Harpsichord Recital
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer, Henry Février, Henry Purcell, Domenico Scarlatti, Louis Couperin, Johann Kuhnau, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Joseph Bodin de Boismortier
Label: Philips
Magazine Review Date: 4/1990
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 66
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 426 352-2PH
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Harpsichord Works V, Movement: ~ |
Louis Couperin, Composer
Gustav Leonhardt, Harpsichord Louis Couperin, Composer |
(4) Grounds, Movement: C minor, T D221 (spurious, by ?Croft) |
Henry Purcell, Composer
Gustav Leonhardt, Harpsichord Henry Purcell, Composer |
(4) Grounds, Movement: D minor, Z D222 (Celebrate this festival, Z321) |
Henry Purcell, Composer
Gustav Leonhardt, Harpsichord Henry Purcell, Composer |
(A) Choice Collection of Lessons, Movement: SUITES: |
Henry Purcell, Composer
Gustav Leonhardt, Harpsichord Henry Purcell, Composer |
Musikalische Vorstellung einiger biblischer Histor, Movement: Jacob's Death and Burial |
Johann Kuhnau, Composer
Gustav Leonhardt, Harpsichord Johann Kuhnau, Composer |
Goldberg Variations |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer |
(9) Preludes (Pieces from Clavier-Büchlein for W, Movement: Praeambulum in C, BWV924 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Gustav Leonhardt, Harpsichord Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer |
(9) Preludes (Pieces from Clavier-Büchlein for W, Movement: Praeambulum in F, BWV927 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Gustav Leonhardt, Harpsichord Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer |
(9) Preludes (Pieces from Clavier-Büchlein for W, Movement: Trio in G minor, BWV929 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Gustav Leonhardt, Harpsichord Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer |
(5) Preludes, Movement: D minor |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Gustav Leonhardt, Harpsichord Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer |
Menuet |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Gustav Leonhardt, Harpsichord Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer |
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: E, BWV878 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Gustav Leonhardt, Harpsichord Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer |
Sonatas for Keyboard Nos. 1-555 |
Domenico Scarlatti, Composer
Domenico Scarlatti, Composer |
Pièces de clavecin, Movement: La rappel des oiseuax |
Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
Gustav Leonhardt, Harpsichord Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer |
Allemande |
Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer, Composer
Gustav Leonhardt, Harpsichord Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer, Composer |
(La) Puce |
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, Composer
Gustav Leonhardt, Harpsichord Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, Composer |
(La) Délectable |
Henry Février, Composer
Gustav Leonhardt, Harpsichord Henry Février, Composer |
Author: Nicholas Anderson
What Leonhardt takes us on here is a little European tour. He starts in Paris (Louis Couperin), thence to London (Purcell/Croft?), Leipzig (Kuhnau, Bach), Spain (Domenico Scarlatti) and finally back to Paris again (Royer, Boismortier Fevrier, Rameau). The journey is an enchanting one which takes in a wealth of contrasting detail belonging to a period roughly between 1650 and 1750. Leonhardt, our guide so-to-speak, is on cracking form seeking out individual gestures from each piece of music with insight and an informed sense of style. He makes the strongest contrasts imaginable between Purcell's D minor Ground (Crown the Altar) and the poignant C minor one, sometimes attributed to Croft, on the one hand and the D minor Suite, which he performs with elan, on the other. In Leipzig we take in one of Kuhnau's Biblical Sonatas, the last in a set of six published in 1700, the Aria of Bach's Goldberg Variations—Leonhardt brings a livelier spirit to this than on some previous occasions—the fine E major three-part Prelude and Fugue from Book 2 of the 48, and half-a-dozen smaller pieces belonging to an earlier period in Bach's life among these is the little G major Minuet which has provided many generations of pianists with their first encounter with Bach. Scarlatti is represented by two Sonatas in A major (Kk208–09), the first of them is an evocative, somewhat nostalgic piece, the second a dazzling, percussive dance. Both, incidentally, are included in an excellent Scarlatti recital by Leonhardt, recently issued by (RCA (CD) GD71955).
The remaining music is Paris-based. A darkly coloured Allemande in C minor by Joseph-Nicolas Pancrace Royer comes from his only published collection of harpsichord pieces (1746). It makes a striking juxtaposition with Boismortier's altogether lighter and humorous rondeau La Puce (''The flea''). Pierre Fevrier's graceful La delectable and Rameau's Le rappel des oiseaux round off Leonhardt's delightful tour.
Explore the world’s largest classical music catalogue on Apple Music Classical.
Included with an Apple Music subscription. Download now.
Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Events & Offers
From £9.20 / month
SubscribeGramophone Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Events & Offers
From £11.45 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.