Trevor Pinnock - The Harmonious Blacksmith: Favourite Harpsichord Pieces (1984) Reissue 2014

Here is a well-chosen group of harpsichord pieces out of which all of us must surely find at least one of our favourites. Certainly quite a few of mine are included but even were this not so I should, none the less, be enjoying Trevor Pinnock's sparkling and fluent performances. He begins with the Harmonious Blacksmith Air and Variations from Handel's Fifth Keyboard Suite. I can think of few performers who play Handel with so much natural grace as Pinnock; this is positive playing with a great deal of vitality to which is added some tasteful ornamentation.

I still have Wanda Landowska's weighty, even portentous performance of J. C. F. Fischer's extended D minor Passacaglia from his Urania suite ringing in my ears. Pinnock's opening statement, by comparison, sounds almost jaunty. It's a majestic piece and Pinnock brings both virtuosity and grandeur to the variations; perhaps the opening might have been a little stronger but few will be disappointed either by the music or by this reading of it. No such anthology as this would be complete either without Couperin's elusively titled Les baricades misterieuses or Bach's Italian Concerto; both were drawing-room favourites well before the present harpsichord revival. I found Les baricades rhythmically a little inflexible in this performance but the Italian Concerto comes off splendidly.

Trevor Pinnock's approach to Rameau has always appealed to me. It is full of life and full of fund and that is true of many of the keyboard pieces. Occasionally I felt that the music's strength was emphasized at the expense of its gentler side; the third of the A minor Variations is a case in point where Pinnock's rhythmic drive diminishes the somewhat wistful character of the music. The last two variations sound triumphant and dazzle with virtuosity. As in his complete recording of this fine Suite in A minor (CRD1010, 2/75) he repeats the slow Gavotte at the conclusion of the last variation; I find that effective.

The high-spots of this recital for me were the two E major Scarlatti Sonatas, Kk380 and 381. The combination of Pinnock's colourfully imaginative interpretation together with a fine instrument brings this music to life in a thrilling way. They are probably late Scarlatti and contain a wide range of 'affects'. By comparison, the Fiocco Adagio seemed musically dull, especially when isolated from the other movements of the suite from which it is taken. Daquin's imitative miniature Le coucou comes as a welcome change, whilst Balbastre's La Suzanne makes a dashing conclusion to a well-recorded recital. I have already remarked upon the fine sound of the instrument which is modelled after Hemsch and built in 1983. Its tonal warmth is emphasized even more on CD and there is little but pleasure to be found in this programme. Warmly recommended.'

Review by Nicholas Anderson, Gramophone

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 5 from 4. May 2009

EAC extraction logfile from 9. June 2015, 15:42

Trevor Pinnock / The Harmonious Blacksmith

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foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2016-07-17 13:09:35

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Trevor Pinnock / The Harmonious Blacksmith
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR12 -1.87 dB -16.78 dB 4:11 01-George Frideric Handel - Air and variations 'The harmonious blacksmith'
DR13 -1.82 dB -16.97 dB 5:35 02-Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer - Passacaglia in D minor
DR10 -4.42 dB -17.72 dB 2:11 03-Francois Couperin - Les baricades mysterieuses
DR12 -3.55 dB -17.66 dB 3:51 04-Johann Sebastian Bach - Italian concerto in F major, BWV 971 (I. allegro)
DR12 -5.61 dB -21.57 dB 4:30 05-Johann Sebastian Bach - Italian concerto in F major, BWV 971 (II. andante)
DR12 -1.78 dB -16.89 dB 3:55 06-Johann Sebastian Bach - Italian concerto in F major, BWV 971 (III. presto)
DR13 -3.01 dB -18.58 dB 9:03 07-Jean-Philippe Rameau - Gavotte avec 6 Doubles
DR14 -1.72 dB -19.77 dB 4:46 08-Domenico Scarlatti - Sonata in E major, K.380
DR12 -3.09 dB -16.81 dB 3:41 09-Domenico Scarlatti - Sonata in E major, K.381
DR12 -4.29 dB -20.16 dB 3:11 10-Joseph-Hector Fiocco - Adagio in G minor
DR10 -6.55 dB -19.94 dB 2:04 11-Louis-Claude Daquin - Le coucou
DR13 -1.02 dB -17.30 dB 5:52 12-Claude-Benigne Balbastre - La Suzanne
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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