Harpsichord Works Complete [Import]

Rameau (Artist), Kiener (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 11, 2003)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
• ASIN: B0000BX5LN
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #422,774 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Premier livre de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: Prélude

2. Premier livre de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: Allemande

3. Premier livre de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: 2ème Allemande

4. Premier livre de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: Courante

5. Premier livre de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: Gigue

6. Premier livre de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: 1ère Sarabande

7. Premier livre de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: 2ème Sarabande

8. Premier livre de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: Vénitienne

9. Premier livre de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: Gavotte

10. Premier livre de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: Menuet

See all 29 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: Suite in LA: Allemande

2. Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: Suite in LA: Courante

3. Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: Suite in LA: Sarabande

4. Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: Suite in LA: Les Trois Mains

5. Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: Suite in LA: Fanfarinette

6. Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: Suite in LA: La Triomphante

7. Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: Suite in LA: Gavotte et Doubles

8. Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: Suite in SOL: Les Tricotets

9. Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: Suite in SOL: L'Indifférente

10. Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin, for harpsichord: Suite in SOL: Deux Menuets

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing to say about this one, October 4, 2011

By 

Peter G. Watchorn (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harpsichord Works Complete (Audio CD)

I'm a professional harpsichordist, and I agree that this is one of the most profoundly beautiful harpsichord recordings made by anyone at any time. Rhythm, articulation, tempo, sense of phrasing, colour, timing: everything here is perfectly judged. The Paris Dowd Blanchet used sounds beautiful, too. Grab a copy of this before it disappears, as it's one of the best harpsichord recordings ever made.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning, May 12, 2010

By 

doktorlehar "doktorlehar" (Columbia, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harpsichord Works Complete (Audio CD)

I echo the sentiments of the reviewer below. This is one of the most gorgeously recorded and profoundly interpreted recordings of harpsichord repertoire I have ever encountered. It's utterly magnificent. Kiener has a superb sense of rhythm and articulation, so fine that he brings out nuances in the music that don't seem possible on a harpsichord. I also much prefer his tempos. He favors considerably slower speeds than do many professional harpsichordists today and he contrasts particularly strikingly with Christophe Rousset. Rousset's manic, hysterical renditions of Rameau and his contemporaries are light years away from the more deliberate approach that Kiener provides here. When performed as Rousset does, Rameau seems schizophrenic and trite, and I suspect also that the rushed speeds he prefers are a way to mask inferior musicality. With Kiener, the nuances are there and one can actually hear them. There's plenty of brilliance, too. For a sample, check out the Allemande from the 1724 Suite, track 11 on disc one. Magical.

This is one of my top 5 favorite recordings of all time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous, August 28, 2009

By 

Jan Klaar (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harpsichord Works Complete (Audio CD)

This is one of the most beautiful recordings of solo harpsichord music I have heard. Rameau's music is a world unto itself, brilliantly characterized and with plenty of ear-catching variety. Give a listen, for instance, to the various movements of the Suite in E minor from 1724 (listed in French as "Suite en Mi" -- click "See all tracks" on Disc 1). Michel Kiener's playing is wonderfully sensitive and dramatic, and his instrument has a warm, rich tone -- none of that brittleness or clatter that can be wearying with some harpsichord discs. And the recording is perfectly placed and balanced for clear, resonant, enveloping sound. (Be aware: Amazon's samples sound a little over-resonant, but the disc itself does not have this flaw.) A lot of superlatives, I know, but this is a set I have returned to many times over the years, always to be delighted anew.