Pieter Dirksen
Harpsichordist - Musicologist - Organist
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HEINRICH SCHEIDEMANN - HARPSICHORD MUSIC
Pieter Dirksen, Harpsichord (Sebastián Núñez [Utrecht, 1996], after Johannes Ruckers [Antwerpen, 1638])
Etcetera KTC 1311 (December 2007)
Contents:
1) Praeambulum ind - 3’52
2) Betrübet ist zu dieser Frist - 3’57
3) Ballett & Variatio in F - 2’52
4) Allemand & Courant in G - 3’33
5) Omnia quae fecisiti - 6’50
6) O Gott, wir danken deiner Güt - 2’57
7) Pavana lachrymae - 5’53
8) Mio cor, se vera sei salamandra - 3’24
9) Englische Mascarata & Variatio in g - 3’44
10) Mascarata in C - 1’22
11) Französischer Allemand in d - 1’08
12) Courant & Variatio in d - 2’11
13) Ballett & Variatio in d - 1’27
14) Fantasia in G - 4’51
15) Allemand in d - 3’16
16) Courant & Variatio in d - 3’15
17) Praeambulum & Canzon in F - 4’46
18) Pavana in F/d [Paul Siefert] - 6’04
19) Galliarda & Variatio in d - 4’23
The booklet contains a full-length essay (English / Français / Deutsch) on Heinrich Scheidemann's harpsichord music.
From the Reviews:
"Rarely do we witness such outstanding scholarship and performance concentrated in the work of one individual. Dirksen's superb skill makes for engaging listening of his fine pick of 19 pieces, and I was struck by his refreshingly unsentimental approach and the sincerity of his expressions. ... Dirksen's notes are expansive in their depth and breadth."
(David Chung in Early Music, February 2011)
"I first heard this on FM radio and was instantly transfixed. When the CD arrived, the opening chords carried me away and I didn't come around until the concert was over. Everything about this performance is thrilling, including the program and the timbre and sonics of the instrument. This performance does for Scheidemann what the 1955 Glenn Gould performances did for Bach's keyboard music in the 1950s. This is high praise and I stand by it. It would've been a good choice for Record of the Year. There's no risk with this one."
(Ronald Haak on amazon.com)
"Pieter Dirksen has made a serious study of Scheidemann's keyboard works, including in book form, and his knowledge and enthusiasm are certainly well in evidence here; his playing of this great composer's music is spirited, subtle and profound, with absolute mastery of baroque style and technique. As for the instrument used, a copy by Sebastián Núñez of a Ruckers instrument, it sounds quite magnificent - and with looks to match, judging by the photo in the booklet, which also brings us excellent notes by the player himself. ... this is one of the finest harpsichord recordings I've ever heard."
(Stephen Midgley on amazon.com)
"Pieter Dirksen isn’t well known to concert audiences on this side of the Atlantic [North America] ... We’re distinctly the losers. He has plenty of technique, but never lets it get in the way of the music. His tempos are reasonably chosen and varied, while the pieces that are more obviously based on vocal or lute origins receive a judicious degree of rhythmic freedom ... performed to a turn by a master harpsichordist."
(Fanfare Magazine)
"Que de merveilles – toutes enregistrées pour la première fois – dans ce disque! … Touchant un clavecin fruité, Pieter Dirksen est un interprète aussi minutieux que soucieux de varier climats et affects. Il connaît son Scheidemann sur le bout des doigts et nous transmet sa passion."
(Frank Langlois in Le Monde de la musique: ****)
"Here’s a real find for which Dutch harpsichordist Pieter Dirksen deserves major kudos. … his sharply articulated,… intense playing is ideal for the music as well as fully equipped to handle it technically."
(James Manheim in Allmusic.com: Performance 4½ out of 5 stars)
"Het is om te beginnen de klank van het instrument (een ontzettend fraaie kopie naar Ruckers van Sebastian Nuñez) en zijn stemming die de toon zet, maar Dirksen doet de rest door de mooie bewegingen waarin hij de stukken speelt en zijn glasheldere articulaties. In dit repertoire mag hij zonder meer toonaangevend worden genoemd."
(Paul Herruer in Luister; 'Uitvoering' en 'Registratie' beide ***** [de vroegere 'Luister 10'])
"Scheidemann toont zich op deze CD boordevol wereldpremières als een begenadigd melodicus, bijvoorbeeld in de direct aansprekende variaties of in de verrassend spannende dansen. Dirksen scoort niet alleen door zijn gevoelige, ritmisch soepele spel, maar ook door de keuze van het instrument. De moderne kopie van een Antwerps klavecimbel, gebouwd door Johannes Ruckers in 1638, klinkt heerlijk warm en kleurrijk en wordt door de fraaie Et’Cetera-opname alle eer aangedaan."
(De Standaard)
"… la maîtrise technique du clavecinist captive autant que son art des silences et des relances (prodige des enchaînements dans les Lachrymae de Dowland). La volonté qu'il met à organiser les plus vastes architectures achève de convaincre. Une pièce aussi développée que la diminution sur le motet Omnia quae fecisti de Lasus révèle des trésors de dynamique que le formalisme du genre de la polyphonie diminuée ne parvient jamais à étouffer. La comparaison avec les scènes musicales de Vermeer prend alors tout son sens, sauf que les jeunes filles du peintre flamand passent finalement au second plan. A l'écoute d'un tel disque, c'est en effet au maître qui les supervise que Dirksen fait bien plaus heureusement penser"
(Xavier Bisaro in Diapason: 5 stars!)
"Dirksen aborda con acusado instinto rítmico, encantadora sensibilidad melódica y tiempos tan templados como fluidos la música de ese Scheidemann 'de expresión alegre y espíritu optimista' ... traduciendo con idiosincrásico y equilibrado refinamiento instrumental. rendido con justeza por Dirksen, toda la emoción y expresividad meridional."
(Diverdi.com)
"Pieter Dirksen … aborde ce répertoire avec un naturel qui force l’admiration. Jeu affable, très limpide dans l’articulation, ligne noble: la musique sonne avec évidence."
(Péché de Classique)
order at info@pieterdirksen.nl ( € 15,- + postage & packing)