Composer: Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performer: Mahan Esfahani
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Hyperion
Catalogue: CDA68071-2
Release: 2014
Size: 2.65 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
Suite in A minor from Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin (c1729–30)
01. I. Prélude
02. II. Allemande I
03. III. Allemande II
04. IV. Courante
05. V. Gigue
06. VI. Sarabandes I & II
07. VII. Vénitienne
08. VIII. Gavotte
09. IX. Menuet
Suite in E minor
10. I. Allemande
11. II. Courante
12. III. Gigues en rondeau I & II
13. IV. Le rappel des oiseaux
14. V. Rigaudons I, II & double
15. VI. Musette en rondeau
16. VII. Tambourin
17. VIII. La villageoise (rondeau)
Suite in D Major
18. I. Les tendres plaintes (rondeau)
19. II. Les niais de Sologne
20. III. Les soupirs
21. IV. La joyeuse (rondeau)
22. V. La follette (rondeau)
23. VI. L’entretien des Muses
24. VII. Les tourbillons (rondeau)
25. VIII. Les cyclopes (rondeau)
26. IX. Le lardon (menuet)
27. X. La boiteuse
28. Menuet en rondeau
CD 02
Suite No 2 in A minor
01. I. Allemande
02. II. Courante
03. III. Sarabande
04. IV. Les trois mains
05. V. Fanfarinette
06. VI. Le triomphante
07. VII. Gavotte
Suite in G minor
08. I. Les tricotets (rondeau)
09. II. L’indifferente
10. III. Menuets I & II
11. IV. La poule
12. V. Les triolets
13. VI. Les sauvages
14. VII. L’enharmonique
15. VIII. L’egiptienne
16. La Dauphine
17. Les petits marteaux
Gramophone-Award-winning harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani has recorded Rameau’s Pièces de clavecin in the historic setting of the Music Room at Hatchlands Park in Surrey. This is a masterclass for the instrument, confirming this young artist as a truly great player: in the words of International Record Review ‘his technique is beyond criticism and his inherent musicianship goes far deeper than mere surface understanding … it is difficult not to warm to such a musician’.
This double album comprises the whole of Rameau’s output of keyboard suites, and Esfahani rejoices in its wealth of genius, its excitement and drama. Rameau is a composer whose revival is ongoing, and his unique combination of the witty and the cerebral, the light and the curmudgeonly, abounds throughout his harpsichord music.