Harpsichord Performers
Jeremy Barlow/Broadside Band http://www.broadsideband.co.uk
Howard Beach http://www.piersadams.com/RedPriest/redpriestteam.html
Michele Benuzzi http://www.michelebenuzzi.org.uk/
Robin Bigwood http://www.robinbigwood.co.uk
Medea Bindewald http://www.medeabindewald.com
Colin Booth http://www.colinbooth.co.uk/cb.htm
Hendrik Bouman http://www.hendrikbouman.com
John Butt http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Butt-John.htm
Lucy Carolan http://www.signumrecords.com/artists/lucy_carolan
Penelope Cave http://www.impulse-music.co.uk/cave.htm
Carole Cerasi http://www.carolecerasi.com/biography.php
Jane Chapman http://www.netcells.net/users/cell/378
Terence Charlston http://homepage.ntlworld.com/terence.charlston
Jane Clark http://www.janiculum.co.uk
Maggie Cole http://www.maggiecole.net
John Collins http://www.harpsichord.org.uk/oldsite/guests/johncollins.htm
Laurence Cummings http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Cummings-Laurence.htm
Bridget Cunningham http://www.bridgetcunningham.org.uk
Steven Devine http://www.devinemusic.co.uk
Richard Egarr http://www.moens-artists.nl/moens_artists/egarr/basisEgar.html
Mahan Esfahani http://www.mahanesfahani.com
Karen Glen http://www.karenglen.com
Anthony Halstead http://www.beckerensemble.com/Musicians%20Pages/Anthony%20Halstead%20page.html
Christopher Hogwood http://www.hogwood.org
Douglas Hollick http://www.classical-artists.com/douglas-hollick
Francis Knights http://www.francisknights.co.uk
Robyn Koh, contact email :
Nicholas Kraemer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Kraemer
Peter Leech http://www.cappellafede.com/
David Leigh http://www.laurieleighantiques.com/pages/cdrecordings.html
Richard Lester http://www.richardlester.org.uk
Katharine May http://www.katharinemay.co.uk
Pamela Nash http://web.me.com/pamelanash/Site/Welcome.html
Kah-Ming Ng http://www.charivari.co.uk
Julian Perkins http://www.julianperkins.com
Jean Phillips http://www.impulse-music.co.uk/phillips.htm
Trevor Pinnock http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Pinnock
David Pollock http://www.duodorado.co.uk
David Roblou http://www.seabornwendland.freeserve.co.uk/allemand07/allemanddavidroblou.html
Micaela Schmitz http://www.earlymusica.org
Gary Sieling http://www.musicteachers.co.uk/accompanist/c4ef6f499d3c54b21f73
Paul Simmonds http://www.paulsimmonds.com
Pawel Siwczak http://www.pawelsiwczak.com
Heather Slade-Lipkin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Slade-Lipkin
Kasia Tomczak-Feltrin http://www.harpsichord.org.uk/oldsite/guests/kasiatomczak.htm
Claire Williams http://www.clairewilliams.co.uk/
Charlotte Wilson http://www.harpsichord.org.uk/oldsite/guests/charlotte_wilson.htm
Andrew Wilson-Dickson http://www.meridian-records.co.uk/artistsbiogs/andrewwilsondickson.htm
Robert Woolley http://www.impulse-music.co.uk/woolley.htm
David Wright http://www.harpsichord.org.uk/oldsite/guests/davidwright.htm
Masumi Yamamoto http://www.masumiyamamoto.com
Sophie Yates http://www.sophieyates.co.uk
Harpsichord Performers based abroad
Thomas Foster- USA, http://www.thomasfoster.org/
Davitt Moroney- USA, http://music.berkeley.edu/Moroney.html
Elina Mustonen- Finland, http://www.elinamustonen.com/en/index.html
Great harpsichordists, Past & Present
Violet Gordon-Woodhouse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violet_Gordon-Woodhouse
An Interview with Gustav Leonhardt
http://www.earlymusicworld.com/id2.html
Raymond Russell Harpsichord Competition Winners 1969-1993
http://www.harpsichord.org.uk/oldsite/Russell.htm
Broadwood Harpsichord Competition Winners 1993-2009
PDF download
Members' Recordings
A round-up of recent recordings by BHS members.
