Silvia Morenogarcia

A brilliant dancer before becoming “famous throughout Europe for his learned and elaborate sonatas, and for the elegance of his performance on the violin”, Jean-Marie Leclair is far more than the sum of his talents. His music is woven with the multiple threads of his life, carrying within it all the facets of his technical and musical explorations, his travels, his impressions, which have moulded man as much as musician.

In addition to including three harpsichord concertos composed in the 20th century, this CD offers suggestive interweavings: The concertos by Falla and Poulenc were both composed for Wanda Landowska (1879-1959), the great Polish harpsichordist who decisively contributed to the rediscovery of much 17th- and 18th-century music and to the renaissance of the harpsichord, not only as an ancient instrument, but also as a source of inspiration for 20th-century musicians. Poulenc’s Concert champêtre is the immediate heir of Falla’s Concerto. Accordingly, in the orchestral score of Poulenc’s Concert belonging to Falla, we can read the following autograph dedication by the French composer: “For you, my dear Falla, the little brother of your so magnificent Concerto. Fr. Poulenc”. The three concertos share a neoclassical aesthetic, albeit from different approaches: in his Concerto Falla explores and uses the ancient sources of Hispanic music; Poulenc evokes the French Baroque; and Bacarisse adopts stylistic elements typical of the neoclassicism of the 1920s.

Bernardo Pasquini, composer, harpsichordist and organist renowned in his day as virtuoso keyboard player, he was the most important Italian composer of keyboard music between Frescobaldi and Domenico Scarlatti.