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François Couperin: Complete Works For Harpsichord

Box Set

Carole Cerasi (Artist), François Couperin (Composer), None (Conductor) Format: Audio CD
4.6 out of 5 stars 15 ratings
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Audio CD, Box set, 28 Dec. 2018
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Product description

Product Description

Metronome Recordings presents the complete works for harpsichord by François Couperin in a single box set to mark the 350th anniversary of his birth on 10th November 1668. Carole Cerasi, winner of the Gramophone Award for her recording of another great French baroque composer, Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, embarked on this project to pay homage to one of the greatest composers of Louis XIV's court. Carole has felt a particular affinity with Couperin's music since first playing his works on harpsichord at age 11. Carole Cerasi plays each of his four Livres on a selection of harpsichords, including two rarely recorded historical instruments, to elucidate and express the highly subtle 'bon goût' that Couperin and Louis XIVs court praised in music.

Review

'This is the dream ticket complete collection of Couperin's harpsichord works that creates a lasting landmark for his 350th anniversary. [...] The music lover, the audiophile, and the baroque specialist will be jumping for joy. Four harpsichords share this immense body of work; two copies and two originals - including a Ruckers of 1636 (re-strung Hemsch 1763( and a Vater of 1738 - all captured with the greatest care [...] From Couperin's 'Happy Thoughts' to 'Scattering shadows' the depth of expression is reflected in such elegant playing.' --Diapason d'Or

Product details

  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13 x 3 x 13 cm; 320 g
  • Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Metronome Distribution
  • Manufacturer reference ‏ : ‎ unknown
  • Label ‏ : ‎ Metronome Distribution
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07HB9F4CY
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 10
  • Customer reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 15 ratings

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Hater of Essex
    5.0 out of 5 stars Francoise Couperin's harpsichord works at their best
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 February 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Carole Cerasi provides a most refined and insightful performance of Couperin's engaging and melancholic pieces, played with panache on beautifully sounding harpsichords. This complete collection is a must for lovers of Couperin's music and of harpsichord music in general.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Nick
    5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and profound interpretations
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 January 2019
    Exploring this set is such a huge treat, so much to discover, and revealed with such a range of expression. Cerasi's playing is always in service to the music, but for me has exposed depths I'd not really felt before. There's richness in her attention to detail and a certain moodiness sometimes that belies the sweet playfulness that less insightful player might rely on for attractiveness of tone and attitude.

    The recording is immaculate, close enough to expose the finesse of performance and the details in the different instruments, but with enough of the lovely rooms' sound to imbue warmth and space. Sometimes the instruments sound huge as an organ, others as delicate as a lute.

    Whether you're an afficionado or new to Couperin, this is a revelatory set opening up his range of thought and sensibility anew.
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  • jacques durivage
    5.0 out of 5 stars Couperin le Grand.La grande Cerasi.
    Reviewed in Canada on 16 December 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Toute édition d'une nouvelle intégrale discographique de François Couperin est un événement.Celle-çi n'y échappe pas.Enregistrement soigné dans une prise de son mettant en valeur chacun des clavecins sélectionnés.Tableaux pastoraux,danses,miniatures théâtrales,portraits,va et vient entre imaginaire et réalité,tous ces aspects abordés avec une égale maîtrise.Une certaine imagerie de Watteau nous vient à l'esprit.Un livret bilingue,anglais français accompagné de photos couleurs des clavecins sélectionnés.Un pur bonheur à consommer sans modération,Recommandé aux amateurs de clavecin,à qui veut s'y apprivoiser,aux mélomanes affectionnant particulièrement le baroque français...
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  • Maeght Pierre
    5.0 out of 5 stars Couperin heureux
    Reviewed in France on 17 July 2020
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    Carole Cerasi avait bien caché son jeu : alors que tant abordent en cette année anniversaire leur Couperin par un disque récital ou au mieux un livre entier, voici qu’elle nous offre d’un bloc l’intégrale des vingt-sept ordres, tout cela enregistré en un peu plus d’une année, L’Art de toucher le clavecin s’y ajoutant ensuite.