 | DAVID POLLOCK Daniel Purcell ‘The Unknown Purcell’ Sonatas by Daniel Purcell (c.1670-1717) On this CD (CHAN 0795) can be found the premiere recording of Daniel Purcell's surviving harpsichord music. With the exception of the preludial 'Toccata', the pieces are the composer's own arrangements of various songs and dances for the theatre. David plays a double-manual harpsichord, a copy by Anne and Ian Tucker of the Ruckers/Hemsch in the Cobbe Collection at Hatchlands Park. The CD also features nine ‘Solos’ and ‘Sonatas’ for violin (Hazel Brooks) and continuo, as well as a fine Chaconne in A minor, again mostly premiere recordings. |
 | RICHARD LESTER Frescobaldi; Keyboard Works, Vols 1, 2 & 3 Three volumes of Frescobaldi’s keyboard works recorded by Nimbus Records and played by Richard Lester mostly on the 1619 Boni harpsichord and instruments at Fenton House. The fourth and final volume will be released in the Spring of 2013. “This playing has an eloquence, vitality and freshness…. The Toccatas are rooted in improvisation and it is that extemporaneous character which Lester most potently evokes in his marvellously free-flowing and coherently paced performances… This is clearly going to be a series of great musical value as well as of highly enjoyable music-making from an authoritative and compelling advocate of this music.” Marc Rochester International Record Review “The Toccatas make for an expressive contrast and perhaps include the finest music of all. Performance of Frescobaldi demands a free, improvisatory style of performance, of which Richard Lester is obviously a master. He plays a perfectly chosen harpsichord with a particularly attractive, warm sonority with the sound perfectly focused in an ideal acoustic.” Penguin Guide to the Finest 1000 Classical Recordings 2011 |
 | COLIN BOOTH Goldberg Variations I felt driven to record Bach’s Goldberg Variations as I was completing my book Did Bach Really Mean That? which is the result of one of the consuming interests of my life as a player: the investigation of notational conventions. The Goldberg Variations was not just an ideal medium for the exposition of some important suggestions made in the book, but a chance to put my head above the parapet, offering one of the iconic works of the Early Keyboard repertoire. Reviews have been very positive, but the most pleasing comments have come from some who have been, over the years, not just sources of inspiration, but my most severe critics. John Byrt commented “You’ve really hit the nail on the head. What comes over above all is the joy and wit of the piece.” And Colin Tilney has told me “Cross my heart, it’s the only performance of the Goldberg Variations I have ever enjoyed.” Read reviews and buy online (Price including UK p&p £9.99) at http://www.soundboard-records.co.uk |
 | ROBERT WOOLLEY - Sweelinck: Keyboard Works, Volume 2 Robert Woolley , an internationally regarded authority on the music of this period, plays two instruments on this recording: a modern copy by Malcolm Rose of the Lodewijk Theewes claviorgan of 1579, a harpsichord-organ combination in the V&A collection and a rarely heard virginal, or muselar, by Adlam Burnett, based on an instrument of Ioannes Ruckers from 1611 in the Finchcocks collection. Sweelinck was the last and most important composer of the musically rich golden era of the Netherlanders. His output comprises seventy works for keyboard, which represent some of the most richly imaginative music of the period. Obtainable direct from Chandos:http://www.chandos.net/CD_Notes.asp?CNumber=CHAN%200758 and downloaded from The Classical Record Shop on http://www.theclassicalshop.net/Details.aspx?CatalogueNumber=CHAN%200758 |
 | BRIDGET CUNNINGHAM solo harpsichord Handel in Ireland Based on Handel's visit to Ireland in 1741, the album contains harpsichord music by Handel, Roseingrave and Carter, plus virtuosic operatic arrangements from Handel's 'Rinaldo' by William Babell. As a bonus there are two tracks of popular Irish melodies; one a favourite of Handel, and the other written in a Handel manuscript. Both the Carter Sonatina and The Poor Irish Boy are previously unrecorded. Also included is a 16pp booklet with a fascinating summary of an article written for 'Essays in Honour of Christopher Hogwood'. Bridget Cunningham was supported by the Worshipful Company of Musicians as a Fellow of the Royal College of Music. The Finzi Trust awarded her a research scholarship to study Early Baroque Irish Music, which led on to her recording 'Ireland's Enchantment’ with her group 'Emerald Baroque' and specifically to researching music for this CD £14.99 plus pp available from http://www.bridgetcunningham.org.uk/recordings.php To hear extracts of all tracks visit http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bridgetcunningham |
 | SOPHIE YATES Concord of Sweet Sounds Sophie Yates, a specialist in playing original instruments, plays Purcell, Blow and Croft and early dance movements, on two important historic instruments at Westwood Manor, Wiltshire. A very early and important Italian ottavina virginal, 1537 by Mutinensis and a Stephen Keene spinet of 1711. The Westwood Recording Project was set up to create a recording which would bring these instruments to life and to raise sufficient funds for the necessary research and restoration. This has now been achieved. Full details of this process and of the instruments are given in the notes. For copies of the CD, £15 plus £1.50p&p please contact |
 | MICHELE BENUZZI – Hamburg 1705 The programme combines pieces by Handel with an introduction to two less well-known but very fine contemporaries – Graupner and Mattheson. Dance movements such as the allemande and sarabande are ideally served by Michele Benuzzi’s expressive approach. The disc also features several examples of Handel’s free preludes, performed with a combination of freedom and forward energy. There is also plenty of opportunity to hear bravura playing: the impression left after the final track is one of artistic power and splendour. The instrument is the glorious original Dulcken harpsichord of c 1740 in the collection of Sheila Barnes. CD obtainable direct from http://www.michelebenuzzi.org.uk/06_discography.htm or from LIR Classics - http://www.london-independent.co.uk/LIR021.htm |
 | LUDMILA TSCHAKALOVA F. Couperin, d’Anglebert, Marais and Rameau Luckily not all French harpsichords ended up as firewood during and after the French Revolution! A survivor at Versailles, a Ioannes Ruckers of 1628, underwent a petit ravalement in 1706 , probably carried out in the Blanchet workshop. The original 1628 Ruckers was a large double-manual with chromatic bass, allowing for a less violent ravalement than was usual. The 1706 instrument thus retained much of its original voice: richness of overtones, sonority and clarity, expressiveness and vitality. Qualities magnificently captured by the Swedish builder Andreas Kilström, whom Ludmila commissioned to build a “Versailles Ruckers”. This superb-sounding instrument inspired her to record music of the period, including Rameau’s Suite in a minor published the same year as the ravalement in 1706. For details on how you can order this CD, please mail: |
