# Who is your favorite harpsichordist for Bach?



## Clairvoyance Enough (Jul 25, 2014)

I'd be especially interested in anyone with a sound that is something like Gould, or maybe Richter? Really I'm just interested in recordings that don't have the following issues, which I am finding consistently: too slow (suzuki), too "twitchy" - as in lots of awkward pauses and trills at all the wrong moments (encountered this issue too much to even list names), and way too slow. 

I like Christophe Rousset the most so far, but for me it's not quite there.


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## Balthazar (Aug 30, 2014)

Rousset is great!

I also particularly enjoy Pierre Hantaï's two recordings of the _Goldberg Variations_ and Richard Egarr's _Well-Tempered Clavier_.


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## Ariasexta (Jul 3, 2010)

I like Bob Van Asperen and G.Leonhardts rendition of JS Bach the most. I am a kind of addicted to Leonhardts instruments, the Skowroneck copies. Christophe Rousset is a bit dull to me, his playing is not even as much interesting as Davitt Moroneys. The best harpsichordists from younger generations are Rinaldo Alessandrini, Leon Berben, only these 2 are the best so far , adequate to continue the tradition of B.Van Asperen and G. Leonhardt.


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## Chordalrock (Jan 21, 2014)

You might like Kenneth Gilbert, who I've read is basically the father of "playing it straight" among modern harpsichordists. I've settled on him myself because his rhythm is so steady and natural. I don't know if he is great, but he is sane, so already better than most of his competition. 

Like you, I'm also not a fan of a lot of added flourishes. I'd recall Gilbert is decent here, though honestly I try not to pay attention to this aspect of performances. 

I don't think anyone can say he's too slow in some of the stuff, like the C Sharp Minor fugue from Book 1. But you'll have to discover the rest of his tempos for yourself, as I mostly just listen to a selection of Bach harpsichord pieces and don't have a profound familiarity with all of it.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Clairvoyance Enough said:


> I'd be especially interested in anyone with a sound that is something like Gould, or maybe Richter? Really I'm just interested in recordings that don't have the following issues, which I am finding consistently: too slow (suzuki), too "twitchy" - as in lots of awkward pauses and trills at all the wrong moments (encountered this issue too much to even list names), and way too slow.
> 
> I like Christophe Rousset the most so far, but for me it's not quite there.


Rousset has an usually brilliant command of the harpsichord, making it so expressive.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Balthazar said:


> Rousset is great!
> 
> I also particularly enjoy Pierre Hantaï's two recordings of the _Goldberg Variations_ and Richard Egarr's _Well-Tempered Clavier_.


Twitchy and/or slow, so won't suit OP


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Clairvoyance Enough said:


> I'd be especially interested in anyone with a sound that is something like Gould, or maybe Richter? Really I'm just interested in recordings that don't have the following issues, which I am finding consistently: too slow (suzuki), too "twitchy" - as in lots of awkward pauses and trills at all the wrong moments (encountered this issue too much to even list names), and way too slow.
> 
> I like Christophe Rousset the most so far, but for me it's not quite there.


Scott Ross, Joseph Payne, Colin Tilney, Olivier Baumont (maybe), Kenneth Gilbert (maybe), Fabio Bonizzoni (maybe), Zuzana Ruzikova, Helmut Walcha, Karl Richter, Ralph Kirkpatrick, Anthony Newman, Wanda Landowska.

None of these are my favourite Bach harpsichordists, with the exception of Gilbert -- who may be too twitchy for you. I like a good twitch.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Chordalrock said:


> You might like Kenneth Gilbert, who I've read is basically the father of "playing it straight" among modern harpsichordists. I've settled on him myself because his rhythm is so steady and natural. I don't know if he is great, but he is sane, so already better than most of his competition.


Yes, Gilbert's the man. In addition to being my favorite Bach harpsichordist, he could well fit beautifully with the preferences of Clairvoyance Enough (that's a long moniker). As it happens, there's a 10 disc set on Archiv of all Bach by Gilbert; it has his complete WTC, the superlative Art of Fugue and a bevy of other works including harpsichord concertos. And it's all available for the low price of $34.99.

If CE doesn't use Cd's, I have no idea of availability.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Clairvoyance Enough said:


> I like Christophe Rousset the most so far, but for me it's not quite there.


Are you referring to his older Decca recordings or his more recent ones on the Aparte label. I much prefer the Decca accounts.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Another possibility would be Keith Jarrett. At least on harpsichord, he's the smoothest and most rounded Bach player on Planet Earth. If I remember correctly, he recorded one WTC book on piano, the other on harpsichord; there's also a set of his playing the French Suites on harpsichord and the Goldberg Variations as well. 

