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Richard Egarr, harpsichord

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Richard Egarr: The 'Bernstein of Early Music'

NPR Music
CD Review
By Tom Manoff

Richard Egarr conducts the Academy of Ancient Music

All Things Considered, March 26, 2008 - There's a movement in classical music toward historically informed performances: The musicians use the same sorts of instruments, and play in the same style, as their predecessors did hundreds of years ago. But the quest for authenticity can rob the music of its passion. When I heard that England's Academy of Ancient Music had hired keyboardist and conductor Richard Egarr to lead an ensemble on George Frederic Handel's Organ Concertos, I was absolutely delighted.
The organ may be known as the "King of Instruments," but if you think of it only in terms of massive, cathedral-filling chords, you'll be surprised by this new recording, in which the organ sound is touched by intimacy and charm.
Here, Egarr conducts the Academy of Ancient Music while playing the organ. But he's also a versatile artist on all kinds of keyboards: historic organs, harpsichord, fortepiano, and modern piano. He plays music from many eras, and has a remarkable gift for combining subtle musical gestures with forward–moving, irrepressible rhythms.
While I've admired Egarr's recordings for some time, he's even better in person. His recent performance with the Portland Baroque Orchestra was one of the most exciting musical evenings I've had in years. The way he communicates with audiences reminds me of Leonard Bernstein's ability to engage listeners without talking down to them. He also matches Bernstein's onstage charisma, so it wouldn't be a stretch to call Egarr "the Bernstein of Early Music."

I've been waiting for a conductor like Egarr to come along for some time — a conductor who pursues historical authenticity but allows himself an emotional involvement often avoided by many other early-music specialists. While he has wonderful technique, he's much more than a virtuoso of finger work; Egarr is a virtuoso of nuance, of dancing rhythms and sparking melodies. He's one of the most exciting and delightful musicians of our time.

More Quotes from Richard Egarr's recent USA tour with the Academy of Ancient Music:

Boston Globe
February 25, 2008

Academy performs with vigor, virtuosity
By David Weininger

The Academy of Ancient Music has entered a period of revitalization under its new music director, harpsichordist Richard Egarr.

The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky
25 February 2008

The Ancient becomes new again

There may be ensembles that articulate the pleasures of Baroque repertoire more persuasively than the Academy of Ancient Music, but I highly doubt it. The vast and furious catalog of satisfactions heard last night at St. Francis-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church -- where the British-based AAM played as part of this season's Speed Endowed Concert Series -- was enough to send specialists and lay listeners alike into giddy shivers of delight.

Egarr not only played his instrument with consummate vigor and skill (most notably during J.S. Bach's Harpsichord Concerto No. 7 in G minor, BWV 1058), he urged his 11 colleagues on in a similar imperative. All proved to be terrific advocates.

With their superlative qualities of attack and overall rhythmic acuity, melded to a way of swelling particular phrases with remarkably supple rubato, the AAM members were fascinating creatures of their art. Rarely has the Ancient seemed so intrinsic to the Now.

Ft. Worth Star-Telegram
February 19, 2008
By CHRIS SHULL

Academy performs baroque music with grace, zeal

"I feel like we're opening for the Beatles," Kristin Van Cleve, Camerata's music director, announced from the stage.

The analogy was apt.

With more than 250 recordings, the Academy of Ancient Music paved the way for baroque music's popularity and prominence, performing always with a scholar's attention to accuracy and a rock musician's joyous zeal.

From Egarr's March 2006 US solo debut:
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS by Richard Scheinin
"Egarr, with all his attention to Baroque tunings and aesthetics, had done something remarkable: He made us hear the variations in a totally new, or maybe an old, way."

Seattle Times:
This is why nothing can replace live concerts. You can buy the new recording of Bach's "Goldberg" Variations by harpsichordist Richard Egarr, on the Harmonia Mundi label, and hear a note-perfect, brilliantly interpreted version of a masterpiece.Or you can go hear Egarr in person, watching and listening as he completely reinvents the music, lingering here and forging ahead there."

"A special tuning system lies behind Egarr's recent fascinating Harmonia Mundi recording of Bach's "Goldberg" Variations, but his larger goal there and throughout this recital was to show that the harpsichord is more closely related to the lute and harp than to the organ or later piano or fortepiano." - Chris Pasles, Los Angeles Times (March 13, 2006)

In recital with Steven Isserlis:
Call it chutzpah or insouciance, performing your first ever concert as a duo at the venue as prestigious as the Pitville Pump Room requires considerable confidence. Then again, to even conjure a duo like this one requires nerve. A cellist best known for core and modern concerto repertoire and a Netherlands-based, Cambridge-educated harpsichordist famous for painstakingly researched period performance might seen an unlikely match, but no-one at Tuesday night's concert of Bach, Handel and Scarlatti... could think of the Isserlis and Egarr duo as a mere experiment. Whether through long hours of rehearsal or natural musical chemistry or both, this is a partnership that draws the best from each individual. If at times Isserlis and Egarr seemed like two unselfconscious children playing a game of physical and imaginative complexity beyond the watching adults' comprehension, their programming likewise verged on the cheeky. I don't know but this was an intoxicating debut and I can't wait to hear more from them.

