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Reviewer:
Julie Anne Sadie ‘Exceptional in almost every way’ best describes this beautifully produced box-set devoted to the lives and legacy of the Forquerays, father and son. First and foremost, it documents the personal journey of the French harpsichordist Michèle Dévérité, who, in the absence of named sponsors, seems to have pursued it much at her own expense, though in the course of her three-year project she enlisted the advice, expertise, collaboration and even the loan of instruments from her colleagues in the Ensemble Fitzwilliam and distinguished experts in the field of French music, including her mentor Robert Kohnen, Wieland Kuijken and the distinguished musicologist Florence Gétreau. Two and a half discs present the music Jean-Baptiste Forqueray published in 1747 in two versions – one for bass viol with accompaniment, the other an arrangement (quite possibly made with the assistance of his wife, the harpsichordist Marie-Rose) – immaculately performed mainly by Dévérité alone. For reasons best known to her, a sprinkling of pieces in each of the five suites are performed in the viol version by Kaori Uemura, accompanied by Dévérité and Ricardo Rodriguez. Most recently, Ketil Haugsand recorded the complete harpsichord version (Simax, 11/11) and Atsushi Sakai the viol version (Aparté, 5/16). The rest of the third disc presents an entirely appropriate modern transcription for two harpsichords of three manuscript dances for three bass viols by ‘Monsieur Forcroy’ in which Dévérité is joined by Kohnen, and four solo viol dances for which Dévérité provides sympathetic accompaniments. Jérôme Hantaï, who edited the former, recorded the trios with Uemura, Alix Verzier and Pierre Hantaï in 2005 (Virgin/Erato Veritas) and more recently Justin Taylor recorded his own arrangement for solo harpsichord(Alpha, 11/16); Vittorio Ghielmi edited the latter and recorded them in 2014 (Passacaille). The music of the Forquerays presents the listener with a particular challenge: unlike the rest of the French harpsichord repertoire it is all left-of-centre, and for practical reasons owing to its origins as music for bass viol ignores the treble register, even in the 1747 harpsichord transcription, which does, indeed, depart from the viol version in numerous other ways. So, in spite of Dévérité’s heartfelt performances, the logic and potential of this music is best realised in the viol versions elegantly interpreted by Uemura. The fourth disc is a treasure trove of solo and chamber music dedicated to the Forquerays, much of which has been included on other discs but never before gathered together and augmented by two compelling, recently composed tributes. It provides fresh food for thought about how the Forquerays were perceived by their colleagues.
The fifth, groundbreaking ‘CD Bonus’ takes this one step further, by enlisting the services of the Comédie-Française actor Nicolas Lormeau to bring to life a series of documents (the good, bad and ugly) relating to the lives of the Forquerays, most of them well enough known, but one in particular – the final track, an excerpt from a 1703 divertissement performed at Châtenay in which Antoine Forqueray apparently took part – should captivate even the most well-informed Forquerian. The booklet contains still more revelations, notably the cautious discussion of a possibly unique portrait attributed to the painter François Delyen of Antoine Forqueray. With this wideranging release, Dévérité has set a new, extraordinarily generous precedent, for which many thanks. |
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