Skip Sempé - Louis Couperin: Suites et Pavane (2004)

Tracklist

01. Suite de pièces in F Major: I. Prélude
02. Suite de pièces in F Major: II. Courante
03. Suite de pièces in F Major: III. Sarabande
04. Suite de pièces in A Minor: I. Prélude à l'imitation de Monsieur Froberger
05. Suite de pièces in A Minor: II. Allemande l'amiable
06. Suite de pièces in A Minor: III. Courante
07. Suite de pièces in A Minor: IV. Courante
08. Pavane in F-Sharp Minor
09. Suite de pièces in D Minor: I. Prélude
10. Suite de pièces in D Minor: II. Courante
11. Suite de pièces in D Minor: III. Sarabande
12. Suite de pièces in D Minor: IV. Canaries
13. Suite de pièces in A Minor: I. Prélude "Le soligni"
14. Suite de pièces in A Minor: II. Sarabande
15. Suite de pièces in A Minor: III. La Piémontoise
16. Suite de pièces in F Major: I. Prélude (2)
17. Suite de pièces in F Major: II. Allemande grave
18. Suite de pièces in F Major: III. Tombeau de Monsieur Blancrocher
19. Suite de pièces in F Major: IV. Gaillarde
20. Suite de pièces in C Major: I. Prélude
21. Suite de pièces in C Major: II. Allemande
22. Suite de pièces in C Major: III. Courante
23. Suite de pièces in C Major: IV. Sarabande
24. Suite de pièces in C Major: V. Sarabande in G
25. Suite de pièces in C Major: VI. Sarabande
26. Suite de pièces in C Major: VII. Tombeau fait à Paris sur la mort de Monsieur Blancheroche
27. Suite de pièces in C Major: VIII. Gigue
28. Suite de pièces in C Major: IX. Passacaille



Let's just admit it: Skip Sempé is one of the greatest harpsichordists in the world. His technique is staggering. His intelligence is stunning. His tone is commanding. His interpretations are compelling. His instincts are unerring. His intensity is unrelenting. In his many recordings for the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi and Astree labels, the New Orleans-born Sempé has demonstrated that he is the heir as well as the student of Gustav Leonhardt. In this 2004 Alpha recording, Sempé performs a program of six suites plus a Pavanne by Louis Couperin. The music is noble, playful, mournful, sometimes suggestive, sometimes savage, and always virtuosic. Sempé gets it, all of it, and plays it with everything he's got. Although there have been notable recordings of Louis Couperin's harpsichord music in the past -- notably Davitt Moroney's magnificent, complete Pieces de Clavecin -- one has to go back to Leonhardt's magisterial 1968 and 1980 recordings to hear Couperin played with this kind of conviction and inner compulsion. Alpha's sound is completely translucent and absolutely real.

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