GMG Classical Music Forum

The Music Room => Great Recordings and Reviews => Topic started by: Mandryka on October 25, 2010, 09:54:45 AM

Title: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on October 25, 2010, 09:54:45 AM
I am really enjoying the recording of Boehm's 6th suite played by Gustav Leonhardt on the clavichord, on this astonishingly good Sony CD. The sound is so intimate and the instrument so beautifully colourful. The music is great too.

He recorded the same music for harpsichord too -- IMO the clavichord is much more alluring.

I want to hear more clavichord music – so recommendations would be very much appreciated.

Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Bulldog on October 25, 2010, 10:25:34 AM
Richard Troeger has recorded 4 volumes of "Bach on Clavichord" for the Lyrichord Early Music label.  My favorite is his Art of Fugue which also comes with the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue and a couple of other works on a 2cd set.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Antoine Marchand on October 25, 2010, 10:29:39 AM
Jaroslav Tůma has some excellents recordings on clavichord (Arta Records). He has recorded, for instance, the Goldberg Variations (2-CD set, first disc on two clavichords, second one on harpsichord) and The Well-Tempered Clavier (4 CDs), called there The Well-Tempered Clavichord:

http://www.youtube.com/v/v7IyetFoUkI

Goldberg Variations

Tůma plays on two clavichords: the first one is an instrument built in 2004 and based on an original of 1761 by David Tannenberg and chosen as the lower manual for the pair of clavichords. On it stood the second one: a small instrument that is a copy (2002) of a clavichord of 1787 built by Christian Gottlob Hubert of Ansbach.

http://www.youtube.com/v/1oOyXgNL6HU

The Well-Tempered Clavichord Book 1.

Clavichord built by Martin Kather from Hamburg in 1999, after the David Tannenberg manuscript from 1761.

Some additional info HERE (http://www.arta.cz/index.php?p=shop_item&id=F10165&site=en).
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Scarpia on October 25, 2010, 11:15:31 AM
Quote from: Antoine Marchand on October 25, 2010, 10:29:39 AM
Jaroslav Tůma has some excellents recordings on clavichord (Arta Records). He has recorded, for instance, the Goldberg Variations (2-CD set, first disc on two clavichords, second one on harpsichord) and The Well-Tempered Clavier (4 CDs), called there The Well-Tempered Clavichord:

http://www.youtube.com/v/v7IyetFoUkI

Goldberg Variations

Tůma plays on two clavichords: the first one is an instrument built in 2004 and based on an original of 1761 by David Tannenberg and chosen as the lower manual for the pair of clavichords. On it stood the second one: a small instrument that is a copy (2002) of a clavichord of 1787 built by Christian Gottlob Hubert of Ansbach.

http://www.youtube.com/v/1oOyXgNL6HU

The Well-Tempered Clavichord Book 1.

Clavichord built by Martin Kather from Hamburg in 1999, after the David Tannenberg manuscript from 1761.

Some additional info HERE (http://www.arta.cz/index.php?p=shop_item&id=F10165&site=en).

All appear to be out of print, or at least unavailable in the US. 

I mentioned this one on another thread, it is also out of print, but hyperion sells it as a download.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51%2BTTLW7b8L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)

Book I is on clavichord.   

Here's an interesting thing that I used to have on vinyl.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41MP86GGVZL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Antoine Marchand on October 25, 2010, 11:29:26 AM
Quote from: Scarpia on October 25, 2010, 11:15:31 AM
All appear to be out of print, or at least unavailable in the US. 

I mentioned this one on another thread, it is also out of print, but hyperion sells it as a download.


I purchased my discs directly on Arta Records. They use a secure server, you can pay with American dollars and in my case the discs arrived without problem.

JPC is another option, but sometimes they don't have stock, usually the price duplicate Arta and, additionally, shipping and handling costs are criminal, if you don't buy a big amount (flat rate). 
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Scarpia on October 25, 2010, 11:55:12 AM
Quote from: Antoine Marchand on October 25, 2010, 11:29:26 AM
I purchased my discs directly on Arta Records. They use a secure server, you can pay with American dollars and in my case the discs arrived without problem.

Listened to a few excepts on their web site, and they sound attractive.   But I must say I am astonished by a company that ostensibly makes its living by selling recordings, but which doesn't have the wherewithal to distribute their product through normal channels or at least list them on amazon. 
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on October 25, 2010, 01:02:01 PM
Quote from: Bulldog on October 25, 2010, 10:25:34 AM
Richard Troeger has recorded 4 volumes of "Bach on Clavichord" for the Lyrichord Early Music label.  My favorite is his Art of Fugue which also comes with the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue and a couple of other works on a 2cd set.

I'd quite like to hear some more Bach. I like Kirkpatrick, but his instrument is so slick. It must be thoroughly modernised.

Leonhardt in the Boehm suite I love so much plays a more characterful instrument. Less beautiful that AK's,  but you miss something.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Bulldog on October 25, 2010, 01:18:16 PM
Quote from: Scarpia on October 25, 2010, 11:55:12 AM
Listened to a few excepts on their web site, and they sound attractive.   But I must say I am astonished by a company that ostensibly makes its living by selling recordings, but which doesn't have the wherewithal to distribute their product through normal channels or at least list them on amazon.

I don't know.  From what I read from time to time, even on this board, there are many companies that don't distribute through "normal channels".  The reasons for such a marketing strategy are beyond me.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Gurn Blanston on October 25, 2010, 01:34:41 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on October 25, 2010, 01:02:01 PM
I'd quite like to hear some more Bach. I like Kirkpatrick, but his instrument is so slick. It must be thoroughly modernised.

Leonhardt in the Boehm suite I love so much plays a more characterful instrument. Less beautiful that AK's,  but you miss something.

Well, I don't go back to that older stuff. If you have an interest in the Classical Era clavichord works, I have a lot of disks by Haydn and CPE Bach and a few by Mozart that are commendable. Let me know if you are interested in that era. The clavichord lived on into the early 19th century and some composers (like Haydn for example) used them for most of their composition work.

8)
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Scarpia on October 25, 2010, 01:35:50 PM
Quote from: Bulldog on October 25, 2010, 01:18:16 PM
I don't know.  From what I read from time to time, even on this board, there are many companies that don't distribute through "normal channels".  The reasons for such a marketing strategy are beyond me.

I suspect many are motivated by a desire to capture the entire purchase price, rather than share profits with a distributor or retailer.  However, I don't appreciate that they apparently want to get this additional profit at the expense of my convenience.  I'm not anxious to give my credit card information to a myriad of retailers and restrict myself to amazon and a few other internet stores that offer good values.

In the end it's up to them, but I can't believe wider distribution wouldn't allow them to make more money by selling more units at a reduced margin.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Bulldog on October 25, 2010, 02:02:54 PM
Quote from: Scarpia on October 25, 2010, 01:35:50 PM
I suspect many are motivated by a desire to capture the entire purchase price, rather than share profits with a distributor or retailer.  However, I don't appreciate that they apparently want to get this additional profit at the expense of my convenience.  I'm not anxious to give my credit card information to a myriad of retailers and restrict myself to amazon and a few other internet stores that offer good values.

In the end it's up to them, but I can't believe wider distribution wouldn't allow them to make more money by selling more units at a reduced margin.

Okay.  I suppose that if I wanted a disc badly enough, I would purchase from one of those "no middle-man" companies.  Actually, I have done just that, but only a few times.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Bulldog on October 25, 2010, 02:04:26 PM
Quote from: Gurn Blanston on October 25, 2010, 01:34:41 PM
Well, I don't go back to that older stuff. If you have an interest in the Classical Era clavichord works, I have a lot of disks by Haydn and CPE Bach and a few by Mozart that are commendable. Let me know if you are interested in that era. The clavichord lived on into the early 19th century and some composers (like Haydn for example) used them for most of their composition work.

8)

One of them is a Haydn/Cerasi disc on Metronome where she plays a fortepiano as well.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Gurn Blanston on October 25, 2010, 02:56:39 PM
Quote from: Bulldog on October 25, 2010, 02:04:26 PM
One of them is a Haydn/Cerasi disc on Metronome where she plays a fortepiano as well.

Yup. That's a nice disk, I had to wait a few months for its release but worth it. :)

8)

---------------
Now playing:
Manchester Camerata \ Perkins & Boyd - Weber Op 35 Andante e Rondo Ungarese for Bassoon 1st mvmt - Andante
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on September 23, 2015, 06:47:13 AM
Here's a pretty complete list of clavichord recordings. It's not totally reliable, it doesn't have Ilton Wjuniski's recording of Spanish music, for example.

http://www.clavichord.info/clavkult_media.html

Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on September 23, 2015, 06:47:30 AM
Here are some  I like, mostly 16th century music

(http://www.arta.cz/arta/site/Image/f10136.jpg) I think there are some good things in his WTC, and some boring things. He's an annoyingly variable performer -- he goes from sublime to drab. And I'm feeling very pleased to have Michael Tsalka's Goldbergs too.

(http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0000YRJ1Y.03.LZZZZZZZ.jpg) and the other volume

(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0003/481/MI0003481178.jpg) Tilney also has some WTC 1 on clavichord which I've not heard (I'm not crazy about his WTC 2 on harpsichord.) And he has a CPEB disc which I have heard but I don't like the music much.

I intend to rehear Troeger's Bach soon, I remember feeling quite positive.

There seems to be a huge variation from one clavichord to the next. Some clavichords I haven't warmed to -- like the one that Clemencic uses for Cabezon. And sometimes I've just not got into a clavichord recording because the same music is better (by the same performer even) on other instruments (I'm thinking about Leonhardt's Bohm, Peter Ella's Sweelinck)

Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: XB-70 Valkyrie on September 24, 2015, 09:11:50 PM
Ralph Kirkpatrick playing Book II of the WTC. (Bk. I he recorded on harpsichord)
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Jo498 on September 24, 2015, 11:42:44 PM
I never heard one live, cannot stand it on recordings. I got rid of the WTC II by Kirkpatrick despite its merits because I never listened to it as I disliked the sound. I dislike the clavichord disc in Schornsheim's Haydn box. I think I have another Capriccio disc with CPE Bach on harpsichord, don't like the sound either.
It seem to be impossible to capture that sound of the instrument on recordings in a way I can listen to without being distracted by the side noises or other features of sound production. Maybe I should try a newer recording by a supposedly "audiophile" label like MDG; problem is that listening to sound samples online usually does not help because those can sound horrible, even when the recording in question does not.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on September 30, 2015, 08:33:14 AM
Does Siegbert Rampe play clavichord on any of his Mozart recordings?
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Gurn Blanston on September 30, 2015, 08:43:51 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Cl9j0-WPns

I have been following this guy on Youtube for a long time. He is outstanding, and the instrument is nicely recorded. He does a series on recording experiments, and after he posts, he does another vid a couple of days later to talk about the piece and the particular challenges or interesting points in playing/recording. He is a very nice guy too, and if you want to talk to him, he will answer your questions very freely.

