Harpsichordists - The New Generation

[Mandryka]

A new thread to talk about interesting younger harpsichordists of your choice.

One recording I really love by a young harpsichordist is Marco Farolfi's Scarlatti CD, which  to me to to have a wonderful collection of sonatas.  He plays in an inspired, spontaneous way, charged with an entirely appropriate spirit of duende, and yet he is at the same time brimming over with humanity. It has all the inspiration of Skip Sempe's Scarlatti CD without the hardness. And all the humanity of Pieter Jan Belder at his best, but none of Belder's carefulness.

[prémont]

A new thread to talk about interesting younger harpsichordists of your choice.

One recording I really love by a young harpsichordist is Marco Farolfi's Scarlatti CD, which  to me to to have a wonderful collection of sonatas.  He plays in an inspired, spontaneous way, charged with an entirely appropriate spirit of duende, and yet he is at the same time brimming over with humanity. It has all the inspiration of Skip Sempe's Scarlatti CD without the hardness. And all the humanity of Pieter Jan Belder at his best, but none of Belder's carefulness.

I have not investigated the ongoing Stradivarius Scarlatti cycle other than two of the volumes by Ottavio Dantone, - good but not remarcable. I have now put the Farolfi CD on my wish list.

An interesting and very individual Scarlatti interpreter I would like to mention is Enrico Baiano. His two Scarlatti CDs are IMO remarcable from an expressive point of view, as well as his Froberger and Frescobaldi CDs. I do not own others than these, but I know that Que has collected a number of his recordings.

Link to Amazon.fr with Baiano recordings:
http://www.amazon.fr/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?__mk_fr_FR=%C5M%C5Z%D5%D1&url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=enrico+baiano&x=15&y=24

And Amazon.it:
http://www.amazon.it/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_it_IT=%C5M%C5Z%D5%D1&url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=enrico+baiano&x=20&y=18

[Antoine Marchand]

IMO, some interesting new names (although not all of them are particularly young) are: Benjamin Alard (http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/search?fastsearch=alard%20benjamin&rubric=classic&pd_orderby=score); Aapo Häkkinen (http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/search?fastsearch=hakkinen&rubric=classic&pd_orderby=score); Cristiano Holtz (http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/search?fastsearch=Cristiano%20Holtz&rubric=classic&pd_orderby=score) and Pascal Dubreuil (http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/search?fastsearch=dubreuil%20pascal&rubric=classic&pd_orderby=score). Probably Celine Frisch is quite more familiar, but I would recommend unreservedly her Die Quellen des jungen Bach, as the best example of her artistry: http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Celine-Frisch-Die-Quellen-des-jungen-Bach/hnum/1115301.

[Mandryka]

I have not investigated the ongoing Stradivarius Scarlatti cycle other than two of the volumes by Ottavio Dantone, - good but not remarcable. I have now put the Farolfi CD on my wish list.

An interesting and very individual Scarlatti interpreter I would like to mention is Enrico Baiano. His two Scarlatti CDs are IMO remarcable from an expressive point of view, as well as his Froberger and Frescobaldi CDs. I do not own others than these, but I know that Que has collected a number of his recordings.

Link to Amazon.fr with Baiano recordings:
http://www.amazon.fr/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?__mk_fr_FR=%C5M%C5Z%D5%D1&url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=enrico+baiano&x=15&y=24

And Amazon.it:
http://www.amazon.it/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_it_IT=%C5M%C5Z%D5%D1&url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=enrico+baiano&x=20&y=18

I knew his aristocratic, extremely confident, Frescobaldi recording before.  I got Vol 2. of the Scarlatti, I'm very  tempted to get Vol 1 too. He has a mind of his own, Baiano. What do you think of the way he plays K 132? I find it very moving because it's so flexible.

Another interesting K 132 I found on spotify is from Bertrand Cuiller -- he's another youngish harpsichordist I'd like to see. I got to know of him through his Byrde CD, which is also on spotify.

[prémont]

I knew his aristocratic, extremely confident, Frescobaldi recording before.  I got Vol 2. of the Scarlatti, I'm very  tempted to get Vol 1 too. He has a mind of his own, Baiano. What do you think of the way he plays K 132? I find it very moving because it's so flexible.

I find his very individual and flexible playing very rewarding.

[milk]

I knew his aristocratic, extremely confident, Frescobaldi recording before.  I got Vol 2. of the Scarlatti, I'm very  tempted to get Vol 1 too. He has a mind of his own, Baiano. What do you think of the way he plays K 132? I find it very moving because it's so flexible.

Another interesting K 132 I found on spotify is from Bertrand Cuiller -- he's another youngish harpsichordist I'd like to see. I got to know of him through his Byrde CD, which is also on spotify.

The Cuiller Byrd recording is really magical!

[milk]

The Cuiller Byrd recording is really magical!

But I just realized one of the tracks I really love is In Nomine, MB 9 by John Bull.

