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Whatever Happened To............Landowska's Pleyel Harpsichord?
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JohnGavin
Dec 5, 2013, 12:12:26 PM12/5/13
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I'm sure all you Pleyel Harpsichord fans (I am about 1 of a dozen left in the world today) are wondering.
It is now fully restored (it was in shabby shape in Landowska's Lakeville CT home for decades until her assistant Denise Restout assed away)
Anyway, here is a lecture demonstration by Skip Sempe.....apologies in advance for the cynicism, but if the 55 years of baroque scholarship since Landowska's passing has given us the more historically illumined playing of Sempe over Landowska then get me to a time machine and show me how to travel back 80 years.
Anyway, the film is worth watching
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQppWyIfOlk
It is now fully restored (it was in shabby shape in Landowska's Lakeville CT home for decades until her assistant Denise Restout assed away)
Anyway, here is a lecture demonstration by Skip Sempe.....apologies in advance for the cynicism, but if the 55 years of baroque scholarship since Landowska's passing has given us the more historically illumined playing of Sempe over Landowska then get me to a time machine and show me how to travel back 80 years.
Anyway, the film is worth watching
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQppWyIfOlk
Mandryka
Dec 5, 2013, 2:52:50 PM12/5/13
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What's your problem with Sempé's F Couperin and Rameau?
JohnGavin
Dec 5, 2013, 2:58:21 PM12/5/13
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On Thursday, December 5, 2013 2:52:50 PM UTC-5, Mandryka wrote:
> What's your problem with Sempé's F Couperin and Rameau?
Not only Couperin and Rameau, but also the Francisque Bransles, "The Fall of the Leafe", the Scarlatti Sonata - all pieces that Landowska and Puyana played - and in comparison Sempe is rhythmically flabby and lacking in basic energy and intensity. He's full of ideas about the music, but they don't translate in performance to anything remotely as memorable as what Landowska or Puyana delivered on the same instrument.
> What's your problem with Sempé's F Couperin and Rameau?
Mandryka
Dec 5, 2013, 3:07:29 PM12/5/13
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I just think you're wrong, I think energy is a Sempé trait, almost to a fault.
As far as Puyana goes, I thought all but the earliest redordings were dry and colourless actually.
As far as Puyana goes, I thought all but the earliest redordings were dry and colourless actually.
William Sommerwerck
Dec 5, 2013, 8:04:22 PM12/5/13
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I watched this, and found most of his harpsichord performances flat, devoid of
the expression I was expecting.
the expression I was expecting.
JohnGavin
Dec 5, 2013, 9:14:18 PM12/5/13
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On Thursday, December 5, 2013 3:07:29 PM UTC-5, Mandryka wrote:
> I just think you're wrong, I think energy is a Sempé trait, almost to a fault.
>
>
>
> As far as Puyana goes, I thought all but the earliest redordings were dry and colourless actually.
It sounds like you genuinely enjoy Sempe's playing - which is good. I can only say that I know the pieces he plays in this video very well and I find them rhythmically flabby and casual. For me they lose their essence - but my feelings extend to the HIP harpsichord movement in general. I remember when notes inegal were the rage, particularly in French music, and those practices always sounded awful to my ears. Then that style of playing went out of mode. There seems to me to be a commonsense about rhythmic clarity that trumps all the latest notions which come from theoretical ideas.
> I just think you're wrong, I think energy is a Sempé trait, almost to a fault.
>
>
>
> As far as Puyana goes, I thought all but the earliest redordings were dry and colourless actually.
And you're absolutely right about Puyana's later playing. He gave up playing his Pleyels largely due to the "authenticity" HIP police and with the Pleyels went the magic and all the good things he learned from Landowska. I felt that Puyana just lost his way in the authenticity fad that overtook the harpsichord world in the late 60s and 70s.
Mandryka
Dec 6, 2013, 1:30:57 AM12/6/13
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In fact I listened to Landowska and Sempé playing the same pieces from F Couperin last night, Sometimes Landowska makes a really striking registration change for every new phrase in the music. Her rubato, seemed pretty natural to me. There's a nobility and energy anout Sempé's performances, and a heart-on-sleeve quality about Landowska's. Neither are favourites of mine in Couperin - they would be Hantai and Gilbert probably.
Terry
Dec 6, 2013, 9:26:07 AM12/6/13
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In article <03935f02-c079-42fb...@googlegroups.com>,
Christ, what an awful harpsichord! One can only wonder at Sempe's
fortitude in pushing on and playing so well on it. It must have been a
profoundly depressing experience for him. It was for me. My answer to
the question posed by the title of this thread is that no fate would
have been too bad, for such an instrument. A car-crusher would have
been the best answer, I think.
fortitude in pushing on and playing so well on it. It must have been a
profoundly depressing experience for him. It was for me. My answer to
the question posed by the title of this thread is that no fate would
have been too bad, for such an instrument. A car-crusher would have
been the best answer, I think.
Lionel Tacchini
Dec 6, 2013, 2:57:43 PM12/6/13
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--
Lionel Tacchini
John Thomas
Dec 6, 2013, 3:54:00 PM12/6/13
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On Friday, December 6, 2013 6:26:07 AM UTC-8, Terry wrote:
> Christ, what an awful harpsichord! One can only wonder at Sempe's
>
> fortitude in pushing on and playing so well on it. It must have been a
>
> profoundly depressing experience for him. It was for me. My answer to
>
> the question posed by the title of this thread is that no fate would
>
> have been too bad, for such an instrument. A car-crusher would have
>
> been the best answer, I think.
