Froberger / Rowland - Suites for Harpsichord 1 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The fourth and final volume in Gilbert Rowland's acclaimed Froberger series completes the landmark recording project on specialist early music tag Athene. This double album is the latest instalment of Rowland's authoritative traversal of the complete Harpsichord Suites by Johann Jakob Froberger - a composer of profound influence whose innovations shaped the very form of the Baroque suite later adopted by Bach and Handel.Praised for it's Inchglorious soundInch and Inchenergy and a good forward driveInch, the series has garnered widespread critical recognition. Recorded in the sympathetic acoustic of Holy Trinity Church, Weston, in October 2024, the album reunites Rowland with engineer John Taylor, whose audiophile-standard production has underpinned the previous volumes.Rowland's playing combines historical insight with expressive vitality, delivering performances marked by Inchimpeccable clarity, flawless articulation, and period-perfect embellishmentsInch. His interpretations illuminate the elegance and inventiveness of Froberger's writing, making this collection an essential reference for enthusiasts and scholars of early keyboard music.This is a vital addition for fans of Froberger, Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, and historically informed performances, offering both continuity for collectors and a compelling entry point into one of the Baroque's most fascinating keyboard oeuvres.

This third double CD set completes Gilbert Rowland's survey of these Handel's groundbreaking solo keyboard music, works that began to free the form from the formal constraints of Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue. Forty-plus years of recitals, appearances at major festivals in several countries, together with regular broadcasts, have helped to establish Gilbert Rowland's reputation as one of Britain's leading harpsichordists. The standard of playing is very high indeed... a most enjoyable recording. (The Consort on Vol.1)

The music of the English Virginalists (virginal is a smaller variety of harpsichord) dating back to the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries served as an inspiration for the French harpsichord style, which, after several years, returned to Great Britain. It was adopted in such a mature form by the most outstanding composer born in England. Henry Purcell, conscious of the music's sources, enriched it with subsequent references to native musical traditions and with his own original compositional technique. The extremely meticulous interpretations of eight harpsichord suites by Purcell, performed by Ewa Rzetecka-Niewiadomska, convincingly confirm the artistry and aesthetic value of these compositions, with plenty of charm and stylistic treats, which, due to extra-musical reasons, are on the margin of the mainstream of the history of music.