I do caution acquiring Jarrett's Bach in that "smooth and round" can become rather boring for some folks. I have his Bach recordings but wouldn't shed a tear if they disappeared.


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## Ludric (Oct 29, 2014)

Recently I have become quite fond of Davitt Moroney's interpretations of Bach's keyboard music.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Yes the more I think about it Gilbert's the man for the Op, hardly a twitch in sight, good bracing tempos.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Bulldog said:


> Are you referring to his older Decca recordings or his more recent ones on the Aparte label. I much prefer the Decca accounts.


I enjoyed the WTC 2 for its no nonsense quality. I love his second recordings of Royer. Less intuitive than the first, but more reflective. Also the Louis Couperin for Aparte is pretty special IMO.

One thing I find interesting is that, in French music at least, you can hear the way his harpsichord style in the later recordings is influenced by his experience with opera - it's as everything becomes more dramatic, more emotional, more expressive, more like a dramatic recitative. Maybe not in Bach though.


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## SalieriIsInnocent (Feb 28, 2008)

For Baroque, Trevor Pinnock never disappoints me. I'm not saying his recordings are untouchable, but there is a consistency to the quality.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

I often feel that British and German (American, Dutch) harpsichordists become a little predictable in their square perfectness for me (I really hate Keith Jarrett's "classical" stuff, in as much as he is interesting playing Jazz he must be the most predictable in Bach!) , I like my Bach unpredictable. I like Hantaï, Alessandrini, have a love/hate listening relationship with Leonhardt and his pupils and I often think that Lars-Ulrik Mortensen beats em all. 

/ptr


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

ptr said:


> I often feel that British and German (American, Dutch) harpsichordists become a little predictable in their square perfectness for me (I really hate Keith Jarrett's "classical" stuff, in as much as he is interesting playing Jazz he must be the most predictable in Bach!) , I like my Bach unpredictable. I like Hantaï, Alessandrini, have a love/hate listening relationship with Leonhardt and his pupils and I often think that Lars-Ulrik Mortensen beats em all.
> 
> /ptr


When I read your post the thought that randomly popped in my head is that you'd like Wladyslav Klosiewicz.

Have you had a chance to hear Alessandrini's new CD of preludes?

Re Hantai, I had an odd experience with his Mirare Goldbergs a few weeks ago. I felt really uncomfortable with the emotions he expresses. But I remember thinking that his Vol. 3 of Scarlatti sounds wonderful, and normally don't like Scarlatti much. But just at level of cool sounds I thought that volume was a fun thing to hear. And I enjoyed the CD with the two English suites a lot.

Re Mortensen, he's a bit too passionate and exciting for me - I only know his Bach solo and his Froberger. I prefer a more cool headed style at the moment, though I change with the wind.


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## Ariasexta (Jul 3, 2010)

Ariasexta said:


> I like Bob Van Asperen and G.Leonhardts rendition of JS Bach the most. I am a kind of addicted to Leonhardts instruments, the Skowroneck copies. Christophe Rousset is a bit dull to me, his playing is not even as much interesting as Davitt Moroneys. The best harpsichordists from younger generations are Rinaldo Alessandrini, Leon Berben, only these 2 are the best so far , adequate to continue the tradition of B.Van Asperen and G. Leonhardt.


Skip Sempe is also amazing with his L.Couperin rendition from Alpha, but he does not play Bach often so he slipped out of my mind.

I may have forgotten about Pierre Hantai, his Goldberg Variation performance from Opus111 is combined with skill and sonority, is near perfect. I also like very much his Bach sonatas and toccatas from Veritas series. However, his Frescobaldi from Naive/Auvidis does not impressed me much so I subconsciously neglected him, his ran like an drugged athlete through the whole disc. Frescobaldi is not exactly virtuosic, sometimes is quite melodious. Pierre Hantai should have treated Frescobaldi like he treated Bach Goldberg Variation.

I named Rinaldo because his Bach rendition "La Maniera Italiana" from OPUS111 impressed me like Pierre Hantais Goldberg Variation from the same label. And his Buxtehude from Auvidis is more satisfactory than Pierre Hantais Frescobaldi. I subconciously refered to players renditions of other composers when was listing.