8)
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Karl Henning on September 30, 2015, 08:47:09 AM
Quote from: Gurn Blanston on September 30, 2015, 08:43:51 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Cl9j0-WPns

I have been following this guy on Youtube for a long time. He is outstanding, and the instrument is nicely recorded. He does a series on recording experiments, and after he posts, he does another vid a couple of days later to talk about the piece and the particular challenges or interesting points in playing/recording. He is a very nice guy too, and if you want to talk to him, he will answer your questions very freely.

8)

Cool.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on September 30, 2015, 10:41:40 AM
Quote from: Gurn Blanston on September 30, 2015, 08:43:51 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Cl9j0-WPns

I have been following this guy on Youtube for a long time. He is outstanding, and the instrument is nicely recorded. He does a series on recording experiments, and after he posts, he does another vid a couple of days later to talk about the piece and the particular challenges or interesting points in playing/recording. He is a very nice guy too, and if you want to talk to him, he will answer your questions very freely.

8)

Isn't it wonderful how the clavichord gives a distinct timbre to each voice? And the harmonies are really exquisite -- must be partly the tuning.  I'd like to hear the Schumann fantasy played on one.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: premont on September 30, 2015, 10:58:05 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on September 30, 2015, 08:33:14 AM
Does Siegbert Rampe play clavichord on any of his Mozart recordings?

According to JPC´s listing here:

https://www.jpc.de/s/siegbert+rampe

the answer seems to be yes, but I do not know the recordings.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Gurn Blanston on September 30, 2015, 11:09:33 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on September 30, 2015, 10:41:40 AM
Isn't it wonderful how the clavichord gives a distinct timbre to each voice? And the harmonies are really exquisite -- must be partly the tuning.  I'd like to hear the Schumann fantasy played on one.

I talked to him about when he gets far enough in the future that the compass is too broad for the instrument. He says it is on a case by case basis. However, he does have a couple of Beethoven sonatas and even some Schubert in there. Listen to his Gretchen am Spinnrade (without vocals) and you will be really surprised something that late can play on such a narrow keyboard.

I am already a very big clavichord fan, I have nearly the complete Haydn works on clavichord, for example.

This is one of my favorite disks:
[asin]B0000AXLTH[/asin]

and this is another:
[asin]B000FDFS04[/asin]


These are some good sounding instruments, and damn well played, too. :)

8)
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on September 30, 2015, 11:16:16 AM
Quote from: (: premont :) on September 30, 2015, 10:58:05 AM
According to JPC´s listing here:

https://www.jpc.de/s/siegbert+rampe

the answer seems to be yes, but I do not know the recordings.

It's a big investment -- but he's such a good clavichord player! Best I've ever heard.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on October 02, 2015, 08:06:24 AM
(http://i.prs.to/t_200/philips4223492.jpg)

Absolutely exquisite C minor French Suite here.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Jo498 on October 30, 2015, 02:10:31 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on October 02, 2015, 08:06:24 AM
(http://i.prs.to/t_200/philips4223492.jpg)

Absolutely exquisite C minor French Suite here.

I now got this in the "Legend of Leonhardt" box. It's maybe the most pleasant sounding of the half dozen or clavichord discs I have encountered and one that does not make me want to switch of. In fact, I like it quite a bit (including the sound) after one run, although the CPE Bach probably more than the French Suite (probably because I have no "alternative" piano or harpsichord sound in mind for the CPE Bach).
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on November 01, 2015, 02:13:54 AM
Quote from: Jo498 on October 30, 2015, 02:10:31 PM
I now got this in the "Legend of Leonhardt" box. It's maybe the most pleasant sounding of the half dozen or clavichord discs I have encountered and one that does not make me want to switch of. In fact, I like it quite a bit (including the sound) after one run, although the CPE Bach probably more than the French Suite (probably because I have no "alternative" piano or harpsichord sound in mind for the CPE Bach).

Did you enjoy the WF Bach polonaises?

You should maybe check Leonhardt's recording of CPEB on harpsichord. I remember when I was listening to that sort of music thinking that Leonhardt makes it sound quite interesting to hear.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Jo498 on November 01, 2015, 02:45:53 AM
[asin]B00000E3UX[/asin]

That's the earlier single issue of the disc I referred to.
I liked them as well, but above all I wanted to point out that I was not distracted by the sound of the instrument and overall rather liked it, as I never found on any earlier clavichord recording I remember (Kirkpatrick, Schornsheim and a few more)

No, I have not heard the Seon CPE Bach disc; on the back it says that he plays harpsichord, clavichord and fortepiano there.

[asin]B00003J6IH[/asin]
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Luke on November 01, 2015, 02:59:09 AM
As attested elsewhere on the board, I adore the clavichord unreservedly. Indeed I have one of my own and have written a few pieces for it, too. Amidst many great Classical/pre-Classical recommendations, may I thoroughly recommend this disc, or more specifically these pieces. A minor masterpiece of 20th century music, IMO, especially the second set, Howells' Clavichord, which are exquisite gems to play oneself, too, at clavichord or piano.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51etWy%2Bza6L._SX425_PJautoripBadge,BottomRight,4,-40_OU11__.jpg)
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on November 01, 2015, 04:20:14 AM
Quote from: Jo498 on November 01, 2015, 02:45:53 AM
[asin]B00000E3UX[/asin]

That's the earlier single issue of the disc I referred to.
I liked them as well, but above all I wanted to point out that I was not distracted by the sound of the instrument and overall rather liked it, as I never found on any earlier clavichord recording I remember (Kirkpatrick, Schornsheim and a few more)

No, I have not heard the Seon CPE Bach disc; on the back it says that he plays harpsichord, clavichord and fortepiano there.

[asin]B00003J6IH[/asin]

Yes, I'd completely forgotten. Piano for some rondos and clavichord for some fantasias and a sonata, the rest harpsichord. Thanks for bringing it up.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on November 01, 2015, 04:21:58 AM
Quote from: Luke on November 01, 2015, 02:59:09 AM
As attested elsewhere on the board, I adore the clavichord unreservedly. Indeed I have one of my own and have written a few pieces for it, too.

Please post a recording straight away, particularly if it contains some nested tuplets.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Luke on November 01, 2015, 04:32:17 AM
Ha! No nested ones, I'm afraid. Just the boring unnested sort. Here are screen shots of a couple of them, though, if you want.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Karl Henning on November 01, 2015, 05:10:19 AM
Quote from: Luke on November 01, 2015, 04:32:17 AM
Ha! No nested ones, I'm afraid. Just the boring unnested sort. Here are screen shots of a couple of them, though, if you want.


Sweet!
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on November 01, 2015, 05:14:56 AM
I wish I could read!
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Drasko on November 01, 2015, 12:32:08 PM
The only clavichord recording that I have (not intentionally, I like the sound of the instrument) is a fine one: Jaroslav Tuma playing Bach on restored instrument made by Johann Christoph Georg Schiedmayer in 1789.

(http://c3.cduniverse.ws/resized/630x630/music/613/1174613.jpg)

Unfortunately out of print but it seems download can be purchased from the label:

http://www.arta.cz/index.php?p=shop_item&id=F10076

Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Wakefield on November 01, 2015, 03:33:28 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on November 01, 2015, 04:20:14 AM
Yes, I'd completely forgotten. Piano for some rondos and clavichord for some fantasias and a sonata, the rest harpsichord. Thanks for bringing it up.

I think you would enjoy this recording:

http://www.youtube.com/v/I9VEW1fK70c

CPE Bach, Fantasia I, Wq.59/5
Mathieu Dupouy, clavichord
(Martin Kather, 2001, after Hubert, 1787)

Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on November 28, 2015, 09:44:48 AM
(http://www1.hbdirect.com/coverm/28/22128.jpg)

Phillippe Chanel plays some early music on a colourful and lute like instrument, I don't have the booklet and can't find any details of what he's using. Philippe Chanel appears to be an academic with some papers on clavichord to his name, which always bodes well. On spotify etc and worth hearing for sure. The style is expressive and that's what I like.

I've discovered something about clavichord recordings. They're nice to hear with the amp turned well down. And nice to hear with the amp turned up and sitting very close to the speakers. Like driving over speed bumps - either very fast or very slow but not in between. (Maybe that's why it sounds so like a lute.)
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on December 20, 2015, 12:23:31 AM
(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Apr05/sweelinck_mdg34112562.jpg)

The recording here of Sweelinck's variations on "Mein  junges Lieber's hat ein end" confirms my thesis that Siegbert Rampe is the greatest clavichord player since Johann Sebastian Bach. He manages to make the music as light as a March for fairies by Mendelssohn.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Monsieur Croche on January 10, 2016, 03:12:58 AM
Ralph Kirkpatrick did a wonderful performance of The Goldberg Variations.
It was on vinyl -- in the day -- and has been out of print for some time. Unless an individual has transferred it, it will be found only on vinyl, used. It is really worth a listen, if you run across it.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Spineur on January 17, 2016, 09:59:34 AM
Alexei Lubimov has recently recorded Joseph Haydn "The seven last words of Christ" on a tangent piano which uses a similar mechanism as the clavichord.
It is an absolutly stunning reading of this masterpiece.  This artist litterally floored me.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Gurn Blanston on January 17, 2016, 10:24:39 AM
Quote from: Spineur on January 17, 2016, 09:59:34 AM
Alexei Lubimov has recently recorded Joseph Haydn "The seven last words of Christ" on a tangent piano which uses a similar mechanism as the clavichord.
It is an absolutly stunning reading of this masterpiece.  This artist litterally floored me.

Yes, a superb recording. I am very fond of the tangent piano. True, its mechanism closely resembles the clavichord, but its sound, to me, is more like a quiet harpsichord with dynamics! Poor description but makes the point, I think. I have some Mozart and CPE Bach on the Tangentenflügel, but this is my only Haydn. :(

8)
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on January 27, 2016, 09:37:31 PM
(http://c3.cduniverse.ws/resized/250x500/music/208/9201208.jpg)

Jaroslav Tuma plays Pachelbel and Froberger on Supraphon.