Strange indeed that Landowska could have made so many wonderful recordings on it. For some of us it was the only harpsichord we knew until Kenneth Gilbert and George Malcolm came along, and they seemed rather anemic by comparison.
> Christ, what an awful harpsichord! One can only wonder at Sempe's
>
> fortitude in pushing on and playing so well on it. It must have been a
>
> profoundly depressing experience for him. It was for me. My answer to
>
> the question posed by the title of this thread is that no fate would
>
> have been too bad, for such an instrument. A car-crusher would have
>
> been the best answer, I think.
Mandryka
Dec 6, 2013, 4:59:52 PM12/6/13
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Which recording by Kenneth Gilbert is anaemic?
MiNe109
Dec 6, 2013, 5:31:40 PM12/6/13
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Dowd copies circa 1980, so this isn't my ideal sound.
That said, there is music composed for similar instruments. My friend
was hired to play such a piece by Milhaud and was supplied a
single-manual harpsichord that couldn't approximate the register shifts
call for.
Stephen
boombox
Dec 6, 2013, 6:57:09 PM12/6/13
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On Friday, December 6, 2013 2:57:43 PM UTC-5, Lionel Tacchini wrote:
>
>
> Wasn't it always meant as a torture instrument?
It was the model favored by Lurch on The Addams Family
>
>
> Wasn't it always meant as a torture instrument?
boombox
Dec 6, 2013, 7:01:29 PM12/6/13
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On Friday, December 6, 2013 5:31:40 PM UTC-5, MINe109 wrote:
> That said, there is music composed for similar instruments. My friend
>
> was hired to play such a piece by Milhaud and was supplied a
>
> single-manual harpsichord that couldn't approximate the register shifts
>
> call for.
>
>
>
> Stephen
The Pleyel is the authentic instrument for the Poulenc Concerto Champetre, which was written for the very one being discussed here.
> That said, there is music composed for similar instruments. My friend
>
> was hired to play such a piece by Milhaud and was supplied a
>
> single-manual harpsichord that couldn't approximate the register shifts
>
> call for.
>
>
>
> Stephen
John Thomas
Dec 6, 2013, 7:08:32 PM12/6/13
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On Friday, December 6, 2013 1:59:52 PM UTC-8, Mandryka wrote:
> Which recording by Kenneth Gilbert is anaemic?
None. What I meant to communicate was that after becoming used to Landowska's sound, when Gilbert, Kirkpatrick and Malcolm's recordings came out AT THAT TIME they sounded anemic [US spelling]. Now that I'm used to the sound of garden variety harpsichords they're fine but still not very interesting to me. Landowska's recordings were a unique experience.
> Which recording by Kenneth Gilbert is anaemic?
Terry
Dec 7, 2013, 7:46:32 AM12/7/13
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JohnGavin
Dec 7, 2013, 10:13:55 AM12/7/13
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max197...@gmail.com
Dec 9, 2013, 4:08:42 PM12/9/13
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On Friday, December 6, 2013 6:26:07 AM UTC-8, Terry wrote:
Sempe has an amazing touch, which always sounds like he is stroking the strings. It's just right for the lute-inspired French repertoire.
Thanks for this link.
-Max
John Wiser
Jun 11, 2014, 5:37:09 PM6/11/14
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"JohnGavin" <dag...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:b9780986-6d68-4844...@googlegroups.com...
jdw
news:b9780986-6d68-4844...@googlegroups.com...
On Friday, December 6, 2013 7:01:29 PM UTC-5, boombox wrote:
> On Friday, December 6, 2013 5:31:40 PM UTC-5, MINe109 wrote:
>
>
>
> > That said, there is music composed for similar instruments. My friend
> > was hired to play such a piece by Milhaud and was supplied a
> > single-manual harpsichord that couldn't approximate the register shifts
> > call for.
> On Friday, December 6, 2013 5:31:40 PM UTC-5, MINe109 wrote:
>
>
>
> > That said, there is music composed for similar instruments. My friend
> > was hired to play such a piece by Milhaud and was supplied a
> > single-manual harpsichord that couldn't approximate the register shifts
> > call for.
>> The Pleyel is the authentic instrument for the Poulenc Concerto Champetre, which was written for
>> the very one being discussed here.
?> And for the Falla Harpsichord Concerto and Master Peter's Puppet Show,
>> the very one being discussed here.
> and Martinu's Harpsichord Sonata, and Delius' "Danse" ----
> Bartok admired the sound and encouraged the performance of Microcosmos on it.
> Busoni composed his Sonatina #2 for his own Dolmetsch concert harpsichord,
> very similar to the Pleyel. Actually the list of 20th century harpsichord music
> written for modern instruments with 16 foot stops is quite huge.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0913574082
> Bartok admired the sound and encouraged the performance of Microcosmos on it.
> Busoni composed his Sonatina #2 for his own Dolmetsch concert harpsichord,
> very similar to the Pleyel. Actually the list of 20th century harpsichord music
> written for modern instruments with 16 foot stops is quite huge.
jdw
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