Anna Picard in The Independent on Sunday, July 2002

With Portland Baroque Orchestra, conducting Handel's Messiah:
Egarr's 'Messiah' was truly an impassioned pairing of opera and prayer. No pokerfaced pedantry here, but interpretation engendered in and expressed through human emotions; no ridiculously racing tempos, but a relaxed, sensual feel for phrasing and mood. Egarr's exuberance, vivid coloring and flexible rhythms were reflected not just by the orchestra but by the PBO Chorus and four soloists.

Willamette Week, Dec 2001

Possibly the Portland Baroque Orchestra's finest 'Messiah' yet. Richard Egarr led with a combination of refinement and vitality, making Handel's music vivid, exciting and acutely expressive of the biblical texts. Egarr is an energetic but controlled conductor, and his good rapport with the ensemble was palpable... Even at low dynamics and gentle tempos, as in the overture that set much of the tone for the evening, there was a feeling of quiet excitement.

The Oregonian, Dec 2001

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Bach korrekt und lebhaft interpretiert
Das Wiener Kammerorchester eröffnete seinen Matineenzyklus im Konzerthaus unter dem Dirigenten und Cembalisten Richard Egarr mit vier der sechs Brandenburgischen Konzerte Bachs. Eine gute Wahl. Voll Verve und Spielfreude geht's durch die berühmten Werke. Mitunter bieten die Musiker stupende Leistungen in Sachen Fingerfertigkeit und Bravour... Das Wichtigste ist aber, dass man da einen harmonischen Gesamtklang hört. Herzhaft klingen die raschen Sätze, geradlinig und feinkörnig wird in den langsamen musiziert. Bach korrekt und lebhaft interpretiert.

Kronenzeitung, Wien, Oct 2002

Auch Egarr - in Aschaffenburg längst kein Unbekannter mehr - fesselte zur Händelsuite sein Publikum durch eine klug disponierte und mit brillanter Fingerfertigkeit ausgeführte Interpretation, erwiesen sich beide Künstler in den Sonaten als kongeniale Disputanten im Netzwerk polyphoner Meisterschaft. In Klang und Gestaltung so nahe wie möglich und einem einzigen dynamischen Pulsschlag folgend boten sie die Werke aus einem Geist.