I think this contains some of the best performances of Pachelbel that I know, in particular a very sensitive and colourful aria sebaldina.   Pachelbel recordings I like are like hen's teeth, which makes the recording particularly valuable to me. The longest piece on the recording is tagged as suite in G major by Froberger (I need to check whether this is correct, I have a doubt), which Tüma plays with lots of rhythmic rubato, but to my ears the result does not sound particularly natural or expressive. Tüma has recorded another Froberger CD, and I had some reservations about that too.



Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on March 02, 2016, 07:56:35 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71n02aP9-AL._SL1500_.jpg)

Johannes Bogner plays some very well known Domenico Scarlatti sonatas on a Christofori clavichord. He plays beautifully and expressively. The clavichord is percussive enough for the music (surprisingly.) It's a top quality Scarlatti CD despite the unimaginative selection.

The recording was a revelation to me. One trait of the Christofori clavichord is that the timbres in the bass is very different from the treble. So the voices are separated out really clearly. And that shows that whatever Scarlatti is doing in these sonatas at least, he is NOT writing music which is particularly interesting from a polyphonic point of view. Scarlatti is a high baroque composer, a galant composer.  Maybe I should have seen that before, but it took this recording to make me grok it.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on April 20, 2016, 07:45:22 AM
(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0001/010/MI0001010310.jpg)

René Clemencic plays music written out by Clemens Hör (who he?) Noisy instrument, not in any way, shape or form sweet, combined with really expressive playing of some very attractive music. The combination is a real winner - the best solo clavichord album I've heard from Clemencic by far (I've just ordered the recording of music written out by Johannes von Lublin (who he?) in the same series, I have high expectations.)
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on June 14, 2016, 10:23:06 PM
(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2003/Nov03/gothic_74321990532.jpg)

The boundary between clavichord and lute are explored in this, the second volume of Gothic music by René Clemencic. The music from all three CDs in the set were taken from lute anthologies, and appropriately Clemencic has chosen an instrument where you could almost imagine he is plucking the strings with his hands. It is marked by extremely colour saturated tones, almost hyperreal.

Most of the  music works by rhythmic variation, and Clemencic is a master. What Clemencic does which is so impressive is this: he lets the music respire through exquisitely judged pauses. The result is something which is introspective in extremis, and something which is alive, organic.

The contrast between Clemencic's highly expressive, spiritual and refined, delicate style, and the old instrument, with it's audible action and hallucinogenic chromaticism, is very distinctive and constitutes one of the unforgettable charms of the CD. It's like a metaphor for the union of mind, body and spirit which the performances incarnate. (Do I go too far? No!)


For people who are at home with the idiom of this music, people who can enjoy the abstract style of a Froberger capriccio for example, this is IMO a majorly exciting CD.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on July 22, 2016, 09:47:21 AM
Quote from: Draško on November 01, 2015, 12:32:08 PM
The only clavichord recording that I have (not intentionally, I like the sound of the instrument) is a fine one: Jaroslav Tuma playing Bach on restored instrument made by Johann Christoph Georg Schiedmayer in 1789.

(http://c3.cduniverse.ws/resized/630x630/music/613/1174613.jpg)

Unfortunately out of print but it seems download can be purchased from the label:

http://www.arta.cz/index.php?p=shop_item&id=F10076

Tuned Kirnberger III to great effect in eg Invention 9, it's imaginative and expressive. These pieces suit the clavichord really well.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on July 27, 2016, 11:02:38 AM
https://www.youtube.com/v/OCnD9nF-tRQ

This is Kevin Komisariuk (who has successfully recorded some Scheidt) playing a Frescobaldi Toccata on a clavichord.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on July 29, 2016, 09:37:15 PM
(http://www.resonusclassics.com/image/cache/data/albums/RES10163-500x500.jpg)

Bach's French Suites played here with touching simplicity and warmth by Julian Perkins, who benefits from excellent engineering and a colourful instrument.

The approach is literal and devoid of irony. The voices always work together to support each other, rather than interact in a more complex dramatic relationship; the cantabile is simple and fluid; the drama is minimised; orchestral grandeur is absent; the voice is intimate rather than commanding and authoritative. Nevertheless (hence?) what Perkins does is rather enjoyable, and I can imagine someone, me in some moods in fact,  would prefer Perkins over other readings. In the booklet Perkins says that he likes to imagine the suites were a wedding present, and you can see how that idea is reflected in the performance: sweet, loving, straightforward, domestic.

That makes three recordings of the complete French Suites on clavichord: Tilney, Perkins and Dart.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on September 18, 2016, 03:14:51 AM
(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/042/MI0001042779.jpg)

This is a post in praise of the above recording of WTC2 by Kirkpatrick. It's tempting to pigeonhole Kirkpatrick as a colourful Walcha, and that seems to be borne out by his early harpsichord recordings, especially those on revival instruments. But this his second WTC is late - 1969 - and I think it often shows him sympathetic to ideas which were current about Bach performance at the time, despite a disposable tendency to play too fast. It was recorded two years after Leonhardt's and I bet there was some fertilisation of ideas about phrasing and rhythm there.

What's more the instrument is fabulous, and well recorded.

Kirkpatrick may have had a bit of a swansong. I remember being very favourably impressed by his second Scarlatti recording, this time on a HIP harpsichord. He was clearly interested in Scarlatti and WTC - he wrote books on both. His book on WTC I've read and I recall nothing about it except that it was poetic, passionate.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: milk on March 02, 2017, 07:54:59 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on July 29, 2016, 09:37:15 PM
(http://www.resonusclassics.com/image/cache/data/albums/RES10163-500x500.jpg)

Bach's French Suites played here with touching simplicity and warmth by Julian Perkins, who benefits from excellent engineering and a colourful instrument.

The approach is literal and devoid of irony. The voices always work together to support each other, rather than interact in a more complex dramatic relationship; the cantabile is simple and fluid; the drama is minimised; orchestral grandeur is absent; the voice is intimate rather than commanding and authoritative. Nevertheless (hence?) what Perkins does is rather enjoyable, and I can imagine someone, me in some moods in fact,  would prefer Perkins over other readings. In the booklet Perkins says that he likes to imagine the suites were a wedding present, and you can see how that idea is reflected in the performance: sweet, loving, straightforward, domestic.

That makes three recordings of the complete French Suites on clavichord: Tilney, Perkins and Dart.
Yes. This is no nonsense. Hmm...I haven't heard Tilney. I love the Cuiller and Dupouy recordings of CPE. They really work. For some reason, to me, the clavichord on these recordings makes Bach sound more serious and dry than it should. I'll make an exception with what's on Levin's WTC. I love that. I never got Troeger at all. I love it when the clavichord works. But I have a much harder time finding the instances when it pleases me. Hmm...so...anything else going on with the Clavichord these days? No one has tried French music with it?
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: bioluminescentsquid on March 03, 2017, 02:02:54 AM
Quote from: milk on March 02, 2017, 07:54:59 PM
Hmm...so...anything else going on with the Clavichord these days? No one has tried French music with it?

From what I know, late Baroque French music generally doesn't work well on Clavichord (too ornamental; needs longer sustain), although a few composers did own one, probably for practice (e.g. Armand-Louis Couperin).
See this article:
http://www.pyirvin.com/early_keyboards_in_france.html

Clavichords were somewhat more common in 17th century France, and there is a disc of assorted works (some D'Anglebert or L. Couperin) played on the clavichord described in Mersenne's treatises, but I guess that I still prefer harpsichord in this type of music :)
(http://www.charlston.co.uk/mersenne%20cover%20large.jpg)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRo5HIEAgAE

Meanwhile, I've fallen in love with Wim Winters' channel dedicated to the clavichord. Be sure to check out his recent Partitas recording, as there are some quite eccentric (usually tempo-wise: his 2nd Partita Capriccio is the slowest one I know of, but works quite well in bringing out the affekt of the work), but beautiful, interpretations in there.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8vR6VP-3o_SpdnEBrpYGiQ
Some other quite interesting things on the channel are his polemical arguments on historical tempo, or the Waldstein sonata, even a few pieces by Schubert, played on the clavichord.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on March 03, 2017, 01:33:34 PM
Quote from: milk on March 02, 2017, 07:54:59 PM
Yes. This is no nonsense. Hmm...I haven't heard Tilney. I love the Cuiller and Dupouy recordings of CPE. They really work. For some reason, to me, the clavichord on these recordings makes Bach sound more serious and dry than it should. I'll make an exception with what's on Levin's WTC. I love that. I never got Troeger at all. I love it when the clavichord works. But I have a much harder time finding the instances when it pleases me. Hmm...so...anything else going on with the Clavichord these days? No one has tried French music with it?

(http://www.giovannidececco.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/copertina-cd-clavicordo.jpg)

I don't much like it.

Quote from: milk on March 02, 2017, 07:54:59 PM
Yes. This is no nonsense. Hmm...I haven't heard Tilney. I love the Cuiller and Dupouy recordings of CPE. They really work. For some reason, to me, the clavichord on these recordings makes Bach sound more serious and dry than it should. I'll make an exception with what's on Levin's WTC. I love that. I never got Troeger at all. I love it when the clavichord works. But I have a much harder time finding the instances when it pleases me. Hmm...so...anything else going on with the Clavichord these daysNo one has tried French music with it?

