Release Date: 07 July 2023
Label: First Hand Records
Packaging Type: Digipak
No of Units: 2
Barcode: 5060216341422
Description
The London-based Japanese harpsichordist Asako Ogawa has recorded Handel's 8 Great Suites for Harpsichord on a rich sounding instrument in a perfect acoustic, showcasing her brilliant technique and engrossing interpretation.
This release follows on from her critically acclaimed debut for FHR, the 6 Partitas of J.S. Bach (FHR92). Ogawa is one of the today's most versatile performers on the keyboard, from virginals, harpsichord, fortepiano to modern piano.
'Bach Partitas with refined control' - The Independent, 4 Stars
'...her playing radiated excitement, and a vivid sense of the character of each individual piece'. - BBC Music Magazine, 4 Stars
Like Bach and Scarlatti, Handel was a virtuoso keyboard player, but his concentration on opera and oratorio has perhaps obscured this fact for many. He wrote keyboard music throughout his life, his output including some 22 suites for keyboard. Eight of these, known as the Great Suites, and recorded on this album, have been particularly admired since they were first published by John Cluer in London 1720 under the title Suites de Pieces pour le Clavecin. The Suites demonstrate the composer's absorption of many different influences including Italian and French styles but they also have a very German feeling for counterpoint.
"Asako Ogawa explores the rich variety of styles with rhythmic suppleness and a lively feeling for characterisation. Her extrovert gestures are spontaneous and authoritative, qualities which greatly enhance the two sets of Air and Variations" - BBC Music Magazine; Performance 5 STARS, Recording 5 STARS
"[a] confident and creative interpretive presence throughout Handel's Eight Great Suites. You hear this in the A Major First Suite's improvisatory opening Prelude, where the runs, pauses and cadence points are apportioned and timed as if Ogawa were truly inventing the music on the spot. […] In all, her Handel Suites count among the best recorded versions." – Gramophone
Tracklisting
Noxwode, Conor Gricmanis
Tessa Lark, Jon Batiste, Michael Cleveland, Sierra Hull, Edgar Meyer
David de Winter and The Brook Street Band
Alexander Baillie & Nigel Yandell
Orquestra Sinfonica Portuguesa; Alvaro Cassuto
The Flautadors Recorder Quartet
The Telling
Sarah Cahill
Asako Ogawa
