood for this stuff!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zDQvX-gkpo
Meanwhile, I found this. A Sweelinck echo fantasy (ostensibly for organ, there're some that "echo" an octave down that are for harpsichord but this isn't one of them) on clavichord, yea or nay?
Methinks yea (mostly).

[bioluminescentsquid]

First impressions, from sound samples, excellent!

[Mandryka]

First impressions, from sound samples, excellent!

There's a review of this in Fanfare which compares it with a piano recording of some Bull, Alan Feinberg. The reviewer, Scott Noriega, makes this comment which surprised me:

. . .  people may argue that the modern piano would never give one a clear picture of the music, as the instrument itself cannot transcend the issues of tuning so specific to the music of this time period.

What does he mean?

[prémont]

There's a review of this in Fanfare which compares it with a piano recording of some Bull, Alan Feinberg. The reviewer, Scott Noriega, makes this comment which surprised me:

What does he mean?

The used instrument is probably equally tuned, and this changes in his opinion the expressive potential too much.