Harpsichord
What instruments do you play?
Anything with a keyboard (except the accordion): piano, harpsichord, virginals, spinet, clavichord, chamber organ and harmonium
Why did you decide to learn them?
I grew up in a house with my Great Gran’s piano. Later on, when I was 23, I lived in France in a house where there was a lovely Bechstein grand, a harpsichord, and two harmoniums. That led me into the world of early keyboard instruments
Where did you train?
For piano at the Royal Academy of Music; harpsichord at Toulouse Conservatoire, for four years, followed by two years at the Conservatory in Utrecht, Netherlands.
The harpsichord is an unusual instrument – what appeals to you about it?
The actual feel of producing a note by plucking a string is fantastic, and you can achieve many different effects and colours. The repertoire is vast and gorgeous, and I loved it from a very early age, years before I ever played a harpsichord.
What is your favourite music period, and why?
The music of the Elizabethan Virginalists. Most of the music from this period has a fairly formal structure, with great richness within, in terms of harmony, rhythmic devices, counterpoint, elaborate and exquisite decoration. Equal temperament hadn’t been invented, and the use of other temperaments, such as meantone, transports you to another time and place. Also the keyboard music from this period was essentially private, which I find tremendously appealing!
What have been the highlights of your career?
Scarlatti marathon in Amsterdam; playing The Harmonious Blacksmith on the organ in the Augustins, Toulouse; any recital with an appreciative audience and no tuning disasters (I usually do my own tuning…)
What are your hobbies and interests?
Cooking (more of a necessity than a hobby, due to my large household); fresh air, either at home (we live a mile from the North Sea near Shingle Street in Suffolk) or in more mountainous parts of the country and reading, especially biographies and ‘who-dunn-its’ (I have just finished Lucan – Not Guilty)
You are one of our soloists in the Bach’s Brandenburg concerts during February; how are you preparing for Brandenburgs 4 & 5 and what is their appeal?
I first played Brandenburg 5 well over 20 years ago, so I feel I have the notes well under my fingers by now! There are some extremely tricky parts to it, so I make sure to practise as much as possible on the instrument I’m going to use for the performance, as all harpsichords are different. The music is fabulous; baroque at its most elegant. And of course it’s great to show off in the long cadenza in the first movement of BB5.