20th Century Harpsichord Concertos

Kalabis: Concerto for Harpsichord and Strings; W Leigh: Concertino for Harpsichord and Strings; Michael Nyman: Concerto for Amplified Harpsichord and Strings; Ned Rorem: Concertino da Camera Jory Vinikour (harpsichord); Chicago Philharmonic/scott Speck

Cedille CDR 90000 188 75:42 mins

The harpsichord enjoyed a mini revival during the early 20th century, when major composers of the time – including Poulenc – wrote concertante works for the instrument. The English composer Walter Leigh’s Concertino, first recorded (on piano) in 1946 and unheard by its creator who was killed during the Second World

War, evokes Baroque structures with a neo-classical approach to melody; it’s not until the compact third movement that there’s a nod towards modernity. Ned Rorem’s Concertino da Camera, composed in 1946, is in a similar vein, with gentle dissonance and the composer’s trademark splashes of woodwind colour. Soloist Jory Vinikour brings out the youthful energy of the work, which was produced when Rorem was just 23; this is the premiere recording of it.

Things become more experimental during the second half of the disc, with concertos by Viktor Kalabis, to whom the disc is dedicated, and Michael Nyman. As in the Leigh piece, the Chicago Philharmonic strings perfectly partner Vinikour’s virtuosity, and the first and third movements of the Kalabis prove themselves to be worthy of wider recognition. Nyman’s Concerto for Amplified Harpsichord and Strings, written on the brink of the next century, takes us into a new soundworld. Vinikour is dynamite in the repeated percussive melodies that permeate the minimalistic cadenza (and postcadenza). Claire Jackson PERFORMANCE ★★★★★

RECORDING ★★★★