Fran?ois Couperin, Antoine Forqueryqa: Pi?ces de violes
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Performer: Nima Ben DavidPerformer: Sophie Bauchet
Composer: Francois Couperin
Composer: Antoine Forqueray
Performer: Jonathan Rubin
Performer: H?l?ne Clerc-Murgier
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2007-09-04
Music Label: Alpha
Soundtracks:
- Pr?lude
- Allemande l?g?re
- Courante
- Sarabande grave
- Gavotte
- Gigue
- Passacaille ou Chaconne
- Pr?lude
- Fugu?te
- Pompe fun?bre
- La Chemise blanche
- Allemande La Laborde
- La Forqueray
- La Cottin
- La Bellmont
- La Portugaise
- La Couperin
Music reviews of Fran?ois Couperin, Antoine Forqueryqa: Pi?ces de violes
Music Review: Nobility, delicacy, sweet tone - and a plethora of information
Rating: 5 Stars
Francois Couperin (1668 - 1733) and Antoine Forqueray (senior)(1672 - 1745): Pi?ces de violes.
1. Francois Couperin: Premi?re et deuxi?me suite de pi?ces de violes (published in 1728).
2. Antoine Forqueray: Premi?re Suite. (Published by Forqueray's son, Jean-Baptiste Antoine Forqueray, in 1747 as the first of five suites of his father).
Performed by: Nima Ben David, viola da gamba; Jonathan Rubin, theorbo and baroque guitar; Sophie Bauchet, second viola da gamba; H?l?ne Clerc-Murgier, harpsichord. Recorded in the Chapel of the Notre Dame de Bon Secours Hospital in Paris in January 2000. Published in 2000 as Alpha 007. Total playing time: 63'51".
If, like me, you are enamoured of the noble, but somewhat nasal sound of the viola da gamba (an instrument which, despite the similarities, has nothing to do with the violoncello and, in fact, was superceded by it), you may obtain a good deal of enjoyment from this lovely disc from the young Alpha label. The enjoyment begins, as usual with Alpha, with the packaging: the digipack is printed with two contemporary paintings by Watteau, the front cover being only an excerpt from one of them; these paintings are ably set in their context and linked to the music by an essay in the booklet written by Denis Grenier of the History Department at the Universit? Laval in Quebec. The beautifully printed booklet (French and English) contains a comparatively long essay by ?rik Kocevar on the music to be heard and is illustrated by black-and-white photographs of the artists, presumably taken during the recording sessions. These photos are not just the usual snapshots, but really capture the spirit of the sessions and, at the same time, offer some unusual perspectives. The instruments and their makers are also listed, something that every early music recording should do. The only thing missing is biographical information about the four artists; the room needed for this is taken up by self-advertising on the part of the Alpha label.
An internet search revealed that Nima Ben David is an Israeli gamba specialist, and that her recording of Couperin and Forqueray was, back in 2000, greeted enthusiastically by early music magazines. In comparison with Jordi Savall's much older recording of the Couperin, it seems that Nima Ben David has found a sweeter, lighter tone, much enhanced by the addition of the theorbo or baroque guitar to the continuo; perhaps this is due to her understanding of Couperin as a master of understatement, a shy and retiring man who abhorred the showy and virtuosic in favour of delicacy and the intimate. That Nima Ben David can also play with more masculine thrust (in case you hadn't realized, Nima is a female name) becomes obvious during the Forqueray character pieces, which, although complex, do allow for the slightly gruffer tone one may associate with the viola da gamba. But each piece is allowed to develop the character it is attempting to describe, and "La Couperin" reverts somewhat to the nobility and delicacy of the Couperin pieces. Engineering-wise, the recording is faultless, providing some glorious entertainment and ensuring rapt attention.
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