Serious possibly, but I hear tender and loving. I don't hear dry.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on March 03, 2017, 01:39:12 PM
Quote from: bioluminescentsquid on March 03, 2017, 02:02:54 AM
From what I know, late Baroque French music generally doesn't work well on Clavichord (too ornamental; needs longer sustain), although a few composers did own one, probably for practice (e.g. Armand-Louis Couperin).
See this article:
http://www.pyirvin.com/early_keyboards_in_france.html

Clavichords were somewhat more common in 17th century France, and there is a disc of assorted works (some D'Anglebert or L. Couperin) played on the clavichord described in Mersenne's treatises, but I guess that I still prefer harpsichord in this type of music :)
(http://www.charlston.co.uk/mersenne%20cover%20large.jpg)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRo5HIEAgAE



Yes I've never got on very well with that one. The French composer (in a manner of speaking) who works well on clavichord is Froberger.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on May 28, 2017, 10:58:06 AM
Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue BWV 903, rather nicely played by Pawel Siwczak

https://www.youtube.com/v/8GO3hmbdwaw  https://www.youtube.com/v/HfB82JVSuo0
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on June 12, 2017, 11:12:48 AM
https://www.youtube.com/v/sEDZHQXdM_g

Attractive toccata from Bach's 6th partita here, played by Ryan Layne Whitney
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on October 24, 2017, 09:50:46 AM
A 1615 Frescobaldi Toccata played by Anna Maria McElwain -- very nice IMO.

https://www.youtube.com/v/5yZO0BPiPdM

There's an essay by Stembridge where he says that these toccatas "might have been played" on a clavichord.  I guess there were clavichords around. Anyway I like it.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: bioluminescentsquid on December 18, 2017, 03:56:58 PM
More Jaroslav Tuma; I listened to the samples and found it to be played on a wonderful instrument, but I'm wondering if anyone else has their thoughts on this.
http://www.arta.cz/index.php?p=shop_item&id=F10184&site=en
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on December 18, 2017, 08:55:17 PM
Quote from: bioluminescentsquid on December 18, 2017, 03:56:58 PM
More Jaroslav Tuma; I listened to the samples and found it to be played on a wonderful instrument, but I'm wondering if anyone else has their thoughts on this.
http://www.arta.cz/index.php?p=shop_item&id=F10184&site=en

I got this when it first came out, all I can say is that it may be very well played on a beautiful instrument, and well recorded, but despite several tries (including one just now) the music never seems to "come off the page" The problem I have is something I've faced before with Tuma's latter clavichord style: he fills the music with expressive devices - pauses, different types of rubato etc - but the result doesn't actually express anything to me. This could be me of course, rather than him.

Froberger needs a bit more empfundsamer style than Tuma is prepared to give it. The Froberger style I like in the later suites is more ardent, mysterious, sinuous, sensitive.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: bioluminescentsquid on January 01, 2018, 07:33:04 AM
Found an attractively played Bach Chaconne transcription by Wim Winters on my feed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_7Uwdj-nTQ
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on March 10, 2018, 05:45:25 AM
https://www.youtube.com/v/bfwMUuzCWAs

K 310 here on clavichord from Gerard van Reenen -- IMO it sounds right.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Alek Hidell on March 11, 2018, 11:35:34 AM
Please forgive what is probably a stupid question. It looks to me like the number of keys on a clavichord is quite limited compared to, say, a harpsichord. Is this correct, or am I missing something? And if it is correct, doesn't that severely restrict which music can be played on it?

(Yes, I'm sure I can Google this, but I'd rather hear from someone here.)
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on April 29, 2018, 08:59:33 AM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91PDbvaaBhL._SL1500_.jpg)

This is Menno van Delft with CU 1 on clavichord, so far I've heard only 4 and 6. He seems to completely eschew empfindsamer style ( contrast Ryan Layne Whitney playing the toccata of the E minor suite on YouTube, which I posted on this thread.) The result is a a bit severe, there's too many chords, it's not light and delicate, and I'm so far wondering whether clavichord is a good choice for the music, at least as he plays it (contrast Julian Perkins in the French Suites - there's a world of difference between the music in the two sets of suites, that's becoming clearer to me.)

Anyway the jury's out, but it's early days. Hopefully someone will come along and talk it up and make me feel more positive.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on April 29, 2018, 09:01:10 AM
Quote from: Alek Hidell on March 11, 2018, 11:35:34 AM
Please forgive what is probably a stupid question. It looks to me like the number of keys on a clavichord is quite limited compared to, say, a harpsichord. Is this correct, or am I missing something? And if it is correct, doesn't that severely restrict which music can be played on it?

(Yes, I'm sure I can Google this, but I'd rather hear from someone here.)

I'm pretty sure that it varies from one clavichord to another. Organists used to practise at home on a pair of stacked clavichord . . .  And as you can see you can play Bach suites on one, and the Goldbergs, WTC, Froberger suites, some Frescobaldi toccatas  etc.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: North Star on April 29, 2018, 11:29:28 AM
Quote from: Alek Hidell on March 11, 2018, 11:35:34 AM
Please forgive what is probably a stupid question. It looks to me like the number of keys on a clavichord is quite limited compared to, say, a harpsichord. Is this correct, or am I missing something? And if it is correct, doesn't that severely restrict which music can be played on it?

(Yes, I'm sure I can Google this, but I'd rather hear from someone here.)
A clavichord can certainly have enough keys for the 'Waldstein' Sonata...

https://www.youtube.com/v/bCJ0-xAoduk
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Alek Hidell on April 29, 2018, 11:40:07 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on April 29, 2018, 09:01:10 AM
I'm pretty sure that it varies from one clavichord to another. Organists used to practise at home on a pair of stacked clavichord . . .  And as you can see you can play Bach suites on one, and the Goldbergs, WTC, Froberger suites, some Frescobaldi toccatas  etc.

Thanks, Mandryka (edit: and North Star). I've just finished looking up some info on them and you're right that the number of keys can vary. It seems that before around 1730, clavichords had a four-octave range. After that it increased to five octaves. That's actually about the same as a harpsichord, which surprises me a little. It just looks (to me, anyway) like a harpsichord has a wider range.

I guess Baroque composers, when writing for keyboard (excluding the organ, perhaps), didn't write any notes lower than F1 or higher than F6. And that's a pretty good range - lots of music to be made in there. :)
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: bioluminescentsquid on April 29, 2018, 09:50:33 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on April 29, 2018, 08:59:33 AM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91PDbvaaBhL._SL1500_.jpg)

This is Menno van Delft with CU 1 on clavichord, so far I've heard only 4 and 6. He seems to completely eschew empfindsamer style ( contrast Ryan Layne Whitney playing the toccata of the E minor suite on YouTube, which I posted on this thread.) The result is a a bit severe, there's too many chords, it's not light and delicate, and I'm so far wondering whether clavichord is a good choice for the music, at least as he plays it (contrast Julian Perkins in the French Suites - there's a world of difference between the music in the two sets of suites, that's becoming clearer to me.)

Anyway the jury's out, but it's early days. Hopefully someone will come along and talk it up and make me feel more positive.

Haven't been on here for a while :)
I thought it was an interesting recording. Beautiful sounding clavichord - it's time that someone do the partitas on it! Solid playing, of course. I can understand the "severe" complaint, but I guess that's a bit of the nature of the clavichord -- fluttery French music doesn't work well on it. (I will have to meditate more on this) But somehow the clavichord just makes so much more sense in the slow movements! 
If I had any complaint, it would be that at times it sounds a bit "mannered" - the way he phrases reminds me of highly inflected speaking.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Que on April 29, 2018, 10:02:47 PM
.[asin]B07CCLPYY1[/asin]

Soooo.... Van Delft plays the Partitas on the clavichord.....
I didn't see that one coming... I guess I should have read the fine print.

Two thoughts came to my mind:
1. It is hard to imagine these pieces on anything other than a harpsichord
2. Menno van Delft is an superb clavichord player, if anyone can pull it off it must be him....

I might be persuaded to give it a try....  :)

Q
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on April 29, 2018, 10:35:07 PM
Quote from: bioluminescentsquid on April 29, 2018, 09:50:33 PM
Haven't been on here for a while :)
I thought it was an interesting recording. Beautiful sounding clavichord - it's time that someone do the partitas on it! Solid playing, of course. I can understand the "severe" complaint, but I guess that's a bit of the nature of the clavichord -- fluttery French music doesn't work well on it. (I will have to meditate more on this) But somehow the clavichord just makes so much more sense in the slow movements! 
If I had any complaint, it would be that at times it sounds a bit "mannered" - the way he phrases reminds me of highly inflected speaking.

Have you heard that clavichord performance by Ryan Layne Whitney on YouTube of Partita 6 that I posted? That seems much less severe, and all the better for being so.

(I'm feeling a bit more positive about van Delft today than yesterday though! The trick is to find the right volume level.)
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on April 29, 2018, 10:36:47 PM
Quote from: Que on April 29, 2018, 10:02:47 PM
.

2. Menno van Delft is an superb clavichord player, if anyone can pull it off it must be him....


Q

So does he give clavichord concerts and stuff in Holland?

Quote from: Que on April 29, 2018, 10:02:47 PM



I might be persuaded to give it a try....  :)

Q

I think you will like it, from what I've seen of your taste from this forum. When I first played it I actually said to myself that this is the sort of recording que will like (there you go - how's that for putting my neck on the line!)
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on April 30, 2018, 04:37:41 AM
Some interesting clavichord ideas and samples from Keith Hill here

http://keithhillharpsichords.com/clavichords/
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on May 09, 2018, 05:00:44 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on April 29, 2018, 08:59:33 AM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91PDbvaaBhL._SL1500_.jpg)

This is Menno van Delft with CU 1 on clavichord, so far I've heard only 4 and 6. He seems to completely eschew empfindsamer style ( contrast Ryan Layne Whitney playing the toccata of the E minor suite on YouTube, which I posted on this thread.) The result is a a bit severe, there's too many chords, it's not light and delicate, and I'm so far wondering whether clavichord is a good choice for the music, at least as he plays it (contrast Julian Perkins in the French Suites - there's a world of difference between the music in the two sets of suites, that's becoming clearer to me.)

Anyway the jury's out, but it's early days. Hopefully someone will come along and talk it up and make me feel more positive.

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.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: bioluminescentsquid on May 09, 2018, 05:22:14 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on April 30, 2018, 04:37:41 AM
Some interesting clavichord ideas and samples from Keith Hill here

http://keithhillharpsichords.com/clavichords/

The first chromatic fantasy by Robert Hill is marvelous! And sweet sounding clavichord.

And wow, I'm surprised by your harsh assessment of the van Delft partitas. I'll listen to it further to see if anything comes.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on May 15, 2018, 12:11:47 PM
Quote from: bioluminescentsquid on May 09, 2018, 05:22:14 PM
.

And wow, I'm surprised by your harsh assessment of the van Delft partitas. I'll listen to it further to see if anything comes.

I wonder whether part of the problem I'm having is really to do with the clavichord he chose, to me it doesn't seem to be very well balanced, the bass is weaker then the treble, my ear is constantly being attracted to the upper voices.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: bioluminescentsquid on May 15, 2018, 08:24:08 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on May 15, 2018, 12:11:47 PM
I wonder whether part of the problem I'm having is really to do with the clavichord he chose, to me it doesn't seem to be very well balanced, the bass is weaker then the treble, my ear is constantly being attracted to the upper voices.

