François Couperin: Keyboard Music, Vol. 2
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Composer: Francois CouperinPerformer: Angela Hewitt
Edition: Music CD
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 2004-04-13
Music Label: Hyperion UK
Music reviews of François Couperin: Keyboard Music, Vol. 2
Music Review: "Keyboard" doesn't mean piano.
Rating: 1 Stars
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.
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