French Harpsichord Music

Ars Antiqua Austria & Gunar Letzbor - The Music Of The Habsburg Empire (2015) {10CDs Box Set Pan Classics}
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© 2015 Pan Classics / Note 1 Music / NDR | PC 10311
Classical / Baroque / Concerto / Sonata

The Habsburg Imperial Court was a melting pot of many different cultures in which the zest for living of southerners, the Slav melancholy, French formalism, Spanish courtliness and the original German-speaking Alpine cultural region intermingled. Together with his Ars Antiqua Austria ensemble, Gunar Letzbor occupied himself over a ten year period to produce this 10CD ""Klang der Kulturen"" box, a musical tour of the individual countries that formed the roots of and influences on the music of baroque Vienna, documenting them in live recordings, with each CD representing one country.

This disc offers works for organ f one of the main French composers of his time. Jean-François Dandrieu was born in Paris and received his first music lessons from his uncle, Pierre, organist of St Barthélemy, and probably also from Jean-Baptiste Moreau. From 1705 until his death he acted as organist of St Merry, a post earlier held by the famous Nicolas Lebègue. In the last years of his life he also succeeded to the position of his uncle at St Barthélemy.

François Couperin - Chamber Music (Complete) - Musica ad Rhenum, Jed Wentz (2004) {7CD Box Set Brilliant Classics 92178}
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© 2004 Brilliant Classics | 92178
Classical / Baroque / Chamber Music

Thinking of Baroque music our minds turn nearly automatically to the German giants Bach, Handel, Telemann and the like, or to sunnier parts in Italy where Vivaldi, Corelli and Albinoni wrote their concertos: but one nearly forgets that also in France great music was composed in the Baroque! One of the most important composers was Francois Couperin (1668-1733), imperial court composer of the most charming, graceful music: look at the French pictures of that time and you can imagine what kind of music.

I must applaud Nikolai Petrov's imaginative approach to programme-planning. After the remarkable CD of Paganini-inspired piano works containing his stupendous account of the 1838 version of the Liszt Paganini Etudes ( OCD144 12/87), we now have two more discs that also follow a thematic format. The contents of each have been chosen so as to give a historical survey of a particular aspect of piano music, thus continuing the tradition set by Anton Rubinstein in his historical concerts of the mid-1880s.

Each stroke of the bow is a specific movement, and the challenge of the sound it produces is to breathe life into an imaginary choreography without which the music would lose its soul.

The ‘Italian’ Concerto and ‘French’ Overture included on this disc together make up the second part of Bach’s Clavier-Übung, composed, according to Bach himself, ‘for music lovers to refresh their spirits’. Here Steven Devine’s performances show that these works do far more than simply refresh spirits. The ‘Italian’ Concerto has long been thought a product of Bach’s extensive study of Vivaldi’s concerti.

Recorder player Mutsuyuki Motomura's latest album is titled "Portraits in French Baroque Sonatas". Spreading the wings is to spread the wings of an insect, etc., so that it can be used as a specimen. The "Sonata", which has a taste for France and Italy, is programmed like a beautiful picture with small pieces of personality mixed in.

In several respects, Christophe Rousset gives a well-balanced performance of Bach's French Suites. He finds a balance between a straightforward, technical reading and a more expressive one that takes liberties with timing and ornamentation. He brings out themes with a lyric sensibility, and he acknowledges the importance of countermelodies and the interaction of musical lines. The Sarabande of the Suite No. 6 is full of ornamentation, yet Rousset can still bring out a melody with a sense of forward direction that isn't interrupted by the ornaments. The Gigue of the Suite No. 5 is technically brilliant and musically delightful as all of the various parts come together in a lively manner.