I don't know, here is a different recording on the same clavichord (I like the recording technique here better). I didn't have that impression that the clavichord is not balanced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TnBtSKslDw
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: bioluminescentsquid on May 16, 2018, 02:23:34 AM
Didn't know if this recording came up here before, but very beautiful recording of Fischer on a Hass clavichord copy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN7u1Au9PPs
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on May 16, 2018, 09:47:45 AM
Quote from: bioluminescentsquid on May 16, 2018, 02:23:34 AM
Didn't know if this recording came up here before, but very beautiful recording of Fischer on a Hass clavichord copy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN7u1Au9PPs

Thanks, it's a collection I wouldn't mind getting to know because I read somewhere that it probably influenced Bach's partitas. The clavichord is colourful.

Today I spent some time listening to French Suites by Colin Tilney and Julian Perkins, I much prefer Perkins!
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: bioluminescentsquid on May 16, 2018, 12:05:46 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on May 09, 2018, 05:00:44 AM
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.

Someone else also told me something like this today about the van Delft Partitas, something to the effect of "van Delft plays very well on the clavichord but can be very boring" So I don't think you're alone with this.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Alek Hidell on June 01, 2018, 05:30:30 PM
Quote from: bioluminescentsquid on May 16, 2018, 02:23:34 AM
Didn't know if this recording came up here before, but very beautiful recording of Fischer on a Hass clavichord copy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN7u1Au9PPs

Thanks for that, bioluminescentsquid. Very nice, indeed. Too bad there doesn't seem to be a recording available outside of this video.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: GioCar on June 01, 2018, 09:25:25 PM
This is more than a curiosity, methinks

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71tWPgNh-TL._SL1200_.jpg)
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71vn7JsdP1L._SL1200_.jpg)
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on June 01, 2018, 10:42:01 PM
Quote from: GioCar on June 01, 2018, 09:25:25 PM
This is more than a curiosity, methinks


It's curious.

When I first heard it I thought he was playing some sort of electrified instrument, I can't find any information about the. clavichord he's using. Whatever he's playing, he plays it like a piano, and it sounds like a twelve string  guitar with a pickup. This gives it a touch of cool.

The interpretations of WTC also have a touch of cool. They are fast and fun and easy to get into, with a sense of swing that makes you want to sway your shoulders, and a sense of rhythm that makes your feet tap and your hands clap, and a constant care to make one of the tunes dominate the show. Happy clappy Bach. With the right marketing this could be for WTC what Gould was for the Goldbergs.

On the back there it says that the playing is self effacing and private and unpretentious. This is not true.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on June 05, 2018, 09:05:05 AM
After very much enjoying Joseph Payne play in very restrained and intimate style music by JS Bach from the WF Bach Notebook, I was naturally led to seek out more, and I came to this, the final volume in his Pachelbel series for Centaur. There is a sequence of five modest suites, played suitably modestly on a modest clavichord. Not unattractive domestic music when you're in the mood, satisfyingly interpreted IMO by Payne, albeit without Rampe's nuance and delicacy on clavichord. Sound quality is fine.

(http://www.centaurrecords.com/store/media/catalog/product/cache/1/thumbnail/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/2/4/2491bc_1.jpg)
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on June 05, 2018, 09:40:43 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on May 09, 2018, 05:00:44 AM
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.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on June 09, 2018, 02:57:59 AM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51f70mLPY7L.jpg)

This is Stefan Müller and Johann Sonnleitner playing AoF, including the unfinished fugue as left, and a completion by Erich Bergel. The instrument is a copy of a Johann Heinrich Silbermann pedal clavichord, tuned to Neidhard "für eine große Stadt". Intimate, expressive, contemplative, well recorded.  Not clear which pieces are for four hands and feet, and which are for two, probably because the booklet is only in German, which I can't read.

In an nutshell this is Leonhardt DHM style on a clavichord. I like it very much.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: premont on June 09, 2018, 04:03:28 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on June 09, 2018, 02:57:59 AM
This is Stefan Müller and Johann Sonnleitner playing AoF, including the unfinished fugue as left, and a completion by Erich Bergel. The instrument is a copy of a Johann Heinrich Silbermann pedal clavichord, tuned to Neidhard "für eine große Stadt". Intimate, expressive, contemplative, well recorded.  Not clear which pieces are for four hands and feet, and which are for two, probably because the booklet is only in German, which I can't read.

In an nutshell this is Leonhardt DHM style on a clavichord. I like it very much.


According to the booklet usual unbound clavichords without pedal are used for this recording. Most of the four part pieces are played by two players (four hand) on two clavichords. A few of the four part pieces (no mention of which ones) and all the three- and the two part pieces are played only by one player. The booklet doesn't state whom.

It is some years since I heard this recording. I recall the interpretation as being expressive, thoughtful and cantabile but also a bit relaxed, and I did not get any associations to Leonhardt's tense DHM account.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on June 09, 2018, 05:42:54 AM
Yes, maybe. and maybe this type of clavichord must sound more relaxed than a harpsichord, just because of the quality of the tone. I mean, I know that Clemencic can make a clavichord sound tense, but it's a different type of instrument that he uses I think.

By the way, I've been very much enjoying Wjuniski's CD of Spanish music.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: milk on June 09, 2018, 05:33:35 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on June 09, 2018, 02:57:59 AM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51f70mLPY7L.jpg)

This is Stefan Müller and Johann Sonnleitner playing AoF, including the unfinished fugue as left, and a completion by Erich Bergel. The instrument is a copy of a Johann Heinrich Silbermann pedal clavichord, tuned to Neidhard "für eine große Stadt". Intimate, expressive, contemplative, well recorded.  Not clear which pieces are for four hands and feet, and which are for two, probably because the booklet is only in German, which I can't read.

In an nutshell this is Leonhardt DHM style on a clavichord. I like it very much.
wish I could get a hold of this. The only other is Troeger? What happened to him?
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: premont on June 10, 2018, 04:29:09 AM
Quote from: milk on June 09, 2018, 05:33:35 PM
wish I could get a hold of this. The only other is Troeger? What happened to him?


Troeger recorded a lot more Bach, but it seems as if he cannot find anyone to release it. Surprising, that Lyrichord chose to release Jean Paul's recordings of WTC et.c. instead.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: premont on June 10, 2018, 04:29:58 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on June 09, 2018, 05:42:54 AM
By the way, I've been very much enjoying Wjuniski's CD of Spanish music.


So did I.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on June 10, 2018, 07:18:35 AM
Review of Meno van Delft's Partitas here, but what bastards Music Web were to give the job to someone who has no interest in or sympathy towards old clavichords! As if they set Meno van Delft and Resonus Classics up.

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2018/Jun/Bach_partitas_RES10212.htm

I'm afraid there's a very negative review on amazon.com too.

(The recording is growing on me, it reminds me a bit of Belder's CPE Bach for its seriousness and restraint. Chorzempa's WTC too. These are the sort of performances which reveal their qualities slowly.)

Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: milk on June 10, 2018, 06:52:22 PM
Quote from: (: premont :) on June 10, 2018, 04:29:09 AM

Troeger recorded a lot more Bach, but it seems as if he cannot find anyone to release it. Surprising, that Lyrichord chose to release Jean Paul's recordings of WTC et.c. instead.
I never understood Troeger. Should I go back to it? Does he have big fans here?  Maybe I misssed it at the time...his AOF too.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on June 10, 2018, 08:40:54 PM
Quote from: milk on June 10, 2018, 06:52:22 PM
I never understood Troeger. Should I go back to it? Does he have big fans here?  Maybe I misssed it at the time...his AOF too.

Troeger's partitas are pretty standard interpretations on a clavichord, nicely played and nicely recorded. If you have van Delft it's not uninteresting to compare and contrast instruments and style. I like Troeger's lively wide awake Art of Fugue and sonata/BWV 1006a very much. I haven't heard the rest but I'll correct that soon.

With Troeger, I have the impression that he's playing the clavichord rather like a harpsichord, the textures he creates are familiar harpsichord textures. With Ella (in Sweelinck) and Rampe (Sweelinck, Philips, Froberger) I feel that they're finding a more native clavichord style. But for all I know this may be to do with the music, I notice that Ella used a harpsichord for AoF, that Rampe never used a harpsichord for Bach, and Troeger only recorded Bach.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Que on June 10, 2018, 09:25:49 PM
Quote from: milk on June 10, 2018, 06:52:22 PM
I never understood Troeger. Should I go back to it? Does he have big fans here?  Maybe I misssed it at the time...his AOF too.

I wouldn't bother...  8)

Q
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: premont on June 11, 2018, 12:38:17 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on June 10, 2018, 08:40:54 PM
With Troeger, I have the impression that he's playing the clavichord rather like a harpsichord, the textures he creates are familiar harpsichord textures.

My impression too. There is too little inflection of individual notes.

Quote from: Mandryka
...that Rampe never used a harpsichord for Bach...

..that Rampe never used a clavichord for Bach  - I suppose.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on June 11, 2018, 01:04:39 AM
Quote from: (: premont :) on June 11, 2018, 12:38:17 AM

..that Rampe never used a clavichord for Bach  - I suppose.

Yes sorry
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: milk on June 20, 2018, 04:09:36 AM
(http://www.charlston.co.uk/mersenne%20cover%20large.jpg) how about this?
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on June 26, 2018, 09:31:31 AM
https://youtube.com/v/RZ6uSP6eSYU

Gerard van Reenen Pachelbel Aria Sebaldina, he's put more of  the Hexachordum Apollinis on YouTube, this one at least is exceptionally good, one of the best I've heard.  He released them on a CD apparently
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: premont on June 30, 2018, 03:51:48 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on June 26, 2018, 09:31:31 AM
https://youtube.com/v/RZ6uSP6eSYU

Gerard van Reenen Pachelbel Aria Sebaldina, he's put more of  the Hexachordum Apollinis on YouTube, this one at least is exceptionally good, one of the best I've heard.  He released them on a CD apparently


Thanks for posting this beautiful and expressive recording.

I suppose he published the CD in Holland, unavailable to simple mortals like us.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on July 18, 2018, 10:06:37 PM
An example of a cembalo d'amour, an instrument that José Miguel Moreno speculates was played by David Kellner.

https://youtube.com/v/aICXfF4Kvio
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on July 31, 2018, 05:28:01 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on March 03, 2017, 01:33:34 PM
(http://www.giovannidececco.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/copertina-cd-clavicordo.jpg)

I don't much like it.


Well I've changed my mind, I very much like it. Giovanni de Cecco is a real clavichord player, that's to say he doesn't play it like a piano or a harpsichord or an organ, the textures are distinctive and suit the instrument well. His approach is serious and sensual, tasteful and imaginative, full of changes of attack.  He's recorded the complete Mozart sonatas too, which I look forward to listening to. This is much much more interesting to hear than Baumont IMO.

Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: premont on July 31, 2018, 06:16:11 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on July 31, 2018, 05:28:01 AM
Well I've changed my mind, I very much like it. Giovanni de Cecco is a real clavichord player, that's to say he doesn't play it like a piano or a harpsichord or an organ, the textures are distinctive and suit the instrument well. His approach is serious and sensual, tasteful and imaginative, full of changes of attack.  He's recorded the complete Mozart sonatas too, which I look forward to listening to. This is much much more interesting to hear than Baumont IMO.


Where did you find this. I only find a download. Not even Amazon.it lists a CD.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on July 31, 2018, 06:32:59 AM
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!)
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on July 31, 2018, 06:49:23 AM
From Gramophone, an anonymous review of van Delft's partitas,

Quote

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.

Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Que on July 31, 2018, 07:47:20 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on July 31, 2018, 06:49:23 AM
From Gramophone, an anonymous review of van Delft's partitas,

Thanks for posting.  :)

Q
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on October 23, 2018, 08:28:11 AM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/518m76lwHUL.jpg)

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.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on January 22, 2019, 06:36:41 AM
https://www.youtube.com/v/WK1k8EYMY6k

An interesting recording of the 5th French Suite played by Gerard van Reenen
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on January 22, 2019, 12:51:59 PM
Quote from: San Antone on January 22, 2019, 06:50:04 AM
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.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51f70mLPY7L.jpg)
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on May 30, 2019, 12:44:36 AM
(https://static.qobuz.com/images/covers/35/53/3610155815335_600.jpg)

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.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on July 15, 2019, 08:15:37 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91PDbvaaBhL._SL1500_.jpg)

Quote from: Mandryka on May 09, 2018, 05:00:44 AM
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.

Quote from: Mandryka on June 05, 2018, 09:40:43 AM
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.

https://youtube.com/v/cxGbVmttOjQ
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: milk on July 19, 2019, 12:56:09 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on July 15, 2019, 08:15:37 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91PDbvaaBhL._SL1500_.jpg)

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.

https://youtube.com/v/cxGbVmttOjQ
I guess it's great to have these free on youtube. Still, I wonder why he doesn't make studio recordings recently?
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on July 19, 2019, 02:03:38 AM
I don't think there's any money in making studio recordings these days.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: milk on July 19, 2019, 04:59:35 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on July 19, 2019, 02:03:38 AM
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?
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on July 22, 2019, 06:24:28 AM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/817xsGGHD7L._SL1200_.jpg)

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.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on September 13, 2019, 12:35:44 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51-snZ1jmLL._SX355_.jpg)

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.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on September 26, 2019, 05:25:48 AM
(https://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2308855.1438869053!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/ratio_1x1_w1200/image.jpg)

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.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on February 17, 2020, 12:45:11 AM
(https://www.dibpic.com/uploads/posts/2020-02/1581754652_cover.jpg)


I believe this is part of  a complete set of Mozart keyboard sonatas, I'm actually listening right now to 545 in Volume 2. The encounter with the clavichord really does present the music in a new light, Giovanni de Cecco is a serious scholar musician and that comes across here. It certainly provides more grist to the mill for the opposition to modern piano, with its pure tones: how the music comes to life on a colourful instrument like a fortepiano or clavichord! Well worth exploring for me.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on September 29, 2020, 10:57:05 AM
https://www.youtube.com/v/SxRU8S8qRdU&ab_channel=HarpsichordVinylGallery

Bernard Brauchli  playing an instrument in a way which reminds me of Clemencic's keyboard recordings.  I think it's rather good, some moving moments in this.

QuoteSide A     
00:00 Anonymous Estampie London, Brit Mus., add. 28550 (ca. 1320)   
05:01 Anonymous Estampie (Retrové)  ibid.   
10:03 C. Paumann (1410-1473) Mit ganczem Willen wunsch ich dir Fundamentum Organisandi (M. Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Ms. 40613) (1452)   
13:10 Anonymous Quant ien congneu à ma pensée
Mus. ms. 2987 d. Staatsbibliothek München (ca. 1550)   
14:51 H. Newsidler (1508-1563) Der Zeuner tantz  Ein neues Lautenbuchlein (1540)   
15:46 H. Weck (1495-1536) Tancz der schwarcz knab Organ Tablature of J. Kotter (1513ff.)   
18:41 J. Kotter (1485-1541) Fantasia in Ut ibid.   
20:31 Chr. Löffelholtz von Kolberg (1552-1619) Es het ein Baur sein freylein verlohren 
Tabulaturbuch (1585)   
     
Side B       
22:37 Anonymous My Lady Careys Dompe Ms. R. App. 58, British Museum (ca. 1530)   
26:17 Anonymous The short mesure off My Lady Wynkfylds Rownde ibid.   
27:40 W. Byrd (1543-1623) Pavan: The Earle of Salisbury Parthenia (1611)   
29:58 Attaingnant (14 ..-1453) Basse dance (Saint Roch) Quatorze Gaillardes (1531)   
31:38 Attaingnant Gaillarde ibid.   
32:33 Attaingnant Branle Gay de Poitou ibid.   
33:43 J.A. Dalza Pavana alia Venetiana  Intabulatura de Lauto, Petrucci (1508)   
36:20 A. Gardane (1509-1569) Lodesana Gagliarda Intabolatura nova (1551)   
37:18 A. Gardane Gamba Gagliarda ibid.   
38:31 L. Milan (15 .. -1561) Pavana Libra de Musica (1536)   
40:14 L. Milan Pavana ibid.   
41:33 A. de Cabezon (1510-1566) Himno a 3  Ms. Mus. nu . 242 Bibl. Univ. Coimbra   
43:19 A. Valente La Romanesca con 5 Mutanze Intavolatura de cimbalo (Naples 1576)
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Dry Brett Kavanaugh on September 29, 2020, 11:42:20 AM
Quote from: milk on June 10, 2018, 06:52:22 PM
I never understood Troeger. Should I go back to it? Does he have big fans here?  Maybe I misssed it at the time...his AOF too.

In general I like his recordings though the playing gets a little too fast sometimes.
Rather, I question the quality of recording sound, which seems to lack clarity and fail to fully convey the color of sound.
Is it difficult to faithfully record and reproduce clavichord sound, otherwise am I somehow biased?
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: milk on September 30, 2020, 03:33:44 AM
Quote from: Dry Brett Kavanaugh on September 29, 2020, 11:42:20 AM
In general I like his recordings though the playing gets a little too fast sometimes.
Rather, I question the quality of recording sound, which seems to lack clarity and fail to fully convey the color of sound.
Is it difficult to faithfully record and reproduce clavichord sound, otherwise am I somehow biased?
I wonder why Troeger just sort of disappeared.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: premont on September 30, 2020, 03:49:22 AM
Quote from: milk on September 30, 2020, 03:33:44 AM
I wonder why Troeger just sort of disappeared.

I have heard rumors that he has recorded much more Bach (among others WTC) but that the release was discarded for economical or contractual reasons. Interesting though, that Lyrichord later chose to release the far inferior lute harpsichord recordings by John Paul (English, French suites and partitas).
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: milk on October 01, 2020, 02:46:52 AM
Quote from: (: premont :) on September 30, 2020, 03:49:22 AM
I have heard rumors that he has recorded much more Bach (among others WTC) but that the release was discarded for economical or contractual reasons. Interesting though, that Lyrichord later chose to release the far inferior lute harpsichord recordings by John Paul (English, French suites and partitas).
I didn't like those John Paul recordings when I first heard them but I listened to them recently and thought they were better than I'd thought.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: premont on October 01, 2020, 03:32:18 AM
Quote from: milk on October 01, 2020, 02:46:52 AM
I didn't like those John Paul recordings when I first heard them but I listened to them recently and thought they were better than I'd thought.

Some years ago I purchased four John Paul CDs with different Bach suites and partitas and listened several times to these. My impression was invariably the same, finding his playing rough and unrefined. The contrast to Rübsam's later released recordings is striking. However I haven't parted with the John Paul recordings, maybe because I intended to give them another try.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: milk on October 01, 2020, 04:51:11 AM
Quote from: (: premont :) on October 01, 2020, 03:32:18 AM
Some years ago I purchased four John Paul CDs with different Bach suites and partitas and listened several times to these. My impression was invariably the same, finding his playing rough and unrefined. The contrast to Rübsam's later released recordings is striking. However I haven't parted with the John Paul recordings, maybe because I intended to give them another try.
It does have a rough quality. I like the instrument he plays which sounds much more uneven than Rubsam's. Of course Rubsam's playing is another world entirely. I didn't like them a few years ago but the other day I gave them a listen. 
ETA: Paul's series doesn't seem to have completed either. This label tends to cut projects off?
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on December 23, 2020, 03:48:16 AM
https://www.youtube.com/v/7Zyrl9npaqQ&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=ClavichordandHarpsichord

G major WTC 1 prelude on a 1/4 comma meantone clavichord.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on June 13, 2021, 10:06:04 AM
(https://www.organroxx.com/web/image/product.template/2212/image)

Just found this by accident though it seems to have been around for a year or more - Waldner's always exceptional IMO and this is no exception (sorry! Is that a pleonasm?) Listening with great pleasure to a French Suite, or rather 818a,  now.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: mabuse on June 15, 2021, 01:54:13 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on June 13, 2021, 10:06:04 AM
(https://www.organroxx.com/web/image/product.template/2212/image)

Just found this by accident though it seems to have been around for a year or more - Waldner's always exceptional IMO and this is no exception (sorry! Is that a pleonasm?) Listening with great pleasure to a French Suite, or rather 818a,  now.

Thanks so much for reporting this, Mandryka!  :)

I ordered the 2 cds on the label's website:
https://organroxx.com/en_US/shop/category/cds-chamber-music-organroxx-38
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: mabuse on June 16, 2021, 04:05:38 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on August 04, 2018, 11:44:10 PM
Tsalka's recording is sensual, spontaneous, and emotional. It's a hoot! One has the impression of a young virtuoso relishing entertaining his audience with a lively bit of music. He uses two clavichords, both characterful, colourful and twangy, played with gusto.

:)

This record had me very enthusiastic !