[Mandryka]

This guy, Justin Taylor, can really play - that's to say he knows how to make the textures varied and how to let one voice lead over another. He is a thinker - the vision of Forqueray presented here is pretty well original for its nobility and its refinement. No one else uses ornaments in Forqueray like Justin Taylor does.  The image on the CD shows a young man, but that does not seem to impede depth of feeling and sense of style, much more impressive than Jean Rondeau IMO. In fact the depth of feeling is such that I'm almost ready to claim that he's part of the new wave of French music, which finds more emotion and reflectiveness than was previously dreamt of  - joining the ranks of Bertrand Cuiller and possibly Rousset if his latest Rameau if anything to judge by. He won a prize  at a competition in Bruges and you can hear why he impressed the jury. One to watch.

[hpowders]

I don't know if you would consider them "new", but I have a preference for Kenneth Weiss and Benjamin Alard in the solo works of J.S. Bach. Not "old", by any means.

[B_cereus]

I like Francesco Corti

[André]

A splash is made about everything Jean Rondeau does: his playing, his attire (he sometimes plays barefoot), his hairdo, etc. Sort of a Nigel Kennedy of the harpsichord.  Youtube videos abound, with tens of thousands of viewings. I'm not convinced. In Les Sauvages by Rameau for example, his descending scales are so fast as to blur the notes.

That's my initial impression. I might be wrong of course. Any opinions ?

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/812mLDnrd-L._SX522_.jpg

[bioluminescentsquid]

This guy, Justin Taylor, can really play - that's to say he knows how to make the textures varied and how to let one voice lead over another. He is a thinker - the vision of Forqueray presented here is pretty well original for its nobility and its refinement. No one else uses ornaments in Forqueray like Justin Taylor does.  The image on the CD shows a young man, but that does not seem to impede depth of feeling and sense of style, much more impressive than Jean Rondeau IMO. In fact the depth of feeling is such that I'm almost ready to claim that he's part of the new wave of French music, which finds more emotion and reflectiveness than was previously dreamt of  - joining the ranks of Bertrand Cuiller and possibly Rousset if his latest Rameau if anything to judge by. He won a prize  at a competition in Bruges and you can hear why he impressed the jury. One to watch.

Although I 'gotta say that Justin Taylor is a mighty fine harpsichordist, it seems like I'm the only person who isn't very impressed with this Forqueray release.
It could be just because I'm used to the Leonhardt and Koopman playing Forqueray, but I find that Taylor's approach is a rather hit-or-miss one: he does has an exceptional talent in stringing the phrases together, with "fluid" playing, along with plenty of charming ornaments that I like to think as ligatures or flourishes (as in typography) which tie things together.



But at the same time, with his agogics, it seems like some of the drive, bite, and growl (to me, the sine qua non of Forqueray) of the music is sacrificed, and he occasionally can even seem a bit lost, as I found in La Rameau of the 5th suite. But I see how you, Mandryka, would love his very free style, since you've mentioned your love for Ruiter-Feenstra's Froberger, which I've also avoided because of similar reasons.

But I have to say that the slow movements (such as La Silva, which he even improvises on) are absolutely amazing, and sufficient reason to get the disc - so is the final Jupiter!

Meanwhile, I like Jean Rondeau - although (physically) flashy, he does play, for me, in the best of tastes: his Royer is the interpretation nonpareil.

[Mandryka]

For me bliss and pain are more of a sine qua non than bite and growl in Forqueray. I can enjoy Koopman, but it's Leonhardt's final recording which most developed my expectations in this music.

[André]

Thanks, squid ! Very informative post. 

[Mandryka]

his Royer is the interpretation nonpareil.

No just hold on there. We have two extraordinary discs by Rousset to think about.

[Kontrapunctus]

Despite looking like Jerry Lewis from "The Nutty Professor" in this photo, he is a very fine player:

[bioluminescentsquid]

Despite looking like Jerry Lewis from "The Nutty Professor" in this photo, he is a very fine player:

The Goldberg was OK (still like Rannou, Hantai, Leonhardt etc.) but the rather tinny sound of the harpsichord turned me off of this one.

For me bliss and pain are more of a sine qua non than bite and growl in Forqueray. I can enjoy Koopman, but it's Leonhardt's final recording which most developed my expectations in this music.

Yep - Leonhardt's "Bliss and pain" (I have the Diapason re-issue of it) is my favorite Forqueray recording, along with Koopman. It's quite a shame that Leonhardt didn't record more of the 5th suite, since almost all of my favorite pieces (Rameau, Boisson, Jupiter etc.) are in there.

[Mandryka]

I like Francesco Corti

Do you know what sort of harpsichord he plays?

[bioluminescentsquid]

Do you know what sort of harpsichord he plays?

On this one (which is on Spotify), apparently he plays the Neuchatel Ruckers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-hhGKcszSI

Rather nice - although it might not oust van Asperen, Hogwood or Leonhardt, it's Louis Couperin at its grandest and showiest. Watch out for that Branle de Basque on the CD!

There's also a Partitas CD by him, but I'll have to get more tips before I get it.

[Mandryka]

On this one (which is on Spotify), apparently he plays the Neuchatel Ruckers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-hhGKcszSI

Rather nice - although it might not oust van Asperen, Hogwood or Leonhardt, it's Louis Couperin at its grandest and showiest. Watch out for that Branle de Basque on the CD!

Agreed.