Bach - Un itinéraire
Luc Beauséjour
ATMA ACD2 2912 (atmaclassique.com/produit/bach-un-itineraire/?srsltid=AfmBOoqm5eVKGAQYb1maa7jvfUTKn3Njiks61jsMscFEYtUk2DVg_m3B)
Luc Beauséjour continues to be one of the most internationally respected harpsichord virtuosos and this meticulously assembled Bach programme shows that his playing remains superb. He plays on a sizable Yves Beaupré instrument of 2012 [after Dulcken] using a colourful Kirnberger temperament at the low pitch, A = 415Hz. This gives a somehow relaxed sound, and the tempos are all broad, but there is above all a sense of terrifically wide flow. For once there are not too many actual fugues, but the contrapuntal flow of the pieces is felt broadly with constant subtle expressive eddies and surges in the stream of very connected notes. This is unique playing and the lines are always clearly differentiated. Remarkable how Beauséjour frequently achieves stresses and marcato chords and phrases, on an instrument that is not supposed to be able to produce them, with registration and agogics.
The recording, his first with ATMA after many years with the Analekta label, starts with the Third French Suite, slower than we hear it on the pianoforte lately. The bonus of the disc comes from the early Capriccio on the Departure of his Beloved Brother, one of Bach’s rare affective pieces, showing expressive but subtle grief. The final section picks up with the coachman’s tuneful horn calls. This piece is beautifully felt and notes by Beauséjour make it all the more personal.
The big Bach redoubt, the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, provides the climax of the programme and Beauséjour’s control and clarity really bring it off supremely.