(https://www.clicmusique.com/covers/large/9120040730963.jpg)

Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: mabuse on June 16, 2021, 04:25:46 AM
In a different genre, I also really enjoyed this old recording of Thurston Dart that Eloquence reissued last year:
(https://www.eloquenceclassics.com/files/2020/08/4829398_BachFrenchSuites_Dart-compressed-1024x1024.jpg)
https://www.eloquenceclassics.com/releases/bach-french-suites/

With fast tempos and no repeat, everything fits on one CD in just 52 minutes!
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on June 16, 2021, 04:49:37 AM
Quote from: mabuse on June 16, 2021, 04:25:46 AM
In a different genre, I also really enjoyed this old recording of Thurston Dart that Eloquence reissued last year:
(https://www.eloquenceclassics.com/files/2020/08/4829398_BachFrenchSuites_Dart-compressed-1024x1024.jpg)
https://www.eloquenceclassics.com/releases/bach-french-suites/

With fast tempos and no repeat, everything fits on one CD in just 52 minutes!

Try his Froberger.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: mabuse on June 17, 2021, 11:27:50 AM
About Froberger, it is especially this recording that I would like to come back to:
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81rpa8t3oeL._SL400_.jpg)  (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71Qf3dGiBHL._SL400_.jpg)
Froberger : Complete Fantasias and Canzonas
Terence Charlston, clavichord
Divine Art (2020)
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kbkYMq_O49O-MQBXhyeep9t7VNKQA5No4

The very stripped down music is played with great sensitivity ...
I'll get the CD.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: mabuse on June 17, 2021, 12:00:25 PM
Quote from: Scarpia on October 25, 2010, 11:15:31 AM
Here's an interesting thing that I used to have on vinyl.
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/8116sScdiIL._SL500_.jpg)

Oscar Peterson playing clavichord !!!

I love it  8)
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lD535pKI6_3QCNxyk_e1gl6D1KiYCM_8U

liner notes :
« No other version of the music from Porgy and Bess casts a spell like the one created here by Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass. Enchanted by the tonal qualities of the clavichord, a predecessor of the piano, Peterson determined to use it as a jazz instrument.
To balance and complement the sound of the clavichord, he enlisted his frequent colleague Joe Pass, who set aside his amplifier to play acoustic guitar. As repertoire, Peterson chose Gershwin's 20th century opera and crafted arrangements that make it seem as if the music had been composed for clavichord and guitar. The result is a chamber music recording of timelessness and charm. »

Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on June 17, 2021, 01:25:55 PM
Quote from: mabuse on June 17, 2021, 11:27:50 AM
About Froberger, it is especially this recording that I would like to come back to:
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81rpa8t3oeL._SL400_.jpg)  (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71Qf3dGiBHL._SL400_.jpg)
Froberger : Complete Fantasias and Canzonas
Terence Charlston, clavichord
Divine Art (2020)
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kbkYMq_O49O-MQBXhyeep9t7VNKQA5No4

The very stripped down music is played with great sensitivity ...
I'll get the CD.

I agree totally, I think it's a tremendous recording.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on July 17, 2021, 07:52:10 AM
https://www.youtube.com/v/38hgCCoGxgE&ab_channel=NetherlandsBachSociety


Menno van Delft playing the chromatic fantasy and fugue on a clavichord. If you'd have asked me I'd have said that this shouldn't work because the music demands the brilliance of a harpsichord, like the toccata of the 6th partita. But I think they've cheated by recording the clavichord closely -- so it sounds more brilliant than the recording of the Partitas he made.


QuoteAn exceptional performance!
I'm eager to know how this was recorded? Was the sound amplified during the performance too? I know how quiet the sound of a clavichord is. I remember doing a clavichord course 2 years ago and you can barely hear it from a distance of 10+ meters

In this video he seems to be using the same instrument, and when he plays (about 2 and a half minutes in)  it it sounds more natural, less amplified

https://www.youtube.com/v/NrKyzvMEKxE&ab_channel=NetherlandsBachSociety


Anyway, he's a good musician I think and so worth hearing.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: milk on July 19, 2021, 04:59:45 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on July 17, 2021, 07:52:10 AM
https://www.youtube.com/v/38hgCCoGxgE&ab_channel=NetherlandsBachSociety


Menno van Delft playing the chromatic fantasy and fugue on a clavichord. If you'd have asked me I'd have said that this shouldn't work because the music demands the brilliance of a harpsichord, like the toccata of the 6th partita. But I think they've cheated by recording the clavichord closely -- so it sounds more brilliant than the recording of the Partitas he made.

Anyway, he's a good musician I think and so worth hearing.
Robert Hill has a recording of this that I absolutely loved. It's hard for me to find it though because he put out a bunch of compilations of sort-of non-standard Bach keyboard music with particular titles. But I remember it being bright and hallucinogenic.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on July 29, 2022, 04:37:10 AM
A Kirkpatrick Bach clavichord recording I wasn't aware of

https://open.spotify.com/album/0FMLoTOnNYVe45kJKhCtQU?highlight=spotify:track:5ksDXgjgqKq0SBmIo0EPGM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSKQWiolNhE&ab_channel=RalphKirkpatrick-Topic
https://play.qobuz.com/album/3610159299377
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: premont on July 29, 2022, 04:45:48 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on July 29, 2022, 04:37:10 AM
A Kirkpatrick Bach clavichord recording I wasn't aware of

https://open.spotify.com/album/0FMLoTOnNYVe45kJKhCtQU?highlight=spotify:track:5ksDXgjgqKq0SBmIo0EPGM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSKQWiolNhE&ab_channel=RalphKirkpatrick-Topic
https://play.qobuz.com/album/3610159299377

In the 1960es he recorded a number of Bach keyboard pieces on clavichord for Archiv. Of course WTC I and II, but also the inventions and sinfonias, the suites BWV 818, 819 and most of the small preludes from WF Bach's clavierbuchlein and even the applicatio among them.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on September 04, 2022, 08:59:35 AM
(https://d1iiivw74516uk.cloudfront.net/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwcmVzdG8tY292ZXItaW1hZ2VzIiwia2V5IjoiOTM2NzI0My4xLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6MzAwfSwianBlZyI6eyJxdWFsaXR5Ijo2NX0sInRvRm9ybWF0IjoianBlZyJ9LCJ0aW1lc3RhbXAiOjE2NjAyMTY0MzV9)

Features the big bad chaconne on a clavichord, which seems a reasonable thing to do.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on December 08, 2022, 10:04:45 AM
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rOEXQ1IpiKY

Hakkinen plays a Haydn sonata - I like it, I will have to check his Haydn CD.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on January 20, 2023, 12:40:56 PM
A Frescobaldi toccata! Who would've thunk it? -- Another wonderful Jap musician -- Kanji Daito.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5MnWBNgvvE&ab_channel=KanjiDaito%E5%A4%A7%E8%97%A4%E8%8E%9E%E7%88%BE
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on January 20, 2023, 01:46:33 PM
Quote from: mabuse on June 17, 2021, 11:27:50 AMAbout Froberger, it is especially this recording that I would like to come back to:
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81rpa8t3oeL._SL400_.jpg)  (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71Qf3dGiBHL._SL400_.jpg)
Froberger : Complete Fantasias and Canzonas
Terence Charlston, clavichord
Divine Art (2020)
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kbkYMq_O49O-MQBXhyeep9t7VNKQA5No4

The very stripped down music is played with great sensitivity ...
I'll get the CD.


It's very good - I'm listening to the canzonas tonight and it's very good!  And as was the case with Joseph Payne's Bull Pavans - having all the Froberger Canzonas collected together like this reveals a fabulous cycle. For some reason (which I'll check tomorrow) Asperen didn't present then like that. Neither did Egarr.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on January 21, 2023, 03:23:37 AM
More Kanji Daito -- this kid's the biz until you start to think about it. When you do you realise that he's playing clavichord like a harpsichord -- no real use of dynamics for example, or vibrato, and the liaisons between the notes is harpsichord like. But still, nice harpsichord performances using a clavichord.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1tsCOUBu2I&list=PLhcJddblbx4G2c4RDkWO_enPD-30JQoAs&index=16&ab_channel=KanjiDaito%E5%A4%A7%E8%97%A4%E8%8E%9E%E7%88%BE

Louis Couperin prelude -- nice to get a glimpse of that score!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24oo5A4-Fd0&list=PLhcJddblbx4G2c4RDkWO_enPD-30JQoAs&index=7&ab_channel=KanjiDaito%E5%A4%A7%E8%97%A4%E8%8E%9E%E7%88%BE

Froberger Toccata


Here's Siegbert Rampe playing Froberger on clavichord -- I think he's more connected to the instrument's potential.


https://open.spotify.com/track/39bG8QUv2IHPk3DfZ6QhAk?si=e5d336e20dae438f
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: premont on January 21, 2023, 04:48:01 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on January 21, 2023, 03:23:37 AMMore Kanji Daito -- this kid's the biz until you start to think about it. When you do you realise that he's playing clavichord like a harpsichord -- no real use of dynamics for example, or vibrato, and the liaisons between the notes is harpsichord like. But still, nice harpsichord performances using a clavichord.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1tsCOUBu2I&list=PLhcJddblbx4G2c4RDkWO_enPD-30JQoAs&index=16&ab_channel=KanjiDaito%E5%A4%A7%E8%97%A4%E8%8E%9E%E7%88%BE

Louis Couperin prelude -- nice to get a glimpse of that score!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24oo5A4-Fd0&list=PLhcJddblbx4G2c4RDkWO_enPD-30JQoAs&index=7&ab_channel=KanjiDaito%E5%A4%A7%E8%97%A4%E8%8E%9E%E7%88%BE

Froberger Toccata


In my ears he offers very expressive and idiomatic clavichord playing except for the use of vibrato. There are on youtube also some more of his recordings, Bach inventions among them. I shall listen to these soon.

Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on January 21, 2023, 06:01:31 AM
Quote from: premont on January 21, 2023, 04:48:01 AMIn my ears he offers very expressive and idiomatic clavichord playing except for the use of vibrato. There are on youtube also some more of his recordings, Bach inventions among them. I shall listen to these soon.



I was being a hard taskmaster. It is amazing, the quality of musicians coming out of Japanese conservatories today. His website shows a lively person.


https://www.patreon.com/kanjidaito
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on February 18, 2023, 11:31:42 AM
Quote from: premont on January 21, 2023, 04:48:01 AMIn my ears he offers very expressive and idiomatic clavichord playing except for the use of vibrato. There are on youtube also some more of his recordings, Bach inventions among them. I shall listen to these soon.



Nice Bach Symphonia 1 by Daito here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bOrdg_nJ48&ab_channel=KanjiDaito%E5%A4%A7%E8%97%A4%E8%8E%9E%E7%88%BE

I think it's a great bit of music, quintessential Bach.

