Jacques Duphly (1715-1789) was the last of the great French clavecinists, a student of D’Agincourt and a contemporary of Corrette, de Mondonville, Daquin, Dandrieu, Boismortier, and especially François Couperin and Rameau, whose music Du Phly’s high-Baroque / gallant style perhaps most closely resembles. Du Phly early gained an outstanding reputation, with Couperin and Balbastre, as an esteemed teacher. He was cited by Rousseau as “an excellent master of the harpsichord, especially in the perfection of ‘le doigte’ … consisting in general of a soft, light, and regular movement”. P.-L. Daquin, wrote in 1753 that “one discerns a great deal of ‘lightness in his touch,’ and ‘a certain languor,’ which, ‘sustained by ornamentation’ (graces), marvelously renders the characters of his pieces.”

Les mélomanes seront aux anges, à l'écoute de cette nouvelle version des Pièces de clavecin seul et en concert de Jean-Philippe Rameau, où de jeunes instrumentistes français réunis autour de la claveciniste Blandine Rannou y montrent une insolente santé musicale. Cette réalisation pétille de verdeur et d'enthousiasme, où la plénitude sonore est totale : les timbres sont bien équilibrés, et jamais on ne s'ennuie à l'audition de cet enregistrement dominé par Blandine Rannou – professeur de basse continue au conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Paris et claveciniste de l'ensemble Il Seminario Musicale. Un agréable moment musical en perspective.

At the harpsichord, Rinaldo Alessandrini creates several ‘suites de danse’ from the magnificent output of Louis Couperin.

This series of the complete harpsichord concerti of C.P.E. Bach is one of the most important and monumental recording projects of the century so far… it is a whole planet of delights and amazing discoveries.

This series of the complete harpsichord concerti of C.P.E. Bach is one of the most important and monumental recording projects of the century so far… it is a whole planet of delights and amazing discoveries.

The son of the peerless Johann Sebastian, Wilhelm Friedemann was the least famous Bach of his time. Yet he is now regarded by some as the most brilliant of the Bach children, and is occasionally reported to have been his father's favourite. A master of numerous different keyboard instruments, he was not particularly prolific, and of his 100 or so known works, many remained unprinted until the 20th century.

Siegbert Rampe is a master of baroque style and of Froberger's in particular. This wonderful composer's music benefits greatly from a player's insight and sensitivity, and it gets these in full measure in this set. Rampe uses an agreeably cosmopolitan variety of harpsichords here, the lion's share being played on three beautiful instruments by Ruckers of Antwerp, Miklis of Prague and Bergaños of Spain.

Bach transcribed the works of other composers and reused his own works for often educational purposes. This magnificently interpreted anthology by Andreas Staier is a delight for the ears, happiness enhanced by a splendid sound recording, and what instrument(s)!

This collection was first compiled in 1970 or so from recordings dating as far back as 1961. The set, now remastered and issued on cd, includes performances by three generations of harpsichordists, with Gustav Leonhardt providing the central focus. Leonhardt includes (in BWV 1060, 1062 and 1065) his former teacher from the Schola Cantorum in Basle, Eduard Mueller (the student modestly playing second harpsichord to his mentor in 1060 and 1065) while his own first-generation students Anneke Uittenbosch and Alan Curtis join him for BWV 1061, 1063-1065.

This hard-to-find 2-CD set features Arthur Grumiaux and Riccardo Castagnone on Corelli's complete Op. 5 sonatas. Grumiaux's recording of the Corelli sonatas has long been treasured. Grumiaux's temperament suits perfectly the baroque works for violin, and I dare to say that no one else on modern violin has come close to this benchmark recording, before or since. Grab it while you can!

Sarah Cunningham is probably the finest viol player in Britain today, though it Is as a chamber-music player rather than as a soloist that she is best known here and abroad. Her technical command of the seven-string bass viol is never in doubt on this CD; nor, for that matter, is her control of tone. She has chosen some of Marais' most familiar and demanding works on which to make her solo recording debut, thereby inviting comparisons with the previous generation of players, Wieland Kuijken and Jordi Savall.

Scott Ross was an American harpsichordist who was both popular and renowned for his brilliant technique and insightful interpretations. He recorded the complete works of Scarlatti, Rameau, and Couperin, three composers, along with J.S. Bach, whose music he became identified with over his brief career. Ross was also a highly respected harpsichord teacher in Canada and France.

John Adam Reincken was a celebrity. When the genial Johann Sebastian Bach was a sixteen-year-old secondary school pupil, he made his way on foot from Lüneburg to Hamburg to experience in person this undisputed master of improvisational artistry. What the young man heard must have made a profound impression on him. In his toccatas Bach closely follows his great model and even quotes motivic material from Reincken's works.

Giovanni Battista Serini is a composer all but forgotten today, known exclusively by harpsichordists and pianists thanks only to the three sonatas presented in this recording. In actuality, these works already enjoyed considerable renown at the time of their first publication and were then revised and adapted for the piano and, successively, various new modern editions.

If the Alpha label had done nothing more than return Gustav Leonhardt to the studio, it would still be one of the best contemporary classical record companies. That everything else about its releases – the sound, the liner notes, even the reproductions on the covers – is as good or better than what any other classical company manages is only icing on the cake. Leonhardt has been one of the finest harpsichordists in the world for more than 40 years, and his recordings of the repertoire from Frescobaldi to Bach have been the standards against which all other recordings have been judged. But Leonhardt had made no recordings for most of the last decade, and listeners began to wonder if he ever would again. Now, with his fourth release for Alpha, listeners can finally relax, confident in the knowledge that Leonhardt has indeed returned. This 2005 disc of keyboard music by Byrd finds Leonhardt at the top of his form. As always, his technique is secure, and nothing in Byrd's virtuoso writing is beyond him. And, as always, his musicianship is assured, and nothing in Byrd's sensitive music is beyond him.