Leon Berben is phenomenal, his performance of WT Klavier from Brilliant strikes me as never before, he has the sensitivity to the instrument like Gustav Leonhardt, he know how to combine the instruments sonority with his reading, his performance is simply Heart melting. I believe Leon Berben has surpassed Kenneth Gilbert considerably, also Bob Van Asperen for certain extends, he is currently the only one on Gustav Leonhardts level.


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## Abraham Lincoln (Oct 3, 2015)

Anyone who can play the right notes at the right time.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Richard Egarr is also a fine harpsichordist.


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## Epilogue (Sep 20, 2015)

Wanda Landowska, especially in the 1930s - some (not all) of her 1940s recordings are too slow (never twitchy, though!).


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Epilogue said:


> Wanda Landowska, especially in the 1930s - some (not all) of her 1940s recordings are too slow (never twitchy, though!).


Her interpretation make interesting listening from a historical perspective. But purely from a musical viewpoint, the few that I have listened to did not really impress me much. She has my respect for promoting the harpsichord nonetheless.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Mandryka said:


> When I read your post the thought that randomly popped in my head is that you'd like Wladyslav Klosiewicz.


Will keep him in mind! Interesting..



> Have you had a chance to hear Alessandrini's new CD of preludes?


Not yet. it's in the pipeline...



> Re Hantai, I had an odd experience with his Mirare Goldbergs a few weeks ago. I felt really uncomfortable with the emotions he expresses. But I remember thinking that his Vol. 3 of Scarlatti sounds wonderful, and normally don't like Scarlatti much. But just at level of cool sounds I thought that volume was a fun thing to hear. And I enjoyed the CD with the two English suites a lot.
> 
> Re Mortensen, he's a bit too passionate and exciting for me - I only know his Bach solo and his Froberger. I prefer a more cool headed style at the moment, though I change with the wind.


That is interesting, cuz the older I get the more "uncool" I want interpretations of any music. The more of a performers personality that comes out of the "music", the more passionate, the more quirky, the better they seem to keep my interest focused, specially on works I'm very familiar with. Someone like Mortensen, whom I've heard numerous times live, always seem to capture the "gestalt" of the music in the "moment" and his recordings always sound fresh to my ears!

Just shows how differently we all react emotionally to music!

/ptr


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## SalieriIsInnocent (Feb 28, 2008)

Bulldog said:


> Yes, Gilbert's the man. In addition to being my favorite Bach harpsichordist, he could well fit beautifully with the preferences of Clairvoyance Enough (that's a long moniker). As it happens, there's a 10 disc set on Archiv of all Bach by Gilbert; it has his complete WTC, the superlative Art of Fugue and a bevy of other works including harpsichord concertos. And it's all available for the low price of $34.99.
> 
> If CE doesn't use Cd's, I have no idea of availability.


Thank you for that recommendation. I went on YouTube just to see what his Goldberg would sound like, and it's just declared itself my favorite.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Mandryka said:


> Re Hantai, I had an odd experience with his Mirare Goldbergs a few weeks ago. I felt really uncomfortable with the emotions he expresses.


Interesting; could you elaborate a little? I know that Hantai's Goldbergs on Mirare has a stronger emotional depth than his earlier version on Opus 111, but I'm perplexed by your uncomfortable feeling.


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

If I had to choose just two favorites (it's impossible for me to pick one), I'd have to say it's Trevor Pinnock and Masaaki Suzuki. As time wears on, I'm also becoming more endeared towards Suzuki's conducting and that marvelous singer who did the evangelist for him in the St. John Passion. Could someone possible help my frustration and point out who that singer is?


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Bulldog said:


> Interesting; could you elaborate a little? I know that Hantai's Goldbergs on Mirare has a stronger emotional depth than his earlier version on Opus 111, but I'm perplexed by your uncomfortable feeling.


It sounded troubled, like a turbulent nightmare.


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

I really like *Kenneth Weiss* and *Peter Watchorn*. Both have a delicacy touch and fluidity of technique that suits my taste very well indeed.

P.S. I also like that these two harpsichordists record using instruments fitted with quill plectrums (plectra?) which make for a softer sound.


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

Trevor Pinnock for sheer musical joy


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## Gouldanian (Nov 19, 2015)




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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Mandryka said:


> It sounded troubled, like a turbulent nightmare.


Got it. In my case, I tend to thrive on serious trouble, so Hantai's version is in my comfort zone.


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

One of the great masters (from my era) of Bach was the late E. Power Biggs.

He took pieces originally written for the organ and played then on a pedal harpisichord


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## ribonucleic (Aug 20, 2014)

No love for Andreas Staier?


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