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Originally Posted by PSmith08 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Ah, no - not the Hammerklavier in general, just Beethoven's sonata. As a rule, I prefer the harpsichord for a variety of reasons. Especially under the hands of someone like Ross or Rousset, who really gets it.
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Have you listened to any Hammerflugel (fortepiano) recordings of the sonatas? The Andreas Staier/Daniel Sepec recording of sonatas for klavier and violin by Beethoven is probably the best recording of such works I've yet heard. I hope they don't let that go out of print, but so many of Staier's recordings have been allowed to fade away there's just no guarantee.
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| My reference recordings of the concerti are Pinnock's (et al., on occasion) with The English Concert. I'm sure you know, but Mortensen was a contributor to Pinnock's set. As a rule, I am partial to the F-major concerto (BWV 1057), largely for the charming first movement with its woodwinds and harpsichord. |
Pinnock is quite fine but I think the Mortensen set has better sound quality (esp. sound stage) as well as more interesting ensemble play. If you can find them, the Rousset/Hogwood concerti are also quite fine. Again, the sound is from the earliest days of digital. There are also the Café Zimmermann's first volume of Concerts pour Plusieurs Instruments which includes the 5th Brandenburg concerto. They have 3 volumes of concerti, but they are not volumes of solely the harpsichord concerti, and it's next to impossible to find the most recent volume as it was never released in the USA.
The biggest problem with HIP recordings is that they aren't widely distributed in the USA and they are frequently allowed to go out of print. If you decide that you really want them a few years down the line, they will be wickedly expensive because they are very desirable to collectors. The Mortensen set is on the mid priced Cpo label. They would be quite a bit more expensive if they were released by HM or Bis or any of the other smaller independent companies. Cpo, however, also lets things go out of print which is when prices start to increase. Of course you can wait a few years hoping to find them at Berkshire one day. I picked up the Haydn London Trios by the Camerata Köln there very recently (also Cpo). I am not usually that lucky.
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| So I hear, and that set is indeed on my list of things to buy. I'm still partial to Martha Argerich in English no. 2, but Rousset is undeniably great at what he does. He and Pierre Hantaï are probably my favorite living harpsichordists at this point (some allowance must be made for Scott Ross). The piano recordings are a different story, though. |
As Scott Ross died of aids in 1989, there's no way he could be among anyone's
living favorites of anything. He was a great harpsichordist who, had he lived longer, would certainly have been ranked along side Hantaï and Rousset. His Couperin Intégrale is rated as highly as Rousset's (priced at Amazon at $901.00 used) and will eventually command similarly high prices as it too is becoming very scarce.
Btw, that Rousset set doesn't include the English or French Suites, but instead has the Goldbergs, the Italian Concerto, French Overture, Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, and 6 Partitas.
Martha Argerich is a pianist, not a harpsichordist, so that's like comparing apples to oranges. Her Bach can be quite fine, there's not a doubt about that, though. At her concert with the Philadelphia in March, she performed the Bourée I and II from Bach’s English Suite No. 2 in A minor (BWV 807). It was sensational, so I can understand your preference.
You cannot do better than Hantaï for a harpsichordist. His Goldbergs really set the standard, but Celine Frisch, Ketil Haugsand, Blandine Rannou, Christiane Jaccotet and many others also have excellent recordings on harpsichord. For the Well Tempered Clavier there are also Glen Wilson's estimable set (which I think edges out the Kirkpatrick which is probably the cheapest set available), Bob van Asperen, and also Masolino's recommedation of Ottavio Dantone among others. On piano, there is Till Fellner (for book 1) as well as Angela Hewitt, and many more. It's a very competitive field.
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| I'd agree. There's Fournier, and following closely is Tortelier. I will add the Bylsma recordings on my list, but it's an uphill battle to displace Fournier for me. Tortelier gave it the college try, but fell short. |
Tortelier was also in the romantic tradition as was Rostropovich and Casals. All of them used modern reconstructed cellos with steel strings. Bylsma (properly spelled Bijlsma) uses baroque instruments strung with gut so the sound of his recording is extremely different because of the instrument as well as the style of playing (Far less vibrato than Fournier and Tortelier use). For other period instrument performance of the suites, I would suggest Wispelwey, Jaap ter Linden, Thedéen or Kuijken. If you want a modern cello performance that would appeal as much as the Fournier, I would suggest Heinrich Schiff whom Tyson also favors.
