General Harpsichord and Clavichord Thread

[Florestan]

Not sure where to put this sad news:
https://www.telerama.fr/musique/blandine-verlet,-le-clavier-bien-libere,n5533227.php
I can't read French but apparently Bladine Verlet has passed away.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blandine_Verlet

RIP.

[Mandryka]

Not sure where to put this sad news:
https://www.telerama.fr/musique/blandine-verlet,-le-clavier-bien-libere,n5533227.php
I can't read French but apparently Bladine Verlet has passed away.

That's a well put together obituary, thanks. Jean Rondeau's comment is amusing and to me a bit unexpected, he says that she was savage, like a wary animal!

She's been sometimes painted as someone free and spontaneous in her interpretations, surprising even, in Bach especially. For me her most salient trait is freshness , you hear it most in the early recordings, I'm thinking of Louis Marchand and Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre.

In some ways she was a trail blazer for authenticity - she always insisted on meantone 1/4 comma tuning I think, or close, and she always tried to use well restored old harpsichords.

I enjoyed quite recently her Philips recording of the Partitas 4 - 6, and when I heard that she'd died, I listened to some of her warm hearted, affectionate recording of music by François Couperin released earlier this year. Strangely, the recordings I like least are the ones she is very much admired for - François and Louis Couperin, though I enjoyed the two recent Couperin recordings rather more than the big set. I've also had difficulty enjoying her Scarlatti. On the other hand the recordings of petits maîtres and Bach and Frescobaldi and Froberger and Handel have given me a good deal of pleasure over the years.

In 2010 she gave a concert in Paris, possibly her last.  I wasn't threre but a friend of mine was and he managed to get a recording of the encore, Louis Couperin's Tombeau for Blancrocher. No finer souvenir, no more fitting tribute. If anyone wants it they can PM me.

[Que]

Not sure where to put this sad news:
https://www.telerama.fr/musique/blandine-verlet,-le-clavier-bien-libere,n5533227.php
I can't read French but apparently Bladine Verlet has passed away.

Hardly know any of her recordings...
Perhaps Naïve could reissue her complete François Couperin? Would love to hear it.

Q

[king ubu]

Hardly know any of her recordings...
Perhaps Naïve could reissue her complete François Couperin? Would love to hear it.

Q

Her recent Couperin recordings on Aparté are wonderful ... but yeah, I'd love to hear her earlier cycle, too!

Sad to hear of her death, I'm certainly grateful for what she left behind, even if I only know those Couperin releases on Aparté so far.

[Mandryka]

Is Tilney the best there is for the Kuhnau sonatas? I think it's very good.

https://www.youtube.com/v/OAgnxI7XJQQ&list=OLAK5uy_lyLzBotr2RzFyA24KaDIfODg4XCila890

[Mandryka]

There are six things I'm noticing at the moment in the solo harpsichord music in this set from Celine Frisch

1. The fluidity of the the phrasing
2. The closeness of the voices, which combined with the above offers a D'Anglebert whose art is oriented to extreme lyricism
3. That despite the way the voices are held so tightly together, Frisch has the knack of touching the keys in a way which makes them very readable and clear -- we hear each voice separately and clearly and never a claustrophobic tangle.
4. That notwithstanding the close fitting counterpoint and the fluid phrasing, Frisch is an expert at setting and maintaining a pulse, which she somehow keeps to pretty rigidly without giving the impression of pounding out chords to accentuate the main beats of the rhythm.
5. The way that all the above is a real revelation in the faster music
6. And the icing on the cake is the beautiful, muscular, colourful instrument, a modern copy by Emile Jobin of a harpsichord by Vincent Tibaut, very well recorded.

And then a 7th, which just crossed my mind after posting -- that this all makes me think, may be the memory is deceptive, of Lars Ulrik Mortensen in solo Bach and Froberger -- will check later.

[Mandryka]

The harpsichord here is by Colin Booth, it has two 8' stops and a lovely lute stop, it's very well recorded.

Just as Colin Booth's harpsichord is beautifully balanced and coherent across all registers, Richard Lester's interpretation demonstrates perfectly a poise which is never marred by the ostentatious display of either virtuosity or emotion: both performance and instrument are classical.

It would be false to conclude that Lester's approach robs the music of its life force because of its discretion and modesty, just as it would be false to conclude that Colin Booth's harpsichord is flat sounding because of the absence of asperities. On the contrary, he finds so much buoyancy in the dances that there is no sense of linearity,  and he finds such a strong sense of liaison between the phrases, that the music is imbued with flowing, living, pulsating, sap.


We have, in short, a perfect symbiosis between performer and instrument, which makes Bach's music a pleasure to hear.

The booklet shows a scholar well able to construct a synthesis of the current state of research and to then draw his own conclusions about (for example) tempo.

[Mandryka]

This has a suite by Froberger and a suite by Louis Couperin and various bits and pieces. The harpsichord is a modern copy of a Ruckers which has been given a ravalement according to C 17 principles. It sounds sweet as a nut and it has been very well recorded. Alard plays in a mainstream way but there's a natural sprezzatura, the whole CD is a pleasure to know.

