This new recital from Gustav Leonhardt is by way of a tribute to the great French bass viol virtuoso at Louis XIV's court, Antoine Forqueray. To start with Leonhardt plays two suites de pieces grouped around the keys of D major and G minor which Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Forqueray transcribed for solo harpsichord from his father's originals for bass viol and harpsichord. Happily Leonhardt has also included two impressive examples of the younger Forqueray's own compositional skill, La Angrave and La Morangis ou La Plissay. Both of these are original harpsichord pieces. The remaining works in the programme consist of Couperin's noble E minor allemande, La Superbe, ou La Forqueray (Book 3, Ordre 17) and La Forqueray, a sombre rondeau in F minor, full of pathos and in the character of a tombeau from Duphly's third published collection (1758).
'La Superbe' would be an appropriate title for this robust, often passionate recital by Leonhardt, who draws rewarding sonorities from the mainly rich textures of this repertory. In the opening piece La Regente, Leonhardt firmly establishes the prevailing air of nobility which, to a greater or lesser extent, is present in each subsequent miniature. Never have I heard this piece in its solo harpsichord clothes played with such feeling for its resonances as Leonhardt demonstrates here; but I should add that, even so, it is in its original version for bass viol that its sensuous character is most convincingly conveyed. The point is tellingly made in another recent Forqueray disc with Jay Bernfeld (bass viol) and Skip Sempe (harpsichord) on Deutsche Harmonia Mundi ((CD) RD77262, 5/92). Since only two real duplications occur on these discs I strongly urge readers to acquire them both, for together they offer a fuller account of the talents of father and son.
Leonhardt continues with beautifully shaped performances of the two pieces by Forqueray fils—one of them, La Morangis ou La Plissay a spaciously laid-out chaconne—as well as a selection of movements by Antoine carefully chosen for the contrasts they afford in the present context. Only Le Carillon de Passy seemed mildly disappointing by comparison with so much else that is inventive. Leonhardt has committed little of Couperin's music to disc, so his account of La Superbe, ou La Forqueray, measured and bien chante is all the more to be treasured.
In short, a first-rate recital on a ravishing sounding harpsichord by Nicholas Lefebure of Rouen (1755); and this, furthermore, outstandingly well recorded.'