Blandine Rannou

Read my review today on the Washington Post Web site:

Charles T. Downey, French Harpsichordist Shows Pluck
Washington Post, October 15, 2009

On Tuesday evening La Maison Française continued its tradition of hosting some of the city’s best concerts with a recital by Blandine Rannou. The French harpsichordist, a former member of Gérard Lesne’s early music group Il Seminario Musicale, has made several highly regarded solo recordings; she performed here in a partitioned-off section of the lobby, a more intimate and bright space than the embassy’s murky auditorium.

The first half of the program was devoted to three generations of the Couperin family. The impetuous freedom of the opening piece, Louis Couperin’s “Prélude non mesuré,” set the tone; in spoken remarks (in French), Rannou explained that the composer did not impose bar lines on his rambling, arpeggiated exploration of far-flung harmonic waters. It was a fine introduction, since one of the piece’s purposes is to run the instrument through its paces and introduce listeners to the various facets of its sound. [Continue reading]

Blandine Rannou, harpsichord
La Maison Française

Music by Louis Couperin, François Couperin, Armand-Louis Couperin, Jean-Baptiste Forqueray, and Claude-Bénigne Balbastre