Composer: Armand-Louis Couperin, François Couperin, Louis Couperin
Performer: Gustav Leonhardt
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Philips
Catalogue: 4209392
Release: 1988
Size: 373 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Louis Couperin: Pièces de clavecin, Suite in D minor
01. 1. Prélude
02. 2. Allemande
03. 3. Courante
04. 4. Courante
05. 5. Sarabande
06. 6. Sarabande
07. 7. La pastorella
08. 8. Chaconne
François Couperin: L’art de toucher le clavecin
09. Premier prélude (C major)
10. Second prélude (D minor)
11. Troisième prèlude (G minor)
12. Quatrième prélude (F major)
13. Cinquème prélude (A major)
14. Sixième prélude (B minor)
15. Septième prélude (B flat major)
16. Huitième prélude (E minor)
François Couperin: Pièces de clavecin – Troisième livre / 15e ordre
17. La régente ou la Minerve
18. Le dodo ou L’amour au berçeau
19. L’evaporée
20. La douce et piquante
21. Les vergers fleüris
22. La Princess de Chabeüil ou La Muse de Monaco
Armand-Louis Couperin: Pièces de clavecin
23. 6. L’Intrépide
24. 24. Rondeau gracieux
25. 9. L’Arlequine ou la Adam
Recorded in the pretty old town of Haarlem in the Netherlands in May 1987, this album, dedicated to the Couperin dynasty (of Louis, François and Louis-Armand) is like a distillation of a whole life’s worth of practice and reflections on the French music of the 17th century that Leonhardt so loved. In it, we find the great harpsichordist’s sobriety, his way of deploying his immense erudition and his own Dutch heritage, which bring to the music an almost monastic inwardness. But for all his intimate knowledge of the music and the wisdom of his years, Gustav Leonhardt seems here to let himself go with joyful abandon, setting the keys alight with his liberty and refinement.
The programme is like a meditation on solitude, from Louis Couperin’s austere Suite in D Minor to Louis-Armand’s gallant pieces, via the Preludes from L’Art de toucher le clavecin by the great François. The impressive calm of Dodo ou L’Amour au berceau, the graceful effervescence of L’Évaporée, the elegance of La Princesse de Chabeuil and the joyous final pirouette of L’Arlequine are all spirited flights that reaffirm the Dutch harpsichordist’s pre-eminent position in the heart of the baroque musical movement.