Main - Echo, Aug 2002

Richard Egarr, harpsichord
Deutsch
Back to headings		Richard Egarr: The 'Bernstein of Early Music' NPR Music CD Review By Tom Manoff Richard Egarr conducts the Academy of Ancient Music All Things Considered, March 26, 2008 - There's a movement in classical music toward historically informed performances: The musicians use the same sorts of instruments, and play in the same style, as their predecessors did hundreds of years ago. But the quest for authenticity can rob the music of its passion. When I heard that England's Academy of Ancient Music had hired keyboardist and conductor Richard Egarr to lead an ensemble on George Frederic Handel's Organ Concertos, I was absolutely delighted. The organ may be known as the "King of Instruments," but if you think of it only in terms of massive, cathedral-filling chords, you'll be surprised by this new recording, in which the organ sound is touched by intimacy and charm. Here, Egarr conducts the Academy of Ancient Music while playing the organ. But he's also a versatile artist on all kinds of keyboards: historic organs, harpsichord, fortepiano, and modern piano. He plays music from many eras, and has a remarkable gift for combining subtle musical gestures with forward–moving, irrepressible rhythms. While I've admired Egarr's recordings for some time, he's even better in person. His recent performance with the Portland Baroque Orchestra was one of the most exciting musical evenings I've had in years. The way he communicates with audiences reminds me of Leonard Bernstein's ability to engage listeners without talking down to them. He also matches Bernstein's onstage charisma, so it wouldn't be a stretch to call Egarr "the Bernstein of Early Music." I've been waiting for a conductor like Egarr to come along for some time — a conductor who pursues historical authenticity but allows himself an emotional involvement often avoided by many other early-music specialists. While he has wonderful technique, he's much more than a virtuoso of finger work; Egarr is a virtuoso of nuance, of dancing rhythms and sparking melodies. He's one of the most exciting and delightful musicians of our time. More Quotes from Richard Egarr's recent USA tour with the Academy of Ancient Music: Boston Globe February 25, 2008 Academy performs with vigor, virtuosity By David Weininger The Academy of Ancient Music has entered a period of revitalization under its new music director, harpsichordist Richard Egarr. The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky 25 February 2008 The Ancient becomes new again There may be ensembles that articulate the pleasures of Baroque repertoire more persuasively than the Academy of Ancient Music, but I highly doubt it. The vast and furious catalog of satisfactions heard last night at St. Francis-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church -- where the British-based AAM played as part of this season's Speed Endowed Concert Series -- was enough to send specialists and lay listeners alike into giddy shivers of delight. Egarr not only played his instrument with consummate vigor and skill (most notably during J.S. Bach's Harpsichord Concerto No. 7 in G minor, BWV 1058), he urged his 11 colleagues on in a similar imperative. All proved to be terrific advocates. With their superlative qualities of attack and overall rhythmic acuity, melded to a way of swelling particular phrases with remarkably supple rubato, the AAM members were fascinating creatures of their art. Rarely has the Ancient seemed so intrinsic to the Now. Ft. Worth Star-Telegram February 19, 2008 By CHRIS SHULL Academy performs baroque music with grace, zeal "I feel like we're opening for the Beatles," Kristin Van Cleve, Camerata's music director, announced from the stage. The analogy was apt. With more than 250 recordings, the Academy of Ancient Music paved the way for baroque music's popularity and prominence, performing always with a scholar's attention to accuracy and a rock musician's joyous zeal. From Egarr's March 2006 US solo debut: SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS by Richard Scheinin "Egarr, with all his attention to Baroque tunings and aesthetics, had done something remarkable: He made us hear the variations in a totally new, or maybe an old, way." Seattle Times: This is why nothing can replace live concerts. You can buy the new recording of Bach's "Goldberg" Variations by harpsichordist Richard Egarr, on the Harmonia Mundi label, and hear a note-perfect, brilliantly interpreted version of a masterpiece.Or you can go hear Egarr in person, watching and listening as he completely reinvents the music, lingering here and forging ahead there." "A special tuning system lies behind Egarr's recent fascinating Harmonia Mundi recording of Bach's "Goldberg" Variations, but his larger goal there and throughout this recital was to show that the harpsichord is more closely related to the lute and harp than to the organ or later piano or fortepiano." - Chris Pasles, Los Angeles Times (March 13, 2006) In recital with Steven Isserlis: Call it chutzpah or insouciance, performing your first ever concert as a duo at the venue as prestigious as the Pitville Pump Room requires considerable confidence. Then again, to even conjure a duo like this one requires nerve. A cellist best known for core and modern concerto repertoire and a Netherlands-based, Cambridge-educated harpsichordist famous for painstakingly researched period performance might seen an unlikely match, but no-one at Tuesday night's concert of Bach, Handel and Scarlatti... could think of the Isserlis and Egarr duo as a mere experiment. Whether through long hours of rehearsal or natural musical chemistry or both, this is a partnership that draws the best from each individual. If at times Isserlis and Egarr seemed like two unselfconscious children playing a game of physical and imaginative complexity beyond the watching adults' comprehension, their programming likewise verged on the cheeky. I don't know but this was an intoxicating debut and I can't wait to hear more from them. Anna Picard in The Independent on Sunday, July 2002 With Portland Baroque Orchestra, conducting Handel's Messiah: Egarr's 'Messiah' was truly an impassioned pairing of opera and prayer. No pokerfaced pedantry here, but interpretation engendered in and expressed through human emotions; no ridiculously racing tempos, but a relaxed, sensual feel for phrasing and mood. Egarr's exuberance, vivid coloring and flexible rhythms were reflected not just by the orchestra but by the PBO Chorus and four soloists. Willamette Week, Dec 2001 Possibly the Portland Baroque Orchestra's finest 'Messiah' yet. Richard Egarr led with a combination of refinement and vitality, making Handel's music vivid, exciting and acutely expressive of the biblical texts. Egarr is an energetic but controlled conductor, and his good rapport with the ensemble was palpable... Even at low dynamics and gentle tempos, as in the overture that set much of the tone for the evening, there was a feeling of quiet excitement. The Oregonian, Dec 2001
back to top of page		Bach korrekt und lebhaft interpretiert Das Wiener Kammerorchester eröffnete seinen Matineenzyklus im Konzerthaus unter dem Dirigenten und Cembalisten Richard Egarr mit vier der sechs Brandenburgischen Konzerte Bachs. Eine gute Wahl. Voll Verve und Spielfreude geht's durch die berühmten Werke. Mitunter bieten die Musiker stupende Leistungen in Sachen Fingerfertigkeit und Bravour... Das Wichtigste ist aber, dass man da einen harmonischen Gesamtklang hört. Herzhaft klingen die raschen Sätze, geradlinig und feinkörnig wird in den langsamen musiziert. Bach korrekt und lebhaft interpretiert. Kronenzeitung, Wien, Oct 2002 Auch Egarr - in Aschaffenburg längst kein Unbekannter mehr - fesselte zur Händelsuite sein Publikum durch eine klug disponierte und mit brillanter Fingerfertigkeit ausgeführte Interpretation, erwiesen sich beide Künstler in den Sonaten als kongeniale Disputanten im Netzwerk polyphoner Meisterschaft. In Klang und Gestaltung so nahe wie möglich und einem einzigen dynamischen Pulsschlag folgend boten sie die Werke aus einem Geist. Main - Echo, Aug 2002

Richard Egarr, harpsichord