Scott Ross Bach

Scott Ross was an American harpsichordist who was both popular and renowned for his brilliant technique and insightful interpretations. He recorded the complete works of Scarlatti, Rameau, and Couperin, three composers, along with J.S. Bach, whose music he became identified with over his brief career. Ross was also a highly respected harpsichord teacher in Canada and France.

This harpsichord recital by Scott Ross was first broadcast on the French radio France Musique in 1986. It was only released on CD in 2009 by Diapason. In this recital, Scott Ross plays the Suite in E minor and the First Concert in C minor by Jean-Philipe Rameau, the 4th suite in D major by Johann Sebastian Bach and three sonatas (K215, K492 and K27) by Domenico Scarlatti.

This 2-fer of Scott Ross' Goldberg Variations, plus selections from Frescobaldi's 1616 &1627 publications could hardly be better. The clarity of the lines in the Goldbergs alone is worth the price. The Frescobaldi selections are fresh and pleasing. As always, Mr. Ross plays in a lively, incisive, yet unaffected manner.

2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the death of the harpsichordist and organist Scott Ross, who was just 38 years old when he died. This box brings together the harpsichord recordings he made for EMI and Erato, which are complemented by a selection of radio recordings: harpsichord and organ from Radio Canada, and harpsichord music from RTS (Swizerland) and INA (France). The lasts include a duet with his former teacher Huguette Grémy-Chauliac and chamber music with Christophe Coin and his Ensemble Mosaïque.

The genius harpsichordist Scott Ross remains famous for his comprehensive Bach and Scarlatti recordings, but he explored a wider range of Baroque music, for instance Antonio Soler who had supposedly studied with Scarlatti and whose lively sonatas bear witness to the richness of the keyboard Spanish school and the intensity of musical life at the Spanish court.

Scott Ross was an American harpsichordist who was both popular and renowned for his brilliant technique and insightful interpretations. He recorded the complete works of Scarlatti, Rameau, and Couperin, three composers, along with J.S. Bach, whose music he became identified with over his brief career. Ross was also a highly respected harpsichord teacher in Canada and France.

Recorded from 1977 to 1978 and re-released in 2003, this CD box consists of 12 CDs. It contains the complete harpsichord music by the French master of early piano music. This box is a storehouse of valuables.
Couperin's piano music was of course written with the harpsichord in mind; so was Bach's piano music, simply because there was no pianoforte yet…

Some of the Baroque releases on Canada's ATMA label have stuck close to established molds, but this one by the young Québécoise harpsichordist Catherine Perrin breaks them all. Perrin's career is unusual in itself; while many performers of early music stick to the specialized circles of players who do the same, Perrin has parallel careers as a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio host, contemporary music performer, and musical theater enthusiast. Perrin subtitles her disc "Five Centuries of Preludes on the Harpsichord," but she intends something slightly different: an examination of the prelude as a musical idea. In her booklet notes she quotes writer Michel Chion, who situates the prelude in a space of unique freedom, "a privileged position in the vanguard," unleashed by "the fact that it occurs before the time has come to be serious or definitive.