Christophe Rousset - Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 (2016)

Christophe Rousset is one of the finest and most exciting harpsichordists, and as a conductor is a leader in the late 20th century revival of French Baroque music. After studying piano as a boy, he became deeply interested in the harpsichord at the age of 13. He studied with Huguette Dreyfus at the Schola Cantorum in Paris and, from 1980 to 1983, with Bob van Asperen at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague. He won a special certificate of distinction at the Schola Cantorum and, in 1983, the first prize at the International Harpsichord Competition in Bruges. He began a professional career, in which he rose quickly in the ranks of the world's harpsichordists. He soon appeared at some of the most prestigious early music festivals, including those of Aix-en-Provence, Saintes, Veaune, Utrecht, La Roque d'Anthéron, and Les Printemps des Arts de Nantes. He recorded for the Decca record label and its early music imprint L'Oiseau-Lyre. His recording of the Piéces de clavecin of Rameau won the 1992 Gramophone Award for Best Baroque Non-Vocal Release and the Belgian Cecilia Prize. During this time as a specialist in Baroque harpsichord, he often performed the harpsichord continuo parts in ensemble music. For the most part in the Baroque era, ensembles were led by the harpsichordist. Thus it was natural that Rousset's harpsichord appearances with such established authentic instrument ensembles as La Petite Bande, Musica Antique de Cologne, the Academy of Ancient Music, Il Seminario Musicale, and Les Arts Florisants led him to an interest in leading a Baroque ensemble. In 1991, he founded such a group, which he named Les Talens Lyrics. This title is taken from a 1739 collection of compositions by Jean-Philippe Rameau. The group was primarily interested in reviving French Baroque music, but it also intended to explore the connections between the distinct national styles of France and the other major European nations of the Baroque era (including England). In particular, Rousset and Les Talens explore the vital interchange of music that took place between France and the Kingdom of Naples. The group is flexible in size. It may include as little as five singers and players for a performance of court vocal works, or up to 40 for opera and oratorio. An important introduction of Les Talens came in 1993 at the Festival de Beaune, when theyh performed Scipione by Handel. The same year they presented L'incoronazione di Poppea of Monteverdi at the Amsterdam Opera. They have also played ballets and operas of Cimarosa, Berutti, de Mondonville. They have recorded Henry du Mont's Motets en dialogue, Jean-Marie Leclair's trios, Handel's Scipione and Richard the First, Jommelli's Armida Abbandonata, ouvertures of Rameau, and the soundtrack for the movie Farinelli, whose subject was one of the leading castrato singers of the Baroque. The Farinelli soundtrack had extraordinary sales for an early music classical release, selling well over 600,000 copies worldwide. Les Talens Lyriques plans to track the Neapolitan-Parisian connection up to the time of the emergence of Rossini. In 2000, Rousset moved a step toward that by conducting Mozart's Mitridate at the Opéra National de Lyon. In 2004 he was honored by the French government as Officier des Arts et Lettres, and “Chevalier dans l’Ordre National du Mérite.”

Tracklist:

CD1

01. No. 1. Prelude en Ut, BWV 846
02. No. 2. Fugue en Ut, BWV 846
03. No. 3. Prelude en Do Mineur, BWV 847
04. No. 4. Fugue en Do Mineur, BWV 847
05. No. 5. Prelude en Do Dièse, BWV 848
06. No. 6. Fugue en Do Dièse, BWV 848
07. No. 7. Prelude en Do Dièse Mineur, BWV 849
08. No. 8. Fugue en Do Dièse Mineur, BWV 849
09. No. 9. Prelude en Ré, BWV 850
10. No. 10. Fugue en Ré, BWV 850
11. No. 11. Prelude en Ré Mineur, BWV 851
12. No. 12. Fugue en Ré Mineur, BWV 851
13. No. 13. Prelude en Mi Bémol, BWV 852
14. No. 14. Fugue en Mi Bémol, BWV 852
15. No. 15. Prelude en Ré Dièse Mineur, BWV 853
16. No. 16. Fugue en Ré Dièse Mineur, BWV 853
17. No. 17. Prelude en Mi, BWV 854
18. No. 18. Fugue en Mi, BWV 854
19. No. 19. Prelude en Mi Mineur, BWV 855
20. No. 20. Fugue en Mi Mineur, BWV 855
21. No. 21. Prelude en Fa, BWV 856
22. No. 22. Fugue en Fa, BWV 856
23. No. 23. Prelude en Fa Mineur, BWV 857
24. No. 24. Fugue en Fa Mineur, BWV 857

CD2

01. No. 25. Prelude en Fa Dièse, BWV 858
02. No. 26. Fugue en Fa Dièse, BWV 858
03. No. 27. Prelude en Fa Dièse Mineur, BWV 859
04. No. 28. Fugue en Fa Dièse Mineur, BWV 859
05. No. 29. Prelude en Sol, BWV 860
06. No. 30. Fugue en Sol, BWV 860
07. No. 31. Prelude en Sol Mineur, BWV 861
08. No. 32. Fugue en Sol Mineur, BWV 861
09. No. 33. Prelude en La Bémol, BWV 862
10. No. 34. Fugue en La Bémol, BWV 862
11. No. 35. Prelude en Sol Dièse Mineur, BWV 863
12. No. 36. Fugue en Sol Dièse Mineur, BWV 863
13. No. 37. Prelude en La, BWV 684
14. No. 38. Fugue en La, BWV 684
15. No. 39. Prelude en La Mineur, BWV 865
16. No. 40. Fugue en La Mineur, BWV 865
17. No. 41. Prelude en Si Bémol, BWV 866
18. No. 42. Fugue en Si Bémol, BWV 866
19. No. 43. Prelude en Si Bémol Mineur, BWV 867
20. No. 44. Fugue en Si Bémol Mineur, BWV 867
21. No. 45. Prelude en Si, BWV 868
22. No. 46. Fugue en Si, BWV 868
23. No. 47. Prelude en Si Mineur, BWV 869
24. No. 48. Fugue en Si Mineur, BWV 869