Search - Bach, Handel, Landowska :: Concerto in D Minor / Concerto B Flat Op 4 #6

Wanda Landowska Plays Harpsichord Concertos

John Austin | Kangaroo Ground, Australia | 07/21/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is good to have this collection of all the harpsichord concertos Wanda Landowska recorded in Paris in the late 1930s. Many of the items have been unavailable in recent years. All display Landowska's wonderful rhythmic vitality and alert musicianship. The excellent transfers are by Mark Obert-Thorn. Besides three concertos with orchestra, several smaller pieces for solo harpsichord by Handel and Haydn and included and also Landowska's unmatched account of Bach's Italian Concerto sounding brighter and clearer than it ever did on 78s. Somehow Mark Obert-Thorn has solved problems that always existed with the Italian Concerto recording. On the original 78s, the "run off" at the end of the first and third sides occurred before the sound of the harpsichord had died away, and there were pitch variations at the beginning of the second side. Now, at last, these original defects have been remedied. I strongly recommend this splendid CD. The timing is 78'33"."