Menno van Delft & Artem Belogurov

‘Miscellanea’ - CD presentatie

Just imagine, being asked whether you would be interested in a pile of copies of scores left over from the extensive collection of the legendary Christopher Hogwood (1941-2014), one of the British pioneers of the Early Music movement. This happened to harpsichordist Menno van Delft who, together with Artem Belogurov, one of his former Master students, worked through no less than twelve large boxes of historical material: a true voyage of discovery!

Artem Belogurov: “I’m very excited to announce that Miscellanea, a three-disc collection of keyboard music Menno van Delft and I recorded in the wonderful Kasteel Amerongen, is now out!”

The music on this album comes from Christopher Hogwood’s collection of mostly unknown 18th- and early 19th-century pieces. Not all pieces are obscure, though. Mozart’s great Sonata in D Major for two keyboards, K. 448 is without a doubt the most familiar work on the album.

“We used a harpsichord and a fortepiano for it and I have to confess it’s so much fun to have all these different sounds and colours combined!”

All of the four instruments on this recording are historical: Kirckman harpsichord (1766), fortepiano by Zahler (1805), Kraemer clavichord (1803), and the Bätz house organ (1813). The harpsichord and the organ live in the castle.

“I think this album is a good representation of both the music and the keyboard instruments one would hear between roughly 1750 and 1815. We tried to ignore as much as possible history’s decisions of who is to be considered a great composer and which instruments deserve to survive and flourish, and judged both the music and the instruments on their own merits. It was great to discover so much new old music and I hope there will be something to your liking too!”

Dit concert is onderdeel van de Geelvinck Salon, een maandelijkse reeks kamermuziekconcerten georganiseerd door Museum Geelvinck, beheerder van de grootste collectie historische piano’s in Nederland.