Jean Rondeau, harpsichord

Jean Rondeau is a young French harpsichord virtuoso and you can read about him here. I first heard him in a Bach concerto:

I have to say that this is the kind of classical musician that I really like: overflowing with musicality and technique but oblivious to obvious marketing, promotion and branding. I suspect that it is only in Europe that someone like this is allowed to pursue a successful career. Elsewhere they would not be allowed access to the better venues without falling into the hands of those middlemen that seen to turn every promising artist into a kind of cartoon. Mind you, M. Rondeau is a real virtuoso and that opens a lot of doors. He plays repertoire that others tend to avoid, such as the quirky virtuoso music of Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer (1705 - 1755), who composed this piece titled Le Vertigo:

Ah, well, that's as close to rock 'n roll as the harpsichord ever gets. For a more sober facet, here he is in a performance of the Goldberg Variations for the Netherlands Bach Society.

Like Scott Ross he has a powerful rhythmic sense, always under tight control. Apart from the occasional piece, he does not seem to have explored much Couperin. Here is Les barricades mystérieuses:

That clip is from a concert so you can see he doesn't get dressed up to perform in public. Hey, they're lucky he wore shoes! Speaking of no shoes, here he is playing Les Sauvages by Rameau in a non-concert setting:

How about a little Scarlatti? Here is the Sonata K. 481:

Well, I have a new favorite harpsichordist.