    Merveille d’élégance que ce jeu souple qui suggère le tendre, peint les subtilités du sentiment, mais sait aussi se saisir des caractères que Couperin dessine d’un crayon vif. C’est la diversité de cet univers que la claveciniste exalte, jouant tout ce théâtre d’émotions dans les décors de quatre clavecins somptueux : littéralement, ils vous mettent les scénettes sous les yeux, peignent en couleurs cet univers à la Chardin où le détail est tout.

    La manière tendre de la claveciniste réjouira plus les amateurs du Couperin d’Olivier Baumont que ceux de celui de Blandine Verlet ; Carole Cerasi soigne plus la forme, scrute l’écriture, sonde l’harmonie souvent audacieuse autant que les mélodies troublantes.

    Sommet de cette somme parfaite qui remet à jour la discographie – en attendant de pouvoir entendre l’intégrale que Davitt Moroney vient d’achever – un Deuxième Livre d’anthologie : Couperin libéré du regard sévère de Louis XIV y aiguisait sa plume, son imagination s’y débridait, ouvrant à l’instrument de nouvelles licences poétiques et à son art de nouveaux horizons : il faut entendre les éclats de La Triomphante, spectaculaire, mais aussi et surtout peut-être la nostalgie infinie de La Mézangère.

    Tout au long des dix disques, le charme ne se rompt jamais, et atteint à une dimension supplémentaire dans les équilibres parfaits, la langue solaire du Troisième Livre. Les ombres du Quatrième Livre, ses nostalgies à peine voilées, peuvent paraître, elles sonnent avec une liberté de phrasés, un sens des proportions, une puissance poétique que Scott Ross avait jadis trouvés par éclipses.

    Au moment de refermer cette boîte impeccable me parvient un autre disque de Carole Cerasi, celui qu’elle consacra il y a vingt ans à l’intégrale des Suites d’Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre : le grand geste dramatique, l’âpreté d’une écriture sévère et fulgurante, la clarté de ses conceptions font encore une fois mouche sur le magnifique Ruckers de 1636, celui-là même qu’elle joue tout au long du Premier Livre de son intégrale François Couperin.
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  • Mark Ringer
    5.0 out of 5 stars The best complete Couperin harpsichord in 40 years
    Reviewed in the United States on 22 November 2018
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    For anyone who loves the harpsichord and this repertoire the present recording is an absolute must. Ms. Cerasi, a British based harpsichordist has won many awards for her thoughtful, musically penetrating recordings over the years but this is a tour de force that will be difficult even for her to surpass. These 10 discs reflect a profound and consistent understanding of these most elusive of works. Here is on display the most severe and sensual beauty of phrasing and characterization sustained throughout these varied miniatures helping to musically distill an entire civilization. Couperin's many contrasting moods are vividly characterized and contrasted. There are numerous manifestations of the music's delicate ache or melancholy. Cerasi's achievement may be summed up by comparison with other prominent complete recordings. She shares some of Scott Ross's intense concentration and clarity of form while enjoying a recording of greater attractiveness and instruments that are in a better state of preservation. (Ross' still classic yet almost unobainable account may be sampled on youtube). Cerasi's playing often recalls hypnotizing moments found in Kenneth Gilbert's cycle without that player's stylistic fussiness. She accents the music's sensuality without falling into exaggeration as Rousset may be accused of doing. Her approach is subtle yet without a trace of the blandness that occasionally may be found in Baumont's interpretation. These interpretations are personal and breathe with inner life while avoiding the (often endearing) mannerisms of Blandine Verlet. In short, Cerasi's is a treasurable cycle that is difficult to imagine being bettered in the near or distant future.
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  • Christopher S. Curdo
    5.0 out of 5 stars The music , musician and recording - all superb!
    Reviewed in the United States on 14 April 2019
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    I have all of this harpsichordist's recordings and they are all uniformly wonderful. I have about eight complete sets of Couperin's harpsichords music and they are all excellent but I agree with Mr. Ringer's perceptive and thorough assessment of this recording. I really can't add anything more. So very much worth the expense that I have bought three copies ( for myself and friends).
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  • Sébastien
    5.0 out of 5 stars Une très belle içnterprétation
    Reviewed in France on 26 May 2019
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    Une somme indispensable pour tout amateur de clavecin, des sonorités charmeuses ou étincelantes. Et que dire du prix du coffret ...
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