Five of the half-dozen suites on this disc are from the autograph collection of 1656; the other comes from that of 1649. All are in French style, in four stylised dance movements. Christophe Rousset plays a rare and distinguished harpsichord, made by the Flemish builder Joannes Couchet in 1652, but restored and expanded in 1701. More important, it makes a beautiful, richly resonant sound, rendering it ideal for Froberger’s expressive and often melancholic music. Equally well suited is Rousset’s meditative, infinitely flexible approach. His playing is always lovingly articulated and carefully decorated. SP
The Observer, 9 May 2010
Johann Jakob Froberger wanted all his music burned after his death because he didn’t think anyone else would be able to play it well enough. He would surely have been reassured by the deep understanding of Christophe Rousset, who uses an exquisite 17th-century Couchet harpsichord, unequally tuned. The grave eloquence of Froberger’s sarabandes is perfectly captured and only the long pauses before repeated sections seem overdone. The programmatic “Lament on the Death of Ferdinand IV” evaporates at the top of the keyboard, the rising scale disappearing into a cloud of angels in the manuscript. Nicholas Kenyon
The Independent on Sunday, 16 May 2010
Christophe Rousset makes a welcome return to the keyboard in this poignant selection of Forberger’s suites, played on a 1652 Couchet harpsichord that was extended in 1701 to include a four-foot stop. Rousset’s fluid grace-notes never obscure the seriousness of these introspective dances, the finest of which is the Lamento sopra la dolorosa perdita della real Maestà di Ferdinando IV, and allows silence to register between the phrases. A thoughtful and distinctive alternative to Richard Egarr’s ebullient performance. Anna Picard
No comments:
Post a Comment