Benjamin Alard JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH The Complete Works for Keyboard 3

 

THE COMPLETE WORKS FOR KEYBOARD 3

Elizabeth Hainen HOME

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Johanna Rose HISTOIRES D'UN ANGE

One of the most peculiar features of the arts in the lavish Versailles court of the Sun King was his conservatism. His instrumental music produced a series of dances during decades, the so-called suites, of unchangeable composition, barely reminding us of old rhythms like the gallarda or the pavana which made room for novelties such as the gigue or the sarabande, installed from then on for future decades. 

The gambist Marin Marais, referred to as the angel for his delecacy in comparison to the devil Forqueray, played a central role in that little but great world of short melodic stories, charming subtleties, delicate ornaments and changing repertoire - Changes that made everything remain the same. Surely De Visée, a musician like Marais from the Sun King's own chamber, accompanied him dozens of times on the theorbo and the guitar.Our concert, a close visit to that court environment, will take the form of a large suite, initiated by a prelude in improvised style, followed by exotic pieces of a - merely apparent - goût étranger, truly as familiar as the allemande or the rondeau. To finish, like the great operas of Lully, there will be a series of imposed variations such as the chaconne and the folia, that will bring us echoes of that majestic, albeit intimate and decadent world which reached its maximum brilliance on the eve of its extinction.

Helga Váradi BARTÓK & BAROQUE

"I recall as a young boy my father taking me to visit a family friend in Budapest, Elizabeth Láng, in order to show me a harpsichord. Both my father and I were intrigued by the instrument, especially the capability of coupling the keyboards. He later indicated in his preface to Mikrokosmos that ten of its piano pieces were suitable for playing on the harpsichord. I am grateful to Helga Váradi for bringing these pieces and others to life on this recording.” (Peter Bartók; Homosassa, Florida; March 2017)

Il Giardino d’Amore / Natalia Kawalek CANTATES ET PETITS MACARONS

On a quiet summer afternoon, with the living room door half open, through the doorway comes a smell of perfume, muffled laughter from the courtesans and the sweet sounds of the violin virtuoso…

Delicious music of the XVIII century Paris salon.

This CD contains masterpieces of the best masters of french baroque secular cantata which were : Montéclair, Rameau, Clerambault, and fantastic instrumental chamber music of the genious Couperin, and Marais. This combination of composers, and choice of the repertoir gives very colourful, divers, and exciting program. With the works of Clérambault, Montéclair and Rameau, the French Cantata reached a kind of apogee, pushing the limits of its theatricality and becoming increasingly more operatic. On one hand, these composers borrow the varied pace, exuberance and quick modulations from the Italian style, on the other hand, they expand the instrumental parts, using trumpets, horns, violins and even timpani, which far from being a mere accompaniment to the story. Marin Marais was one of the first to introduce trio compositions, typically used by the Italians, into France. His famous Sonnerie de Sainte Geneviève du Mont de Paris (Bells of St. Genevieve in the Hills of Paris) is an amazing example of virtuosity on the viola da gamba. François Couperin, less engaged with cantata writing than his contemporaries is one of the most important chamber music composers of the French Baroque, in which he reaches an artistic peak with Le Gouts Reunis, and L’Apothéose de Corelli.

David Greilsammer BAROQUE CONVERSATIONS

This Sony-label debut release by Israeli pianist David Greilsammer has much in common with his earlier recording Fantasie Fantasme, released on the Naxos label. In fact, here Greilsammer might be said to have refined the ideas on the earlier album. Both combine contemporary and mainstream repertory, and apparently Greilsammer has an inclination toward pretentious graphic design. But here the focus is tightened. Greilsammer constructs a sequence of four Baroque three-movement "pieces," each consisting of three compositions. Of these sets of three, the outer two are Baroque works, while the center is a contemporary piece, commissioned in two cases by Greilsammer himself from contemporary Israeli composers. Greilsammer balances these works cleverly: the structure of the sets of three is not fast-slow-fast, but not simply random, either; the pieces instead are linked by motive and mood, with the modern work emerging as just a slight shift from what precedes it, and as a logical introduction to the finale. One might make several objections along the way: the Handel Suite for keyboard in D minor, HWV 447, with its four movements, disturbs the plan for no very good reason, and Greilsammer's readings of the Baroque pieces, especially the opening Gavotte et Six Doubles of Rameau, are a bit too dreamy, a bit too obviously bent to the requirements of the project. Still, there's no denying that Greilsammer has come closer than most other performers to the grail of integrating contemporary music into a mainstream concert program, and that he has done it in a very inventive way. The combination of a Frescobaldi toccata and the Wiegenmusik of German-born composer Helmut Lachenmann, each with little figures gracefully spinning off an underlying rhythm, is especially effective. Recommended for listeners of a speculative frame of mind. (James Manheim)