Published: 18 January 2012
Category: Artists

Richard Egarr makes his debut directing the Philharmonia Baroque (Music Director Nicholas McGegan) in San Francisco on 26 to 29 January, conducting works from the English baroque (Handel, Arne, Locke and Purcell). He then stays on in the US for solo harpsichord recitals in Stanford (1 February), Houston (3 February), Pittsburgh (4 February) and Boston (10 February), playing Bach’ s Well-Tempered Clavier: book 1 and a programme including suites by Louis Couperin, as on his latest recording for Harmonia Mundi:

“Here, the roles of composer and performer merge, and Egarr’s realisations of these suggestive sketches combine improvisatory flair with a controlled awareness of their underlying structure… Egarr rises to the challenge with playing that is by turns pliant, poetic and balletic.”
BBC Music Magazine, 5 stars, October 2011

“An impressive display of imaginative interpretation… Egarr’s playing yields compelling variety and prismatic possibilites in the preludes, dance movements and majestic chaconnes, organised by the performer into well-balanced suites. ..There are two compelling reasons to own this set: it is endlessly entertaining and vibrant music; and… it is presented complete. Louis Couperin deserves the honour of a new, meticulously performed and recorded complete edition, and lovers of the harpsichord repertoire shouldn’t be without one.”
Gramophone, December 2011

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