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Mahan Esfahani|Byrd, Bach, Ligeti (Wigmore Hall Live)

Byrd, Bach, Ligeti (Wigmore Hall Live)

Mahan Esfahani

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Iranian-born harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani is emerging as a major star on his instrument, and this recital, recorded live at London's Wigmore Hall in May 2013, offers an ideal place to start with his work. The program is unusual. Esfahani starts with the keyboard works of William Byrd, with no fewer than 14 of them. That would normally be a risky move: Byrd's keyboard writing is dense and somewhat tough, less outwardly virtuosic than similar works by John Bull and other composers of the English Renaissance. But Esfahani's performances are revelatory, and the album is worth the price for these alone. Byrd's contrapuntal material and dance themes are shaped with profound care, and each little piece builds to a startling level of intensity, reaching a peak with the Fantasia from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (track 13). The three pieces from Bach's Musical Offering, BWV 1079, here appear as the later stage of a tradition: that's what they were, but they're rarely included in a program as such, and Esfahani's handling of the relationship is masterful. Bach seems to be the end of the tradition, but of course the tradition is not over at all, as you hear in three fascinating neo-Baroque pieces by György Ligeti, works written in defiance of East Bloc dissuasion about harpsichord playing. Throughout, there is a real sense of command, a virtuoso presence that music like Byrd's needs but seldom receives. A superb recital.

© TiVo

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Byrd, Bach, Ligeti (Wigmore Hall Live)

Mahan Esfahani

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Clarifica me, Pater I, MB 47 (William Byrd)

1
Clarifica me, Pater I, MB 47
00:01:38

William BYRD, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

Clarifica me, Pater (Plainchant)

2
Clarifica me, Pater
00:00:41

plainchant, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

Clarifica me, Pater II, MB 48 (William Byrd)

3
Clarifica me, Pater II, MB 48
00:01:15

William BYRD, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

Clarifica me, Pater III, MB 49 (William Byrd)

4
Clarifica me, Pater III, MB 49
00:01:55

William BYRD, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

John come kiss me now, MB 81 (William Byrd)

5
John come kiss me now, MB 81
00:04:55

William BYRD, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

Pavan and Galliard No. 2 in C Minor, MB 31 (William Byrd)

6
Pavan
00:03:45

William BYRD, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

7
Galliard
00:01:48

William BYRD, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

The Marche before the Battell, MB 93 (William Byrd)

8
The Marche before the Battell, MB 93
00:03:03

William BYRD, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

Fantasia in D Minor, MB 46 (William Byrd)

9
Fantasia in D Minor, MB 46
00:04:11

William BYRD, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

Pavan and Galliard No. 1 in C Minor, MB 29 (William Byrd)

10
Pavan
00:03:40

William BYRD, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

11
Galliard
00:01:46

William BYRD, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

Callino casturame, MB 35 (William Byrd)

12
Callino casturame, MB 35
00:02:02

William BYRD, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

Fantasia in A Minor, MB 13 (William Byrd)

13
Fantasia in A Minor, MB 13
00:06:33

William BYRD, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

Walsingham, MB 8 (William Byrd)

14
Walsingham, MB 8
00:07:39

William BYRD, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

Musical Offering, BWV 1079 (Johann Sebastian Bach)

15
Ricercar a 3
00:05:56

Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

16
Ricercar a 6
00:06:55

Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

17
Canon a 2 per tonos
00:02:58

Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

Passacaglia ungherese (György Ligeti)

18
Passacaglia ungherese
00:04:26

Gyorgy Ligeti, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

Continuum (György Ligeti)

19
Continuum
00:04:01

Gyorgy Ligeti, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

Hungarian Rock (György Ligeti)

20
Hungarian Rock
00:05:40

Gyorgy Ligeti, Composer - Mahan Esfahani, MainArtist

(C) 2014 Wigmore Hall Live (P) 2014 The Wigmore Hall Trust

Album review

Iranian-born harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani is emerging as a major star on his instrument, and this recital, recorded live at London's Wigmore Hall in May 2013, offers an ideal place to start with his work. The program is unusual. Esfahani starts with the keyboard works of William Byrd, with no fewer than 14 of them. That would normally be a risky move: Byrd's keyboard writing is dense and somewhat tough, less outwardly virtuosic than similar works by John Bull and other composers of the English Renaissance. But Esfahani's performances are revelatory, and the album is worth the price for these alone. Byrd's contrapuntal material and dance themes are shaped with profound care, and each little piece builds to a startling level of intensity, reaching a peak with the Fantasia from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (track 13). The three pieces from Bach's Musical Offering, BWV 1079, here appear as the later stage of a tradition: that's what they were, but they're rarely included in a program as such, and Esfahani's handling of the relationship is masterful. Bach seems to be the end of the tradition, but of course the tradition is not over at all, as you hear in three fascinating neo-Baroque pieces by György Ligeti, works written in defiance of East Bloc dissuasion about harpsichord playing. Throughout, there is a real sense of command, a virtuoso presence that music like Byrd's needs but seldom receives. A superb recital.

© TiVo

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