[Que]

An new, enticing looking recording by Bob van Asperen with a fair amount of music by Dutch composers:

[asin]B07NBF1RRR[/asin]
Q

[Mandryka]

I know.... It's horrible....

Q

A severe case of Leonhardtic misjudgement.

Let me recommend this recording to you




The whole thing is exceptional, but, though you'd never guess it from the cover, it has a Kuhnau biblical sonata in there without commentary. In my opinion it's an exceptional recital disc, one of his best, and as you know, when he's good he's very very good.

The tracklist is clear here

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8188911--gustav-leonhardt-harpsichord-recital

What is impressing me most in this CD is how he creates a sense of mystery, and his lyricism.

[Que]

Let me recommend this recording to you




The whole thing is exceptional, but, though you'd never guess it from the cover, it has a Kuhnau biblical sonata in there without commentary. In my opinion it's an exceptional recital disc, one of his best, and as you know, when he's good he's very very good.

The tracklist is clear here

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8188911--gustav-leonhardt-harpsichord-recital

What is impressing me most in this CD is how he creates a sense of mystery, and his lyricism.

It's included in the set with Philips recordings that have (now issued on Decca), and it's indeed wonderful! 

As are quite a few other recordings in that set covering Leonhardt's heydays.

Q

[Mandryka]

This one's interesting because of the instrument, an Italian tiorbino harpsichord, which means that it has a stop which uses a gut string, it's the only one of its kind. (1710 attributed to someone called  Sabbatino (Alan Rubin Collection, restored in 2009 by Olivier Fadini.)) It gives the sonatas a very colourful sound, but don't let that put you off, it's not vulgar and garish, nor is it loud. The performances seem fine, more than that, quite thoughtful and sensitive. Mathieu Dupouy is someone I want to explore, even though the music he focuses on is a bit peripheral to my interests. The selection is a bit too familiar really, he's not been very adventurous there. But the strangeness of the instrument makes even the familiar sound slightly exotic, so I'll forgive him!

[bioluminescentsquid]

This one's interesting because of the instrument, an Italian tiorbino harpsichord, which means that it has a stop which uses a gut string, it's the only one of its kind. (1710 attributed to someone called  Sabbatino (Alan Rubin Collection, restored in 2009 by Olivier Fadini.)) It gives the sonatas a very colourful sound, but don't let that put you off, it's not vulgar and garish, nor is it loud. The performances seem fine, more than that, quite thoughtful and sensitive. Mathieu Dupouy is someone I want to explore, even though the music he focuses on is a bit peripheral to my interests. The selection is a bit too familiar really, he's not been very adventurous there. But the strangeness of the instrument makes even the familiar sound slightly exotic, so I'll forgive him!

A D. Scarlatti endorsement from you is really something!

[Mandryka]

As far as I remember there are two Scarlatti recordings which I like, Dupouy is in the "tolerate once every ten years" category rather than the like category. They are Leonhardt DHM and Mario Martinoli.

On second thoughts, cut the Martinoli.

[milk]

Not exactly a harpsichord or a clavichord...but, close enough?

[Mandryka]

Not exactly a harpsichord or a clavichord...but, close enough?

I like this very much, a controlled and expressive style, not too flamboyant. The instrument is authentic enough, the harpsichord based on a Ruckers and the organ based on one which is very old - 1600! Tuned meantone too. It's is full of bells and whistles, used with the best possible taste! I probably shouldn't say this but I think that que will like this one, from what I can see about his taste. The Squid will also appreciate the colourful renaissance organ. In fact basically it's just very fine - everyone will like it.

Here's the spec of the instrument

https://www.flickr.com/photos/37338861@N05/16969258809/

The music's taken from a manuscript in Antwerp which is particularly international in its contents, supporting the notion that musicians of the time knew no borders. Details here

https://www.adrienpiece.com/solo-claviorg/


Adrien Pièce seems to be one of those modest musicians who gets my respect, just quietly getting on with making music as well as he can  in his little corner of France. That phenomenon is one of the things which makes early music so specia for me.

[prémont]

I like this very much, a controlled and expressive style, not too flamboyant. The instrument is authentic enough, the harpsichord based on a Ruckers and the organ based on one which is very old - 1600! Tuned meantone too. It's is full of bells and whistles, used with the best possible taste! I probably shouldn't say this but I think that que will like this one, from what I can see about his taste. The Squid will also appreciate the colourful renaissance organ. In fact basically it's just very fine - everyone will like it.

Like so often I feel a bit lost, because there is no CD advertised on his home page, and Amazon only lists mp3 download.

[Mandryka]

Like so often I feel a bit lost, because there is no CD advertised on his home page, and Amazon only lists mp3 download.

I got mine from Qobuz, PM me if you want me to help you do that.

[milk]

I'm just enjoying Parmentier's recordings so much.

[milk]

What's a nice Lutheran country doing with a crazy harpsichord style like this?