Jean-Philippe Rameau
Rameau's harpsichord writing is theatre for the fingers: character pieces that cluck and whirl, doubles that spin a gavotte into pure virtuosity, and Pièces de clavecin en concerts where the keyboard stands equal with violin and flute rather than trailing as continuo.
His Nouvelles suites stock the instrument with a whole menagerie and weather system. La Poule pecks its obstinate figure; Les Sauvages stamps with dance heat; Les Triolets move in lighter air. The same ear that rebuilt French harmony on the page poured that knowledge into music still freshly sprung. After fifty he turned almost wholly to the stage, filling tragédies and opéra-ballets with chorus, ballet heat and continuous drama that made French opera richer than the Italian models of his day. What the keyboard keeps is grace married to risk: enharmonic daring, Scarlatti-like dazzle, and a theorist's craft that never forgot how to entertain.
Jean-Philippe Rameau is featured on the following titles
Harpsichord Recital
In the mid-1990s Nicholas Parle was living and working in Europe from financial necessity, but returned each year to perform and record in Australia. This was his first CD for Tall Poppies, a popular selection of favourite harpsichord works.