Aapo Häkkinen · Petri Tapio Mattson · Mikko Perkola · Jean-Philippe Rameau
2011 · ABCD 318
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Pièces de clavecin en concerts (1741)
Aapo Häkkinen harpsichord
Petri Tapio Mattso's violin
Mikko Perkola viola da gamba
French baroque music
The new publication includes the five-piece collection Pièces de clavec en concerts (1741) by Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), also known as a music theorist. "En concerts" in this case refers to ensemble musicianship, Rameau says he got the idea from some very successful piano sonatas with violin accompaniment, probably from Mondonville and La Guerre, but took the instrumental requirements even further. Couperin's "Royal Concerts", Concerts royaux, also served as a model for that. Aapo Häkkinen (harpsichord), Petri Tapio Mattson (violin) and Mikko Perkola (viola da gamba) are responsible for the wonderful musicianship on this album.
In Pièces de clavec en concerts, all instruments have been treated individually and virtuosically. Colleagues and acquaintances buzz in the works, and a tight social network can be heard behind the music. Antti Häyrynen writes: "In order to enjoy Rameau's "concerts", the listener does not need to know about that heavenly group of musicians in France in the 1740s, their mutual relationships or topics of conversation. However, from them arise the sensitive and precise nuances of the music, as well as the sociality of chamber music, where each instrument is an individual and each subject is presented while listening to others."
Every so often a recording comes out of left field to take me completely by surprise. Such is the case here, a stunning new version of Rameau’s most popular (and only) set of chamber music from a trio of virtually unknown Finnish artists. Harpsichordist Aapo Häkkinen has been mentioned a few times in the pages of Fanfare, mostly as an accompanist, although he does have one solo album, a recording of the Goldberg Variations that Jerry Dubins raved about in Fanfare 33:3. These performers…
Fanfare · Christopher Brodersen ·
It was Aapo Häkkinen who first raised my interest in this recording, on the basis of his stylishly led performances of Franz Xavier Richter’s Six Grand Symphonies with the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra (Naxos 8.557818, 8.570597). His performances are expert, as are those of Mikko Perkola, but not as much can be said for Petri Tapio Mattson. His unyielding tone reduces the variety of color throughout these deceptively simple yet highly expressive works. There is considerably more variety to be…
Fanfare · Barry Brenesal ·
Buy this release if you value the string players digging deeply into the music.
American Record Guide · Rob Haskins ·
There are not too many recording of all five sets; this one, the second done in SACD, is splendid in all ways, using the originally conceived instrumentation and done in a manner that fully takes advantages of the recorded sound.
Audiophile Audition · Steven Ritter ·
We really are spoiled for choice when it comes to recordings of this music – three excellent performances, the two listed above and the Lyrichord in the review at the head of this Roundup, all available in good mp3 sound with the added advantage of 16- and 24-bit lossless versions, at a slightly higher price, in the case of the Lyrichord and Channel Classics versions.
MusicWeb International · Brian Wilson - Download Roundup ·
As listening to this marvellous set of concerts (three movements, fast,slow, fast) will show, not only do the violin, gamba and harpsichord make a very attractive ensemble with beautiful blended tones, the players are each given complex and challenging parts which interweave and interact in a novel way.
SA-CD.net · John Miller ·
”…the trio meet the fundamental requirement: each character sketch in these three-movement works is precise and perfectly limned, with simplicity the general rule.”
GRAMOPHONE / August 2011
”Tarttuupa Aapo Häkkinen mihin musiikkiin tahansa, tiedossa on yltäkylläinen rupeama. Cembalon ääressä hän säteilee ympärilleen ilottelevaa energiaa, jota keskenään kierrättävät myös viulisti Petri Tapio Mattson ja gambisti Mikko Perkola. … Alun perinkin arvoitukselliset vihjaukset eivät nykykuulijalle helposti aukea, mutta se ei estä nauttimasta rehevästä, sulavasti kiemurtelevasta, sirosti hypähtelevästä ja kansanomaisesti remuavasta musiikista.”
Jukka
Helsingin Sanomat · Jukka Isopuro
Henkeä hoviin!
”Itsevarmasti fraseeraava Häkkinen liidaa kolmikkoa täyteläisellä cembalismilla; intensiivinen, pitkälinjainen Perkola nostaa gamban soolot esiin mutta möyrii tarvittaessa myös alarekisterissä; ja hienostunut Mattson nauttii koristeellisista viululinjoista. … Turha hovihienostelu jää vähemmälle, kun kolmikko paahtaa täydellä, kauniin sitkeällä äänellä eteenpäin. Rameaun nokkeluudet ja musiikilliset vitsit toki poimitaan esiin – L’Agacante eli ärsyttäjä alkaa oikeasti ottaa…
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