Customer Reviews

François Couperin: Keyboard Music, Vol. 2

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This second volume of Francois Couperin's clavier compositions contain his very last works which take on a different tone than found in Volume I. As Ms. Hewitt cites in her excellent liner notes, Couperin's music has always had a element of 'melancholy and mystery' in it, but is much more prominent in his last compositions here and can be foreshadowed in such obscure titles as "The Mysterious One," "The Fatal Dart," or "Wandering Souls." Compared to Vol. I with its lighter, sprightly and dancy tunes, Vol. II contains music of more seriousness, gravity and pensiveness - tinged with pallatable sense of solitude, sadness and even regret that Ms. Hewitt masterfully communicates.

While there are certainly moments of joy (track 4), noble procession and granduer (tracks 1, 12) and even theatrical humor (track 17), the majority of Couperin's last compositions here reveal a diminished optimism for life from a man who had suffered much - and can at times exude an emotional expressivity ahead of its time which is perhaps not unlike Schumann or late Schubert. This sentiment can be most perceived in the magnificant allemande "le Convalescente" (track 13) with its rich harmonic textures, "sighing" motives and descending chromatic scales that seem to express a deep yearning - which Hewitt conveys with a convincing poignancy. So, if Hewitt's first CD of Couperin's earlier works brought out the brightness and gaiety of daytime, some of these later clavier pieces better fit the mood of a rainy night.

It is speculated Couperin was familiar with Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier" and encorporated some of its ideas in his music. Perhaps so, since as Couperin matured as a composer, he turned to more "Bach-like" elements in his music: descending chromaticisms, unusual keys like F# minor and complex contrapunctal writing - all of which produces a darker mood and deeper sense of mystery which Angela Hewitt thoughtfully expresses with the gentler shadings of the piano (vs. harpsichord) in these recordings. She sensitively plumbs the complex depths of Couperin's intent and convincingly unveils the ellusive emotional content hiding behind the elegantly-textured French surface. I would say she excels in this capacity to draw out the deepest emotional textures in her readings - whether it be the music of Bach, Ravel or Couperin. But, unlike her Bach music in general, Hewitt overall sticks to a limited dynamic range (probably since Couperin gave strict instructions on tempo, ornamentations, dynamics), only excentuating the dynamics in the most stately, processional pieces. Accordingly, this music makes for more non-intrusive listening enjoyment in a quiet moment.

Along with the first volume, this recording got superb music press reviews. Penguin gave it a top 3/3 stars while ClassicsToday (scored at 9/10) praised Hewitt's convincing and beautiful translaton of Couperin's textures to the piano medium. As there are few other piano recordings to compare to Hewitt's music here to, I can only say that her take on these late works seems well done, capturing the various moods and mannerisms of the French clavier master with a contemplative - yet often striking - effect. Her emotionally-insightful and lyrical-rich style is well suited to Couperin's music, and she plays this music most artistically, poetically and beautifully. The Hyperion sound quality is very good here: clear, crisp, no hiss, and pleasantly but not overly resonant - all of which supports the artist's emphasis on tonal beauty. All-in-all, this is a most interesting and emotionally-compelling recording ... but recommmended after the more-varied Volume I which is a better place for most to start to explore Couperin's clavier music (one reason being that her liner notes in Volume I contain an extensive background on Couperin and his style of music). 5 stars.

I purchased this album with slight trepidation, as I found the sound quality of Hewitt's first volume of Couperin keyboard music to be lacking (dull piano, muddy sound), even though the music was extraodinarily beautiful. Happily, this second volume has both beautiful music, and much improved sound (I can actually distinguish the notes!). In fact, the sound quality is first rate, crisp and clear. I highly recommend this album to anyone who enjoyed the first volume, and also anyone who enjoys Bach keyboard music. Hewitt's technique is flawless, and her musicality is second to none.

If you love Bach keyboard transcriptions as much as I do, then you really should get this recording of Couperin clavecin transcriptions.

I enjoyed Couperin's keyboard music before and still do, but somehow putting this music to piano lets a soulfullness through that you just don't hear with the harpsichord, (much like with Bach).

The other day I fell asleep to this CD playing and woke up thinking I was listening to the radio and thought to myself 'What is this playing? this is BEAUTIFUL!'

I have to disagree a bit with the above review though, the only fault I have with this CD is the recording (or piano) sounds a tad bit muddy, still. You get over it though, once the music pulls you in.

François Couperin - (10 November 1668 - 11 September 1733)
Johann Sebastian Bach - (31 March 1685 [O.S. 21 March] - 28 July 1750)
Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti - (October 26, 1685 - July 23, 1757)
http://en.wikipedia.org

"It appears that the fortepiano [the earliest piano] did not achieve full popularity until the 1760s, from which time the first records of public performances on the instrument are dated, and when music described as being for the fortepiano was first widely published."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortepiano

One of the major industries of nineteenth century music was to reorchestrate eighteenth century music to give it more punch. Trombones were added to Handel's Messiah and the chorus was greatly expanded. The Victorians and Edwardians seemed to think that eighteenth century composers were limited by the primitiveness of the instruments available to them and that they would much prefer to use "more advanced" instruments, if they only had them. The piano achieved popularity because it was, at last, able to be both loud and soft. That meant that a new -- and different -- style of keyboard playing could evolve to take advantage of the piano's increased dynamic range. For some time, eighteenth century music went largely unplayed because it seemed tame by comparison to the current style. Then, not wanting people like Bach, Scarlatti, and Couperin to be forgotten completely, some well-meaning musicians tried to give their music new life by "bringing it up to date". One of the ways they did this was to replace the (to them) outmoded and inexpressive harpsichord with the "superior" piano. It is, perhaps, worth noting that by the time they got around to doing that, the piano had been the dominant keyboard instrument for some time, and there were few harpsichords surviving in their former, glorious condition. Some of the pieces treated in this way eventually lost all resemblance to what their composers intended - Handel's Messiah being a good example.

In the early and middle part of the twentieth century, it became obvious to some that this trend had gone too far. They saw the arrogance of thinking that later musicians should know better how Bach's music should sound than Bach himself did. An effort was made to find quality eighteenth century instruments and to restore or reproduce them. This effort achieved some momentum in Britain and Europe in the seventies, to the point that aficionados of early music felt acute discomfort on hearing anything not played "authentically". It was embarrassing to admit that one had ever been taken in by overblown reinterpretations of Baroque composers.

As far as I can tell, this embarrassment never made it to the United States. Americans seem perfectly comfortable having their Baroque music treated like something by John Philip Sousa. Being American, I happen to like Stokowski's versions of Bach. But I try not to mistake them for the real thing.

When trying to decide between the piano and harpsichord for Baroque music, it is important not to compare apples with oranges. The vast majority of harpsichord disks of this music feature inferior instruments, or inferior performers, or both. Since there are many more pianos and many more pianists, it's a little easier to find good ones. If one carries out the program of the Early Music movement to find quality eighteenth century instruments and quality performances, then the story is a little different. For example, listen to track 12 of the disk: Philips Baroque Classics Catalog #: 426087, where Rafael Puyana plays François Couperin: Les Fastes de la Grande et Ancienne Ménestrandise on a Ruckers-Taskin instrument. I defy anyone who has heard this track to claim that the same piece played on a piano would be anything but ludicrous by comparison.

People like Bach, Scarlatti, and Couperin knew what they were doing. They knew what a harpsichord should sound like, and they knew that that was how they wanted their music to sound. Let's give them a little credit.