Word: harpsichords
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Maryse Carlin; harpsichord music of Morley, Farnaby, Bach, Couperin, and Scarlatti; Eliot House Library; 8:30 p.m.; free...
...performing can match his particular combination of formal restraint, interpretive flair and sheer energy. Certainly that was the case last week as Kipnis made a successful New York Philharmonic debut playing two diverse works under Conductor Pierre Boulez-Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 and Falla's Harpsichord Concerto...
Under the Finger. Though written centuries apart, the Bach and Falla concertos succeed because neither tries too hard to make the harpsichord do things it is not supposed to do. "Too many 20th century composers think of the harpsichord as a piano or as a percussion instrument. They expect you to bang very hard on it," says Kipnis. The impressionism of Debussy or Delius, which calls for a dreamy, sustained tone, simply will not work on a harpsichord. A stride bass can sound downright laughable. The technique of the harpsichordist exists entirely in the fingers, not partly in the arms...
Igor finally committed himself to the harpsichord in the late 1950s, after graduating from Harvard and taking such odd jobs as picking the Top 40 hits at a radio station. His father was puzzled: "The piano, yes. But the harpsichord? How can you make a career on an ancient relic...
Today Igor ranks as the foremost harpsichordist of the day. In addition to his appearances with the Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony this season, he will give 40 or so recitals across the U.S., arriving for each concert with his 10-ft.-long Rutkowski and Robinette harpsichord neatly bundled inside a Chevrolet Sportvan. Between 1964 and 1971, Kipnis made 14 superlative discs for Epic and Columbia-notably a choice LP of short works, The Harmonious Blacksmith, that remains the best single recorded introduction to the instrument and its music. This week Angel, for whom Kipnis has recorded since 1972, releases...