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4.0 out of 5 stars
One of the last "harpsichord heroes", December 17, 2008
This review is from: Duphly: Pièces pour Clavecin /Meyerson (Audio CD)
Jacques Duphly (1715 - 1789): Pièces pour Clavecin. Mitzi Meyerson, harpsichord. Recorded at St. James, Clerkenwell, London [no date given]. Published in 1986 as ASV CD GAU 108. Total playing time: 49'57".
This was American harpsichordist Mitzi Meyerson's first recording of pieces by Jacques Duphly, and some of the music played here also features on her later Duphly recording for Dabringhaus und Grimm (
Jacques Duphly: Pieces de Clavecin), a disc I haven't yet heard but which might well be worth investigating. The 1986 ASV attempt suffers from its rather short playing time of around 50 minutes and its 16-bit 80's recorded sound, which, although good enough for the period, cannot match up with later developments in sound recording. Duphly was one of the last "harpsichord heroes", spending his life mainly in Rouen and Paris, where he was celebrated for his "perfection in fingering". His harpsichord works as presented here consist both of character pieces in the older vein and of dances in a more Italiate style. He published four books altogether, and Mitzi Meyerson has here made a selection from the first three, ensuring that there is a mixture of both styles and tempo. Duphly wrote specifically for a French harpsichord, but the ASV folded card (not really a "booklet") gives no information on the instrument here played. At all events, the result is some very pretty music, made a little more accessible by Nicholas Anderson's brief but informative notes.
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