[Mike-48]

This album was recently made available on Qobuz. I've got a fair amount of Bach and other composers played on the harpsichord, but somehow I didn't know of Francesco Corti. It's a great album, not just Bach but related composers, a harpsichord not prone to irritate, recorded in nice sound. I really like Corti's playing -- he gets great emotion and plays with a narrative quality that I find most appealing. Unequal temperament notably adds to the enjoyment. Give it a try if you can!

[richidoo]

Thanks Mike! I love solo harpsichord.

It was Bach BWV 1061 Double Harpsichord Concerto (Pinnock) heard on a Boston radio station in 1984 that opened my mind to classical music. Took me a long time to find the recording, but it had the same effect on me when I finally heard it recently on the radio in NC.

One of my fav solo harpsichord recordings is (definitely "prone to irritate") Persichetti Sonatas by Elaine Comparone, heard on that same Boston radio station in 1990.  I bought my CD copy back then by mail order, but it's at Amazon now "released in 2006"

[Mike-48]

Pinnock is a great one to get anyone interested in the instrument. Who was playing the other part?

I have one album by Elaine Comparone (shown below). I bought it when I had first discovered Scarlatti & wanted a variety of takes on the music. It's good, but the sound is pretty ordinary. On the harpsichord, Pierre Hantai is a wonderful performer if you like very energetic Scarlatti, and the recordings are good. I also am partial to Scarlatti on the piano, particularly as played by Horowitz.


I had BSO season tickets when I was a student in Boston. Been out of New England for many decades, but I do miss the amount of great music there, both classical and other.

[Russell Dawkins]

I think this is one to wait for, to be released Oct 16 this year: Colin Tilney plays the Bach Partitas:
https://www.musicandarts.com/j-s-bach-partitas-for-harpsichord-bwv-125-130-colin-tilney-harpsichord.html
It the first time to my knowledge that they have been released in their complete form, with all repeats. This required a three disc package. Previously all releases have been on two discs.

I recorded it in two week long sessions, one in June 2017 and the other in May 2019 in the Recital Hall at the University of Victoria, here in Canada.

The main mic was a Royer SF24 which went through 35' of expensive (so it must be good!) Monster mic cable to a True Systems Precision 8 mic preamp and then to a Metric Halo interface for A/D conversion, so it's (almost) pure Blumlein—almost, because there is a touch of ORTF stereo room mic added. Mixing was done in the Metric Halo domain, which I trust not to mangle sound.

The playing is unique and expressive.

[MTVhike]

Will this be available on SACD?

[richidoo]

Pinnock is a great one to get anyone interested in the instrument. Who was playing the other part?

On the BWV 1061 it is Kenneth Gilbert, but Lars Ulrik Mortensen, and Nicholas Kraemer are also featured on the 3 disc album. The sound on this set is excellent.

I have one album by Elaine Comparone (shown below). I bought it when I had first discovered Scarlatti & wanted a variety of takes on the music. It's good, but the sound is pretty ordinary. On the harpsichord, Pierre Hantai is a wonderful performer if you like very energetic Scarlatti, and the recordings are good. I also am partial to Scarlatti on the piano, particularly as played by Horowitz.

I'm not partial to Scarlatti, but I am a big fan of anything Persichetti.
Yeah Boston was quite a music town in 1980s!

Russell good luck with the new record! Sounds like a winner.

[FullRangeMan]

+1 on the excelent Canadian harpsichordist, organist and musicologist Kenneth Gilbert (1931-2020), like few others combined performance and scholarship, transforming his deep knowledge of baroque music in art, leaving important works as interpreter, musicologist and teacher.
RIP
This CD was labeled as Stereo but with headphones can be listened it is a mono recording, close miking with a narrow soundstage, nevertheless recommended.

[Russell Dawkins]

Will this be available on SACD?

I think not, just regular 16/44 CD.

[Mike-48]

I think this is one to wait for, to be released Oct 16 this year: Colin Tilney plays the Bach Partitas:
https://www.musicandarts.com/j-s-bach-partitas-for-harpsichord-bwv-125-130-colin-tilney-harpsichord.html

Russell, I will be looking for your Tilney release. Should I assume that the Royer was some distance from the harpsichord?

P.S. The Web page says it'll be available as a 44.1/24 version also; as downloads, I suppose. I hope M&A is including a booklet with downloads.

[Russell Dawkins]

Russell, I will be looking for your Tilney release. Should I assume that the Royer was some distance from the harpsichord?

P.S. The Web page says it'll be available as a 44.1/24 version also; as downloads, I suppose. I hope M&A is including a booklet with downloads.

I can't answer the second question, but here are two photos of the May 2017 session showing mic positioning.

The bigger picture from mid hall perspective:


Closer, from the side. The ORTF pair is to the left, the Royer is the middle one, the mic closest to the harpsichord—a Neumann omni—was not used, so eliminated from the 2019 sesssions):



I wish the photos were a little bigger, but I don't know how to accomplish that.

[Mike-48]

Thanks, Russell. Many hpsi recordings sound as if the mic was inside the case. Quite a vivid sound, but it becomes tiresome quickly. Yours is, as I expected, better.

[Russell Dawkins]

Thanks, Russell. Many hpsi recordings sound as if the mic was inside the case. Quite a vivid sound, but it becomes tiresome quickly. Yours is, as I expected, better.

I'd like to think so, of course! I compared mine with as many other harpsichord recordings I could find online and preferred mine in all but one case. This quirky one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ChKsMjIMFw

Although I find the sound beautiful, the imaging is better in mine, I think, thanks to the superiority inherent in the Blumlein technique, especially when listened to with the speakers positioned properly (±45º from the frontal axis).

[sounddog]

Mike-48, thanks for posting that harpsichord album by Francesco Corti. I didn’t know of him, but you’re absolutely right - it’s very well played and well recorded. It’s now been added to our Qobuz library.

[Mike-48]

I think this is one to wait for, to be released Oct 16 this year: Colin Tilney plays the Bach Partitas:

Russell, I know you don't control distribution, but still, I thought you might know. Do you expect this to be available as a download in 24-bit form? So far, I've found only a CD-quality download at Presto Classics (UK), and at about a 25% premium over physical disks.

I'm trying to decide if I will buy the CDs or pay the surcharge for not getting anything physical (which I then won't have to find shelf space for). If the latter, I might pay a few bucks more for 24-bit -- though given the care in recording, I assume the downsampling & dithering were done optimally.

If you don't know, I'll email Music and Arts to see what their plans are.

[Russell Dawkins]

My understanding is that this will be released in 24/44 version for download, but a little later. I don't know when, though. I will enquire and get back to you.