Aya Hamada - Bach: Clavier-ubung II Chaconne - Import CD

Credits:

Aya Hamada

Description:

Aya Hamada, harpsichordist based in New York A richly coloured and finely detailed Bach album New York-based harpsichordist Aya Hamada has built this programme around two themes: transcription and improvisation. From the Clavier-Übung II come the Italian Concerto, which recasts for solo keyboard the Italian concerto style with its alternation of solo and tutti, and the Overture in the French style, which adopts the manner of the French orchestral suite. The early Toccata is a work containing free, improvisatory writing. The recital closes with the Chaconne in the version by Skip Sempé, an improvisation made while reading from the violin score, which Hamada, deeply struck by his recording, transcribed by ear. Every piece is filled with Hamada's singing line, and the playing is a delight: the charming, delicate colours of her lighter passagework, the rich legato of the cantabile writing, and the fine qualities of the instrument itself, a Ruckers from the collection in Neuchâtel, which responds keenly to her music-making. Born in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture. She graduated from the Kobe College junior and senior high school and from the Kobe College School of Music at the top of her class. As a member of its inaugural class and a scholarship student, she completed the master's programme in Historical Performance at the Juilliard School with the highest distinction. She is principal harpsichordist of the Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, a harpsichord continuo player with Les Arts Florissants, and resident harpsichordist of the French Church du Saint-Esprit. She is a member of the early music ensemble The Queen's Consort. She has won first prize at the London Music Festival Competition, second prize at the Josef Hofmann Piano Competition, the prize of the Fondation Royaumont in France, and awards at the MSM Concerto Competition and the Artists International Auditions, among others. At Juilliard she received the Irene Diamond Fellowship and the Heward Memorial Scholarship. She has been invited to appear at the international conference of the Historical Keyboard Society of North America, in the international recital series presented by the City of New York and in a recital hosted by the government of Quebec, Canada, and she gives recitals throughout Japan, the United States, Canada, Latin America and Europe. She studied with Kenneth Weiss in New York and Skip Sempé in Paris, and has also worked with Pierre Hantaï and Christophe Rousset. She lives in Manhattan, New York. Hamada's own substantial booklet notes are a further attraction. King International

Tracklisting:

1.Toccata in D major, BWV 912
2.Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971~[Allegro]
3.Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971~Andante
4.Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971~Presto
5.Overture in the French style in B minor, BWV 831~Ouverture
6.Overture in the French style in B minor, BWV 831~Courante
7.Overture in the French style in B minor, BWV 831~Gavottes I/II
8.Overture in the French style in B minor, BWV 831~Passepieds I/II
9.Overture in the French style in B minor, BWV 831~Sarabande
10.Overture in the French style in B minor, BWV 831~Bourrees I/II
11.Overture in the French style in B minor, BWV 831~Gigue
12.Overture in the French style in B minor, BWV 831~Echo
13.Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004~Ciaccona