ルイ14世の時代のチェンバロ音楽

古楽に特化したCHANDOSレーベルCHACONNEシリーズの看板演奏家のひとりソフィー・イェーツは、ロバート・ウーリーやボブ・ファン・アスペレンに師事し、コンクール優勝を機に国際的に活躍して、今や英国を代表するチェンバロ奏者の一人となっています。このアルバムでイェーツは17世紀のヴェルサイユとルイ14世の宮廷音楽に焦点を当てています。17世紀当時のヴェルサイユは、建築家、デザイナー、そして造園家ル・ノートルによる20年にわたる作業の後、最後の四半期になってルイ14世が恒久的にそこに移り住んだことで、多数の作曲家、舞踊家、教師、楽器製作者、そして演劇の演出家たちが、宮廷全体の芸術文化を支え、豊かな文化が育まれました。ここに収録された作品は、表現力やチェンバロの音色の魅力を重視した洗練された音楽で、この創造的な時代を象徴するものです。
ナクソス・ジャパン

With the exceptions of Louis Couperin and Jean-Baptiste Lully, the latter represented by a short work that here receives its world-recorded premiere, the composers on this album may be known only to lovers of French Baroque keyboard music. Nevertheless, the album landed on classical best-seller charts in early 2025, and it was largely the efforts of harpsichordist Sophie Yates, by now perhaps the leading specialist in this repertory, that put it there. Her choice of harpsichord, a copy by Andrew Garlick of a double-manual 1681 Vaudry family instrument from Paris, is splendid, with imposing, sparkling power but delicacy enough to open up Yates sensitive ornamentation. The program consists mostly of composers who formed the French harpsichord style, adapting it from various sources, including lute music, and who taught the more famous figures who came later on, in the last years of and after the reign of the Sun King. Louis Couperin is here, with a couple of pieces including a Tombeau to one of his predecessors, but so is his teacher, the elusive Jacques Champion de Chambonnieres, a key figure in the styles evolution. Sample his compact Chaconne, in which he seems to revel in the harpsichords new sonorities. The music is varied and includes representational pieces, although nothing like the hothouse depictions that were to come in the 18th century, and Yates comes up with convincing segues, a flexible feel in the dances, and a lot of fresh music. All on an instrument that gives one a remarkable feel of having been there in 1681. Recommended even for those not much oriented toward this repertory. ~ James Manheim