I wish he'd have used a clavichord though, I was led to it after hearing Tuma's (outstanding) performance.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: premont on February 18, 2023, 01:02:43 PM
Illuminating that he plays all of the sinfonias both on harpsichord and piano. I might suspect (haven't heard them yet) that his piano touch is a bit harpsichord idiomatic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CNzWuYr0IQ&list=PLhcJddblbx4G7js4XbyGA_lG_wQa2vvax
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on February 22, 2023, 09:26:12 AM
http://www.bostonclavichord.org/wp-content/uploads/discography_2016.pdf

Potentially useful authoritative looking discography
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: milk on February 23, 2023, 03:43:44 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on January 21, 2023, 06:01:31 AMI was being a hard taskmaster. It is amazing, the quality of musicians coming out of Japanese conservatories today. His website shows a lively person.


https://www.patreon.com/kanjidaito
I doubt that. They go abroad to study. The system in Japan is not going to produce expressiveness. I know musicians here and a little bit from them about what it's like. The ones we hear from have likely studied abroad. 
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: premont on November 24, 2023, 12:57:10 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on September 13, 2019, 12:35:44 PM(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51-snZ1jmLL._SX355_.jpg)

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.

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.

This one had escaped my attention, probably because I'm not a real Mozartian. Fortunately I have found a copy at an AMP seller.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: premont on December 07, 2023, 03:57:28 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on September 13, 2019, 12:35:44 PM(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51-snZ1jmLL._SX355_.jpg)

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.

Having heard this indeed congenial interpretation now I think that the modern grand sadly does Mozart's keyboard music a disservice in that it tends to iron out the delicate details and the dramatic contrasts.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on December 07, 2023, 07:25:18 AM
Quote from: premont on December 07, 2023, 03:57:28 AMHaving heard this indeed congenial interpretation now I think that the modern grand sadly does Mozart's keyboard music a disservice in that it tends to iron out the delicate details and the dramatic contrasts.

Have you heard Giovanni De Cecco's Mozart?






Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: premont on December 07, 2023, 08:41:18 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on December 07, 2023, 07:25:18 AMHave you heard Giovanni De Cecco's Mozart?

No, I only know him from sampling his recording of some of JS Bach's keyboard adaptations of Vivaldi concertos, and I have this CD in my periscope. But if you recommend him I shall investigate his Mozart too.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on December 07, 2023, 08:44:22 AM
Quote from: premont on December 07, 2023, 08:41:18 AMBut if you recommend him I shall investigate his Mozart too.

It's iconoclastic because it brings Mozart's music closer to  CPE Bach's.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on December 07, 2023, 09:06:25 AM
Some comments by Giovanni de Cecco on Mozrt, from here

https://heinrichvontrotta.blogspot.com/2019/04/giovanni-de-cecco-il-profeta-del.html

QuoteLet's talk about his complete Mozart sonatas: what do you lose and what do you gain by performing his clavichord sonatas?

There is no disadvantage, because Mozart's are Sonatas for keyboard, not for the piano alone, and the only keyboard he played, from birth to death, was the clavichord: two are preserved down to us, and on one His wife had a plaque affixed to them in which we read that he wrote his last works there, including part of the Requiem . It seems strange to us Italians, but the choice of the clavichord is completely legitimate: its mechanics allows very rich effects because, beyond the Bebung , when I press a key I can change the intonation of the note, because the tangent does not simply strike the rope, but remains in contact with it. I can make a rising note, a vibrato, a portamento of sound: a mastery of intonation evidently impossible with harpsichord and piano. I can even sound "out of tune"!

As Piero Rattalino pointed out, in his Mozart recordings the choice of very slow tempos is striking; Why?

This applies to most clavichord recordings, because each instrument has its own natural tactus . We think that only the performer decides the rhythm, but in reality it is set by the performer with the instrument in the room: the clavichord has a long reverberation, so excessive speed would generate an ugly, confused sound. The performer cannot impose his own idea of music on an instrument that already has its own "heartbeat". This is why it is essential to choose an instrument that is contemporary with the music being tackled, because, for example, since the clavichord lacks the damper present in the fortepiano, which dries out the reverberation, the sound perspective is completely different: often it is the same instruments of the time that also reveal the plausible "metronomes" of the scores, while sometimes modern instruments can make us go "off course" without knowledge of precedents.

Modern pianos also have a timbral homogeneity unknown to those of the 19th century: does the same happen for the clavichord?

Without a doubt: Leopold Mozart speaks, in a letter to his son, of a clavichord that had "basses like trombones and trebles like violins". And this must be exploited in the performance, because music evolves starting from the instruments, getting its hands dirty with woods and paints.

Even the voices, in the 19th century, had a marked timbral difference between the registers: and this brings us to his project of tackling Mozart's Lieder with the clavichord as well. What kind of voice are you thinking of?

Here too I don't imagine a large theater with a great lyrical voice, but a small room in a period building and a singer sitting almost whispering: in a more madrigal than operatic sense.
You mentioned the famous Bebung , i.e. the vibrato applied to a single note by pressing the key: how does it apply to Mozart's music?

We always start from the score: common sense dictates that the most important or dissonant sounds should be played loudly, and vice versa. And just as, for example, a flute played loudly is slightly crescendo, the same goes for the clavichord: the Bebung 's vibrato (or portamento) applies to the most painful, most intense notes. An effect that has an immense range of declinations and nuances, which comes closer to the possibilities of the voice than of the modern piano: after all, CPE Bach suggested that keyboard players listen to good singers.

It must be said that, for example, a strange page like the Andante of K 311 takes on truly different perspectives in its recording...

You know, we think we are modern or free because we play a modern instrument for ancient music: but first of all it is not modern, because for around 130 years the piano has not substantially evolved, and then you think that in the 18th century clavichords, spinets were used , fortepianos, tangent fortepianos, harpsichords, Lautenwerk , organs, piano-organs... The research was enormous, with a variety that we only dream of today: our sound world has become impoverished.

And how does it deal with variations and embellishments?

In Mozart we find an evident separation between the more bare sonatas such as K 545 - the so-called "easy" sonata - which therefore require an intervention from the performer, and which are therefore paradoxically more difficult, and those such as K 457 which have a high writing detail. We must therefore start from these, to understand Mozart's language of ornamentation, and then apply it to the more bare ones. In some cases I even go by subtraction, removing bars because Mozart's writing itself suggests it. By 2020 I will complete the recordings, which I believe will be published within the following year, and will include all the Sonatas and the Fantasia in C.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on December 07, 2023, 09:15:21 AM
And more from here

http://www.nonsoloaudiofili.com/IntervistaalmaestroGiovanniDeCecco/tabid/769/Default.aspx

QuoteFor the past 10 years I have intentionally avoided listening to keyboard players play Mozart or Emanuel Bach when I could. I believe that Mozart's music is as far from our world as Indian music; in the case of the latter, to approach it as much as possible without our Western categories and stratifications, we would have to lock ourselves up for years with Indian musicians and listen to them for hours... Instead in the case of composers who have been dead and buried for more than two centuries, not having been able to listen, we are obliged to at least read their testimonies, through letters and treatises. And then let's remember that an instrument similar to the ones they had in their hands is a sort of "medium" which, as in a séance, makes us evoke those dead. The most malicious will say that we are summoning zombies or vampires, who would like to be left to rest in peace, and certainly the risk is around the corner.

ADP : Piero Rattalino, precisely regarding your Mozart complete, said : "Giovanni De Cecco sings outside the choir, and it is a blessing that he does so". I interpret this reflection of his, with which I fully agree, as the appreciation of the desire to offer the listener a reading different from the usual ones, a gateway to an expressive cosmos where a march emerges from the staid, I dare say Celibidachian, times . In his opinion, have we currently arrived at an exhaustive vision of the poetics expressed by Mozart in his many facets?

GDC : It's impossible. Not even Mozart would be able to give an exhaustive vision with one performance, because he would have to re-play the same piece again, with a thousand other different nuances. What we can try to do within our limits is not to give it an "estranged" vision. Let me explain: the same treatises of the time provide us with many ways to realize an affection. None are definitive, but many can be literally misunderstood and evoke the "zombies" I mentioned before. And I'm the first to fear this when I play, even if I may be convinced and satisfied with the result.

As for the fact that I saw a resemblance to Celibidache, I believe it is pure chance. Nothing is further from my approach than that of Celibidache. I have the firm conviction that music does not exist as a universal language with its own phenomenology, but only "music" and that, when we believe we understand a piece by Mozart or Bach, we delude ourselves, we interpreters first, just as much as those who believe to grasp a message from a poem read in an ancient language that perhaps he does not know, or interprets with enormous blunders.
 
ADP : Do you want to tell us about your affection for the exotic, the transport you feel for the music of Transylvania, also expressed in the elaboration of Romanian folklore music for the piano and chamber groups?

GDC : I approach Mozart or the folklore repertoire as an anthropologist, or even an entomologist, as some friends have jokingly called me. For me this applies to music, languages, morals. Nothing gives me more pleasure than seeing how the concepts of "good" and "evil" vary depending on places and times.
To quote Nietzsche, I like to "be at home in many places of the spirit". In the footsteps of Béla Bartók I spent entire months with Romanian and gypsy musicians, studying and playing their music together.
The only difference with my activity as a classical musician is that, while in the folklore repertoire I dialogue with living friends, in the classical one my friends are dead.

I like staying in another country for a long time, speaking the language and finding myself thinking differently: then, when I even start dreaming in the local language, the satisfaction is maximum. I try not to cultivate the soul, but various souls. With Romanian friends I love drinking ţuică and shouting, with Iranian friends sipping tea sitting on a carpet and discussing mysticism or women, with Thais talking about soap operas while taking selfies; but I don't even disdain a dialogue with a Catholic priest regarding the Theodicy; for me it's "exotic" even going to a festival 10 minutes from my house. Human beings fascinate me; if I hadn't been a musician I would have wanted to be an anthropologist or study many Asian languages.
Title: Re: Clavichord recordings you like.
Post by: Mandryka on February 21, 2024, 01:37:46 PM
(https://static.qobuz.com/images/covers/0a/yo/ij2yhu498yo0a_600.jpg)

Excellent instrument (the oldest clavichord in Austria); one of the most imaginative performances of a Froberger suite I've ever heard. Alexander Gergelyfi teaches clavichord in Graz and was a pupil of Alina Zylberjach and Menno von Delft.


https://alexandergergelyfi.bandcamp.com/album/sapperlot

https://www.alexandergergelyfi.com/